Tiered Lesson

Name & Student Number: Michaela Dunmall - 2135492

Curriculum (Learning) Area of Lesson: Mathematics
Specific Topic of Lesson: Multiplication of decimals
Year Level/s: Year 6/7

Lesson Context
This lesson comes from a mathematics unit in which students will work on fraction and decimal
problems, this particular lesson comes from the decimal area of the unit that will take place in
later weeks of the unit, weeks 5-6 of the 7-week unit. The aims of this unit is for students to be
able to complete all basic mathematical processes (addition, subtract, multiplication and
division) with both fractions and decimals. The aim of the decimal area of the unit is to have
students identify that decimals are a part of financial life (money), and these skills will be
transferable into their world beyond school and any other higher education.

Learning Objectives
As a result of engaging with the lesson, students will: be able to confidently multiply
decimals using their previous knowledge of multiplication of numbers and place value. This is
in relation to the Australian Curriculum content descriptor: multiply and divide fractions and
decimals using efficient written strategies and digital technologies (ACMNA154)
(ACARA,2017).

Understand that
Students will understand that multiplication of decimal numbers is the same process as
multiplying whole numbers; this is because the decimal number system is an extension of the
whole number system. Students will also understand the connection between decimals and
finance, which should be recognised as a part of mathematical life outside of education.

Know Be able to (do)

Mathematic symbols: (x) for multiplication, Multiplication will be the main process being
(=) for equals, (.) for decimal point. assessed. Students ability to remove and then
Different place values on both sides of a reinsert the decimal point at the end of the
decimal place – up to hundred on the left multiplication process will also be assessed after
of the decimal point and to hundredths on explanation. To do this students will need to be
the right side of the decimal point. able to identify and count the number of digits
What a decimal point is. behind the decimal point in their original equation
and apply that to their final answer – this is the
process students are most likely to forget.
Essential Questions
Main essential question as it is something students can relate to in real life - In what
aspect of our lives do we use decimals the most? (Connection to money and finance)
Why is it important to be able to multiply decimals together?
 Pre-assessment of Individual Student Readiness
The pre-assessment task for this unit will be done in the very first week of the entire unit. It will
be a pre-assessment test that will look at the basic mathematical skills students should have
gained from previous years of learning. As the pre-assessment is done at the beginning of the
unit it will contain both fraction and decimal related questions, however, each test will be
reviewed throughout the unit in order to gain an understanding of where students sit in each
discipline. As the decimal area of the unit appears towards the end, pre-assessment will be
reviewed again the week prior to identify what students have an understanding of in regards to
the foundations of decimals in order to actually move on with what the unit requires. This will
also allow time for the unit to be changed or tiered further according to the spread of student
ability.
Please refer to Appendix 1 for a copy of the Pre-assessment.

Lesson Plan
Lesson Sequence Explanatory notes
Resources:
Student workbooks
Decimal worksheets xClass number
White Board
Swipe and wipe boards for students
Student devices (laptop, chrome book,
ipad)
Word problems link -
https://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/d
ecimals_part2/solve_more_problems

Introduction
To begin the lesson students will revisit what
they know about decimals, it is here students
will be asked the first essential question – In
what aspect of our lives do we use decimals
the most? Following this, students will be
officially introduced to the topic of
multiplying decimals and asked why they
think being able to multiply decimals is
important outside of school (second essential
question).
Introduction
The essential questions are stated at the
beginning of the lesson in order to engage
students, when students think about decimals
and money they’ll tend to relate it to a new
game they want or something else they want
to buy. Intended to make maths lesson
education based and more real life relatable.

Guided Discovery Guided Discovery

The problem 3.21x4 will be placed up on the
class white board and students will be asked
to use their swipe and wipe boards to show
their solution to the problem. Following this
the problem 0.24x0.97 will be placed up on
Giving students questions and having them
use their swipe and wipe boards to solve them
is another way to get a quick look at readiness
and confidence regarding the topic. It also add
an interactive element into the lesson early to
the class white board and students will be keep engagement high (Gross, Sonnemann, &
asked again to use their swipe and wipe Griffiths, 2017).
boards to show their solution. Following this,
students will be asked how they decided to
where to put the decimal point when they
finished their equation.

Teacher direction: Teacher Direction

After writing the questions on the class Having a question broken down piece by piece
whiteboard and asking students about why is to help students as to where they might have
they put their decimal place where they did gone wrong or to clarify something they
the teacher will go through and break down perhaps got right but didn’t understand how.
the second problem step by step to help The breakdown is left on the board so that
students understand - the breakdown will also students can continue to refer back to an
be left on the board for the entire lesson. example to reassure them if they become stuck
Explanation script: When multiplying with another question.
decimals, you can ignore the decimal place
and multiply using the standard multiplication
way.
The product of multiplying 024 x 097 is 2328
Both of our original decimals are less then
one. Ask question: what is one times one? If
both factors are lesson than one our product
should be less than one.
Is 2328 a logical answer when multiplying
these decimals?
Even though you can multiply normally, as
you would with whole number, you must add
the decimal back into the product in the
correct place.
The product will have the same number of
digits behind the decimal place as both
numbers combined e.g. 0.24 has 2 numbers
behind the decimal place and 0.97 has to
numbers behind the decimal place and what’s
2 plus 2?
Count the digits behind the decimal place and
then add the decimal into the product with the
same number of digits behind it e.g. 0.2328

Exploration practice (tiered section) Exploration practice (Tiered section)

Tier 1 – very basic understanding/low
confidence
Students in this group will work together with
the teacher as apart of the ‘focus table.’ This
is a place for students who either struggle
This section of the lesson was separated into
three tiers based on my assessments of what
common groups appeared during my final
placement. Commonly groups would be sorted
into:
with understanding or need more teacher
reassurance to gain confidence. Within the
group students will work through decimals
multiplied by whole numbers worksheet, this
is to get students used to counting digits
behind 1 decimal number. Students will be
asked questions by the teacher to help prompt
them to remember each step of the process.
This is done in order to move students onto
decimals multiplied by decimals later in the
week.
Tier 2 – understanding is good/calculations
need practice
Students within this tier will work through
their problems individually, they are students
who understand the process of multiplying
decimals with each other, however they
require repetition to consolidate the process
and avoid silly errors. Students in this group
will work on problems involving decimals
multiplied by whole numbers and other
decimals. Students start with a whole number
worksheet in order to build confidence in their
ability regarding the multiplication process
before they move onto the harder decimals
multiplied by decimals worksheets.
Tier 3 – good understanding of process/
strong calculation skills
Students in this tier also work individually,
however they have a strong understanding of
the decimals multiplication process and they
very rarely make mathematical mistakes. In
this group students will use their computing
device to work through decimals multiplied
by decimals problems along with word
problems. Should they finished early students
in this group are encouraged to help their
classmates by helping to explain the process
to them like a teacher would do for other
students.
Word problem link:
https://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/d
ecimals_part2/solve_more_problems
1. Students who lacked confidence in their
ability/had a very basic understanding because
their previous foundation of knowledge wasn’t
good. Students who had issues with
confidence would begin in tier 1 as they often
would not do the individual work set for
students in tier 2 and 3.
2. Students who had a good understanding,
however, needed to practice their calculations
and make sure to complete all processes to get
the final result correct.
3. Students with a good understanding of
processes and good calculation skills,
therefore needed to be challenged by
identifying the problem from a worded
equation rather then just a regular equation
such as 7.12 x 8.34.
Tier 1 students complete their work as apart of
a group along with the teacher is done to give
students extra scaffolding. Often comes in the
form of students who aren’t confident in their
ability, therefore want the teacher close by,
but they are capable of understanding the
process. It also allows students to fill gaps in
each others learning, which stops the teacher
from spending the lesson just talking at
students and completing the problems for
them. The previous swipe and wipe board
activity allows the teacher to identify the
students who lack confidence because as they
gain confidence they are free to leave the
group.
Tier 2 and 3 students work individually
because they are capable and understand the
multiplication process, however they either
need more practice (tier 2) or need to have
their knowledge stretched (tier 3)
 Students in any of the tiers are able to ask
questions of the teacher at anytime during the
lesson, however they are also encouraged to
seek help from their peers should they be
willing to explain the process of how they got
to their answer. It will also be stressed that
students should only be going to their peers
for help rather than just getting the answer to
a question and then moving on without
understanding how they got to that answer.

Lesson Closure/ Check for Understanding

As well as marking the work, students will be given exit cards and asked to
name one thing they have learnt this lesson or something they made a mistake
on during guided discovery and now feel more comfortable working with. It will
also be stressed that students don’t have to be getting the questions completely
correct to feel more comfortable with the concept of multiplying decimals. Refer
to appendix 2 for exit cards.

Explanation:
The main aspects of readiness I was looking to address in this lesson were student’s current ability and confidence.
Students previous content knowledge is essential to take into account when teaching a new topic, if they are lacking a
foundation from a previous learning area, whether that be the previous year or a connecting topic, they will be at a
lower readiness level then other students who have that foundation (Tomlinson, 2005). Student confidence is another
factor that affects readiness in the classroom, if a student doesn’t feel confident in their ability they will need constant
reassurance from their teacher, or higher level peer, in order to complete the process repeatedly with success –
therefore gaining confidence in themselves (Heacox, 2012).

For students in tier 1 (lowest level of readiness) work is completed in a group to give students extra scaffolding in the
form of prompting questions and help with generally mathematic process, in this case multiplication (Puntambekar &
Hubscher, 2005). These were students who have little to no foundation of previous learning, however, students who
could understand the process of multiplying decimals but lacked the confidence in themselves would also be in this
group to help facilitate their learning by reassuring them of their abilities. The worksheets for these students are not
made to challenge them mathematically but help them understand the step by step process of understanding decimal
multiplication.
Students in the second tier had and good understanding of the multiplication process, however they often make small
silly errors such as forgetting a step in the process (usually the decimal point at the end) or multiplying something
incorrectly. The work set for these students focuses on repetition to help reinforce both the process and students’
mathematical skills (multiplication).
Students in the third tier are those that are need their ability stretched, this group is almost automatic in their working
out of number equations. The worded questions that are assigned to this group are used to challenge students by
making the number less identifiable from why they would normally see in the basic equation format. Those students
that finish early are also required to help other students so they are still involved in the learning process by explaining
the decimal multiplication process to someone other then themselves, this also promotes a positive learning
environment within the classroom as students get to interact with one another (Gross, Sonnemann, & Griffiths, 2017)
References
ACARA. (2017). Mathematics. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-
curriculum/mathematics/

Goss, P., Sonnemann, J., & Griffiths, K. (2017). Engaging students: creating classrooms that improve
learning. Retrieved from https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Engaging-students-creating-
classrooms-that-improve-learning.pdf

Heacox, D. (2012). Differentiating instruction in the regular classroom (2nd ed.). Minneapolis: Free spirit
Publishing.

Puntambekar, S., & Hubscher, R. (2005). Tools for Scaffolding Students in a Complex Learning
Environment: What Have We Gained and What Have We Missed?. Educational Psychologist, 40(1), 1-12.
doi: 10.1207/s15326985ep4001_1

Tomlinson, C. (2005). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms(2nd ed.). Alexandria:

Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.