Gene Pak

Professor Caroline Ebby

EDUC-531
28 November 2018

Term III

Part I. “The What”

Goals / Objectives

We want our students to explore the various conceptual connections of multiples, specifically the
relationship between multiples and starting points. In our fifth-grade classrooms, we have seen
multiples being used by our students, but we have rarely seen it visited on its own as a concept.
Many connections can be made to solidify and maintain students’ grips on multiples and we
want to engender that expansion on this topic in our lesson. Specifically we will be focusing on
multiples’ connections to one specific determinant of change in patterns: the starting number.
This focus will help encompass many other mathematical ideas that we will not necessarily
emphasize but will be an inherent aspect of the lesson itself (place value, pattern differences, and
pattern similarities).

MP3: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

MP5: Use appropriate tools strategically.
MP7: Look for and make use of structure.
MP8: Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.OA.B.3: Generate two numerical patterns using two given rules.
Identify apparent relationships between corresponding terms. Form ordered pairs consisting of
corresponding terms from the two patterns, and graph the ordered pairs on a coordinate plane.

The Task (Developed from Jo Boaler’s Robot-Stepper Activity)

Imagine that you have one robots: a five-stepper robot. The robot can only move five
chronological/numerical spaces in the positive direction each time it takes a step. The robot can
not move back steps. They can only move forward (positively).
• Begin with 5 on the 10 x 10 grid (100 chart). This is where the robot will start.
• Explore the walks of this robot.
• On what number will the robot land after it takes 15 steps?
• Think about patterns in the ones place.
• Think about patterns in the tens place.
• Think about differences in the end points.
• Be prepared to discuss these patterns.
• Now, try the previously listed steps of this task with different starting points (one smaller than
5 and one larger than 5).
• Together as a group, think about how the starting points change these patterns we observe. Do
starting points have impact on multiples? If so, in what way? Explain your thinking.
Unpacking the Mathematics

As said previously in the “Goals/Objectives” section, we have seen our students work with
multiples in our fifth-grade classrooms. However, it is simply not a topic that we have seen
covered in our classes on their own. Therefore, we would like to build upon their current
knowledge of multiples and expand it heavily with the aid of accessible numbers and tools that
they can navigate around.

It is important to mention that this task is a strong example of a low floor high ceiling task, for it
does not require extensive prior knowledge of multiplication/multiples while possessing the
capability of broadening the knowledge of multiples in our students to great extents. This task
will require graspable knowledge in addition (including repeated addition), skip counting, and
possibly multiplication though it is not necessary (Chapin & Johnson, 2006). Our students will
conceptually only need to have known unitizing (movement of five numerical spaces is equal to
one step for this robot) to successfully do this task (Chapin & Johnson, 2006). Most, if not all, of
our students are capable of addition and can certainly skip-count, thus, this activity will be very
practical and doable for our students. They will be using addition and skip counting to find the
“steps” of the robot (which are multiples of 5) and they will utilize a combination of addition and
counting to examine the dependence/influence of the starting point of the robot on these patterns
(Chapin & Johnson).

Collectively, this task is trying to get at the fact that multiples themselves are not affected by the
starting point for multiples themselves do not change. The rate at which the robot moves does
not change, and the unitizing will always remain the same at 5 numerical spaces on the 100 chart
being equal to one step for the five-stepper robot (OGAP Multiplicative Framework). However,
the starting point does ultimately affect the end point of the robot and can also show differences
in the patterns of place value in the ones place primarily for this task. The difference between the
different starting point and the “typical” starting point for the multiple (any number in the
multiples) will directly be present in the end point and the ones place. For example, if my five-
stepper robot started at 3 instead of 5, the end point for my robot that started at 3 after the fifteen
steps taken (specified in the task section) will be two less than the five-stepper robot that started
at 5. This same difference (which in this scenario is 2 because 5 - 3 = 2) will be present no matter
how many steps my robot takes because the starting point is the only thing that changes. One
step being equal to five numerical spaces on the 100 chart will always remain the same, for that
is the nature of multiples, multiplication, and the conceptualization of unitizing as “collection as
a unit” (Chapin & Johnson).

Certainly, a difficulty we have discussed is the ability to gauge the current understandings of
multiples among our students. However, we find that this understanding isn’t entirely crucial
because our task is so low floor high ceiling. Nonetheless, a difficulty we are in preparation for is
the potential lack of meaning-making that will be present in the patterns our students observe.
We hope to counter this extensively by continuously asking our students why they think that
specific pattern has happened, if and/or to what extent starting points affects these patterns, and
to support their mathematical claims/arguments. This analysis of the evidence in the relationship
between starting point and multiples must be present for this lesson to take off.
Anticipating Student Strategies

We are expecting our students to use skip counting and repeated addition primarily. The point of
the lesson is not to assess how capable our students are at finding multiples, rather we are hoping
to guide our students to help them find patterns in multiples and how starting points can affect
these patterns.

Student Strategy Representation

Skip Counting (OGAP) for 5 —> 10 —> 15 —> 20 —> 25

Five-Stepper Robot —> 30 —>…80

or

3 —> 8 —> 13 —> 18 —> 23 —

> 28 —>…78

Repeated Addition (OGAP) for 5 + 5 = 10

Five-Stepper Robot 10 + 5 = 15
...75 + 5 = 80

or

3+5=8
8 + 5 = 13
… 73 + 5 = 78

Materials and preparation

100 Chart Paper

• 3 for each student.
• One for the five-stepper robot that starts at 5.
• One for the five-stepper robot that starts at a number below 5.
• One for the five-stepper robot that starts at a number above 5.
Pencil
• For each student to visually represent each the robot’s path.

Blank Box (below the 100 Chart on the paper)

• Exit slip for students to conclude and summarize what they learned.

Classroom arrangement and management issues

For this lesson, we plan to go to the library and work at a table. We (individually Rachel and
Gene with each of our own groups) will sit at the front of the table to lead each of our students
through the lesson. Students will receive all the materials as soon as we sit down and provide the
instructions and norms.

We have usually had management difficulties with students on other tasks (such as the number
talks) for we are not in the classroom as often as other student teachers. To address this, we will
concretely and constantly remind our students of the norms for our lesson, especially at the
beginning of the lesson. This firm placement of the norms will set the standard for the behavior,
the concentration, and the respect that we will expect from our students as they duly expect all
three from us (which we will continually provide).

Part II: The Lesson Plan

Before (5-10 minutes)

For today’s lesson we will be working independently and discussing our ideas as a group. I am
expecting everyone to be respectful of each other’s space. That means keeping our hands to
ourselves, focusing on the task at hand, and working silently until told otherwise. If you have a
question please use the thumbs up signal we have practiced during our number talks. Are we all
on the same page?
All right, so today, we are going to explore robots. Who can tell me what a robot does? Right, so
robots works in the way we want them. We give rules for these robots to follow and they follow
them. With this mind, the robots we are going to work with today are only going to respond to
the directions we give them and they can only move a certain way. We’re going to use all of this
knowledge in the context of math, and especially multiples. To do so, we will be exploring the
walks and positions of one robot. Now, imagine that you have one robots and that robot has one
rule: it is a five stepper. What do you think I mean by that? Each step the robot takes moves five
spaces numerically. To track the robot’s walks, we will be using a 100s chart.

Now, let’s walk that robot! First, we’re going to make our robot start at 5. Remember the rule
we gave the robot. It is a five stepper. Now, I want you all to figure out what number the robot
will land when it takes 15 steps! Let’s begin!

During (15-20 minutes)

I am expecting students to work quietly and independently. I will be reminding the students of
our norms. Once the students finish their work for this specific task, we will come to a consensus
on what number the robot has landed on. When the consensus is reached, we will repeat the task
two more times with two different starting places: 3 and 6.

Every time we reach a consensus on the number the robot has landed on (depending on the
starting place), I will proceed to ask discussion questions that will compare the movements/steps
of the robots.

What differences are you seeing between the robot that started at “x” compared to the robot that
started at “y.”
Why do you think these differences are taking place?
Do you think this would work for a robot with a different starting point than the ones we tried?

After (10-15 minutes)

Great work today everyone! I am really proud of how you took your time with the assignment
and how you all were very respectful of the task I gave you. I want to tie everything back to what
I said before we started this activity. We, as a group, were working on this with math in mind,
specifically multiples. What do you think our activity has to do with multiples? Do you see the
similarity between the steps of our robot and multiples? What multiple were we using? What did
we change again in the activity? The starting point seemed to affect how our robot walked, do
you think the starting point affects multiples in general? Explain your thinking.

Before we all leave, the students will fill out an exit ticket so we can see what they understood
from the lesson. The exit ticket question will ask students to write down a connection they
observed between starting point and multiples.

Formative Assessment
To collect evidence of student thinking, I will audio-record the session. In the past, filming
seemed to be too distracting to the students I worked with, thus, audio-recording seems more
appropriate. The discussion at the end of the lesson will be especially important for assessing the
students. In addition, I will collect all of the written work from the students, including the 100
grids and the exit ticket. This information will guide my understanding of the student’s
understanding of multiples and the relationship between starting point and multiples.

Accommodations

The lesson itself is a low floor high ceiling task. It does not require math that should be too
difficult for fifth-graders (with the assumption that students in our lesson can count). On the the
other hand, students who want a greater challenge can work with a different robot that we have
not explored, such as a different stepper robot (three-stepper), or start their robot at a different
spot on the grid (which would be preferable).