Name: Kristina Hass Date: October 23, 2017

Grade Level: K Class Period: 10:05 -10:45 AM

Subject: Math Lesson # & Title: Comparing Numbers to 5
Function of the Lesson (check all that apply):
Introduce New Skill or Content
**Practice
Review
Remediation/Re-teaching

Context for Learning and Cultural Responsiveness Rationale

There are 15 students in the classroom, 10 males and 5 females. There are 15 Caucasian
students. This is a title school with some classrooms that co-teach, although this classroom is not
a co-teaching classroom. There are 6 Title students, 4 that are boys and 2 that are girls. There
are no students on IEPs, no students with a 504 plan, and no English Language Learners. The
classroom contains 2 retention students. Within the classroom, there are many visual,
kinesthetic, and interactive learners. The school is located in a rural environment.

Classroom Environment: There are three groups of tables, and each group seats 5 students.
There are seat sacks on the back of the back of each student’s chair that contains important
materials for the students’ learning, including pencils, crayons, and white boards. This particular
table setup encourages optimal student learning and collaboration among peers. There is a
bathroom located in the back corner of the room, along with a sink. There are lockers lining the
left wall where students place their backpacks and coats. In the front of the room, there is a
SMART board with a wooden box in front of it so that students can stand on the box to reach the
board. There is a carpet area with a teacher’s chair and easel to assist with teaching. The
teacher’s desk sits in a back corner of the room.

Content Standards
Standard: CC.K.CC6: Identify whether the number of objects in one group is greater than, less
than, or equal to the number of objects in another group, e.g., by using matching and counting
strategies (Include groups of objects up to 10).

Rationale: Students will often need to compare different values, whether in math class or in the
real world. For example, when watching a sporting event such as baseball, students will need to
know which score is greater in order to determine who is winning. Comparing numbers also
occurs when it comes to spending money, in which case one may look for the lower price of an
item to get the best deal. Numbers can be compared in many real-life situations, so it is
important for students to understand this concept early on.

Learning Objective
1. I can compare numbers up to 5.

Academic Language
 More  Less  Equal
 Greater  Fewer
Assessment Plan: Formative Assessment
The teacher will be assessing students and checking for understanding at various points
throughout the lesson. The teacher will often ask for students to volunteer their activity results
as they compare various numbers with Unifix cubes, and will listen to what they find in order to
check for accuracy and understanding. The teacher will also ask students to give thumbs up to
signal that they understand and are ready to move on. If the teacher ever notices someone
struggling or not participating, she will make a point to work with them more in order to assist
them. Additionally, if the teacher notices that many students are still struggling, she will review
the previous topic more before moving on with the lesson.

Assessment Plan: Summative Assessment

During this lesson, students will be given a pretest and a posttest in order to check for learning
gains. The pretest and posttest will be identical, and will ask students to compare various
numbers. The assessment will contain three pairs of objects, with each object containing a
number. Students will be asked to draw that number of objects within the larger object
(Example: draw 3 fish within a fishbowl). Next, they will be asked to determine which value is
greater, and which value is less. This will be displayed by having students circle the greater
value out of each pair. The pretest and posttest will be collected upon completion. Students will
be graded on both tests, and the goal will be for scores on the posttest to be higher than scores on
the pretest.

Procedures: Lesson Introduction (5 minutes)

1. To begin the lesson, a brief pretest will be given to the students. The pretest will test to
see current student knowledge regarding their ability to compare numbers up to 5. The
test will ask students to draw out certain numbers of objects and determine which is
greater and which is less by circling the greater number.
2. After collecting the pretests, the teacher will grab students’ attention by asking if any of
them like sports, such as baseball. Some students may raise their hands to imply that they
do indeed like sports.
3. The teacher will then ask students how we determine which team is the best. Students
may volunteer answers such as “The team that wins the most games, the team that scores
the most points,” or more.
4. The teacher will then ask students about scores. How can we tell by looking at the score
which team wins? The answer is in the numbers for the score. By comparing the two
numbers, we can easily tell which number is more, and which number is less.
5. The teacher will then explain that in today’s lesson, students will be learning how to
compare different numbers as well. They will learn about what it means to be greater
than, less than, or equal to.

Procedures: Lesson Body (20 minutes)

Note: This lesson is meant to be taught as a center for extra practice. Therefore, it does not
include any explicit instruction, as the teacher will work with students and explain the activity
to them during structured and guided practice.

Structured and Guided Practice: We do (10 minutes)

1. The teacher will give each student 10 Unifix cubes to work with for this lesson.
 2. The teacher will explain to students that they have each received their cubes so that they
can count out the numbers about to be displayed, and can use them to help compare the
numbers.
3. The teacher will hold up some number flashcards. Each flashcard will have one number
written on it between 0 and 5.
4. The teacher will ask one quiet volunteer to select one card at random from the teacher’s
hand.
5. Once the student pulls the card out, the teacher will hold up the card to the class, and will
ask students “What number is on this card?” The students will respond out loud as a class
with the value (Example: “Three.”).
6. The teacher will then say, “Let’s find this number of cubes and connect them in a row.”
The teacher will then demonstrate this process, in this particular example, grabbing three
cubes and attaching them into one row.
7. As students do the same, the teacher will move around the classroom to make sure they
are on task and understand what needs to be done. The teacher may assist any student
who appears to be having difficulty.
8. Once all students have three cubes together, the teacher will ask for a second volunteer
student to select another random card.
9. The teacher will again hold up the chosen card, and will ask students to name the number
out loud (Example: “Four.”)
10. The teacher will then ask students to create a second group of cubes, demonstrating the
process of attaching four new cubes into a row.
11. While students complete this, the teacher will again check to see that students understand
instructions and are on task.
12. The teacher will say, “Now that we all have two rows of cubes, let’s compare them.
Which row has more cubes in it?” The teacher will ask for volunteers to answer.
Students should see that the row with four cubes is longer than the row of three, and
should therefore say that the row of four has more cubes in it.
13. The teacher will then confirm that the row of four cubes is indeed greater, while the row
of three cubes is less.
14. This activity may then be repeated two to three times, using different numbers that are
randomly selected by quiet students.
15. After completion of the activity, the teacher will check for understanding by asking
students for thumbs up or down, and will take note of students who may still be confused.
If needed, the teacher will review more before moving on.

Independent Practice: You do (10 minutes)

1. The students will independently complete the posttest, which will be identical to the
pretest.
2. The posttest contains three pairs of items, with each item containing a number inside.
Students will focus on one pair of items at a time.
3. Students will be asked to draw the number of objects inside of the larger object based on
the number displayed. For example, the first problem contains a fishbowl with the
number 3 in it. In this case, students will draw three fish inside of the fishbowl.
4. Once the objects are drawn in both objects in the pair, students will look at their drawings
to determine which has more, and which has less.
 5. Students will then circle whichever object has more drawings in it, therefore which
number was greater.
6. Once completed, the teacher will collect the posttest to be taken for a grade. The grade
will be compared to the pretest grades in order to see whether students improved their
scores after the completion of the lesson.

Procedures: Lesson Closure (5 minutes)

1. The teacher will briefly review the main topics that were covered in the lesson, stating
that today’s lesson discussed how to compare numbers.
2. The teacher will then review that to be more than or greater than means that a number is
the bigger of two numbers. For example, the number 5 is greater than the number 2.
3. The teacher will review that to be less than or fewer than means that a number is the
smaller of two numbers. For example, the number 3 is less than the number 4.
4. The teacher will review that equal to means that two numbers are exactly the same. For
example the number 2 equals the number 2.
5. The teacher will then explain to students that comparing numbers is a skill that can be
used in many real-life situations. For example, one might compare two different prices
for the same item to see which one costs less money.
6. The teacher will ask students if they have any other example of when comparing numbers
might be used, and will call on volunteers to share.
7. Finally, the teacher will inform students that in the next lesson, the class will begin
comparing even larger numbers, up to 10.

Differentiation, Individualized Instruction, and Assessment

1. This lesson will work to benefit several different learning styles. During the explicit
instruction, the teacher will often demonstrate the topic being discussed with Unifix
cubes. This will appeal to the many visual learners in the class, as they will be able to see
that one row of Unifix cubes may be longer than the other, proving that one number is
greater or less than another. Later, during structured and guided practice, students will
get the chance to explore this concept on their own, using individual sets of Unifix cubes
to create and compare various numbers. This will benefit interactive learners, as they are
able to have a hands-on and engaging experience with number comparisons. This will
also help kinesthetic learners, as they will be able to move their hands to build rows of
Unifix cubes.
2. This lesson will also accommodate for students of different learning abilities. During
structured and guided practice, the teacher will be working with small groups of students.
This will allow for more one on one work between the teacher and students who may be
struggling or are on a lower academic level. Additionally, the teacher will be able to vary
the difficulty of problems to accommodate for higher or lower learners. Since each
student has their own Unifix cubes to work with, the teacher can give students different
numbers to form, giving higher numbers to higher level students and smaller numbers to
lower level students.
Instructional Materials and Support
 Unifix cubes  Pretest/Posttest
 Number flashcards, containing 2 of  Pencils
each number 0-5  Container for number cards

Research and Theory Commentary

1. This lesson will incorporate Vygotsky’s scaffolding technique. At the beginning of the
lesson, the teacher will explain the basics of the topic, while students simply listen or
answer the occasional review question. Later, students will work with the teacher, using
Unifix cubes to create rows of numbers to compare. During this time, the teacher will
assist them if needed. At the end of the lesson, students will complete a summative
assessment independently, completing all of the work on their own without aid from the
teacher.
2. The lesson will also use Dewey’s idea of learning by doing. During structured and
guided practice, students will use Unifix cubes to build rows that represent certain
numbers. This will give students a chance to represent numbers through a hands-on
activity. It will also allow them to visually experience what the numbers look like in
object quantities. By using hands-on activities in the lesson, students will find the lesson
to be more memorable, and will be able to better retain the information taught.
3. This lesson also uses the ideas of wait time by Mary Budd Rowe. Whenever students are
asked a question, or are instructed to complete an activity of some sort, the teacher will
give the students ample time to do so. This will reduce the pressure to immediately come
up with a response, and will allow for students to think more about their responses or
actions before presenting them. This will lead to more thought out answers from
students, and will give them the chance to better understand the information that they are
responding to.
Name: ______________________________

Directions: Draw the number of objects, then

circle the one that is greater.

3 5

4 2

3 1