Sample Lesson Plan: Secondary

British Columbia Math Curriculum

Grade Level: Calculus 12 Date: April 2019

Big Idea(s):
● The concept of a limit is foundational to calculus
● Differential calculus develops the concept of instantaneous rate of change

Curricular Competencies:
● Explore, analyze, and apply mathematical ideas using reason, technology, and other
tools
● Think creatively and with curiosity and wonder when exploring problems
● Visualize to explore and illustrate mathematical concepts and relationships
● Use mistakes as opportunities to advance learning

Content:
● differentiation:
— rate of change
— differentiation rules
— higher order, implicit

Constructivist Elements
Accessing Student Prior Knowledge and Experiences: Build upon the prior knowledge of
students.
Students use graphic organizer with learning objectives so students are dialed into the
learning. Teacher asks students to pull out their graphing calculator or if one is not present
they can use their smart phones and access desmos. Teacher will begin to lesson by asking
students in pairs to graph lines, parabolas, and such in the calculator. The teacher will
demonstrate on the projector for students first. Students will be prompted with equations listed
on a sheet of paper out so students review with using the technology.

Provocation: Used to help students develop their own meanings of concepts.

Using graphing calculators or desmos on smart phones students will be incorporating
technology to build their understanding of derivatives and how they apply graphs and their
images. By asking students what it means to take the derivative of the function and graphing
both on the same plane, the connection will be made. Example, by taking the derivative of a
parabola, the slope/tangent is given. Students will construct the knowledge together as they
work together using technology.

Metacognition: How will students reflect question and think about their own thinking?
Students will record in a math journal about the activities done each day and what they took
away from each. In this lesson, the journal will focus on what a derivative of a function actually
means with multiple examples.

Created by Kevin Low, Jen McAllister & Steve Scott.

 Concepts: Plan for students to explore concepts in a variety of ways.
● Graphic organizer to sort out the learning objectives for the day
● Reviewing how to take the derivative of an equation
● Visually addressing derivatives in their graphing calculator
● Matching a function and their derivatives based off of images of each line
● Math Journals to conclude and summarize learning

Goals: How will you ensure that students understand what they are learning and why they are
learning it?
Students will have a graphic organizer detailing the learning objectives for the day. The
students will explain in their math journals at the end of the day how they were able to achieve
these and why they were successful. As the journals are part of the grade and teachers will be
reading them throughout the term, teachers can be warned of missed targets by students.

Collaboration, Cooperation and Dialogue: Build in social aspects.

● Students will work together in the activation stage of the lesson with their graphing
calculators and helping one another out as some students may be more familiar to
their devices from pre-calculus 12
● Students will collaborate in matching images of derivatives with their base function on
a poster paper
● Math journals will be shared with a partner at the end of the lesson to explore how
each student summarized their learning as each does so uniquely

Materials: Can the lesson include a hands-on element?

Poster paper, graphing calculators, smart phones

Synthesis: Provide opportunity for reflection, closure, sharing and discourse around where
learners will be going next.
The students will have ideas of where the learning goes next as the learning objectives in the
graphic organizer show this information. The students will write about how they think they
achieved each day’s learning objectives in their journals in order to reflect deeply.
Furthermore students will have a period of time to discuss their learnings with another student
in the time allotted and to jot down information from their partner if it was valuable.

Lesson Outline: Be as detailed or open-ended/flexible as you like.

Opening: Graphic Organizers
● Students start the day by reviewing the learning objectives as they will have to use
these in the synthesis phase of the lesson

Created by Kevin Low, Jen McAllister & Steve Scott.

Activation: Build on prior knowledge
● Teacher introduces graphing calculator with students and gives students equations to
properly plug into their calculator as they should get the correct images on the
calculator
● Teacher then introduces graphing derivatives on the same plane as the base function

Student Activities/Explorations: Presenting concept in a variety of ways

● Students are given a worksheet to review how to take a derivative
● Afterwards, students are prompted with a worksheet that lists the values of the
derivative at certain points of their functions to build connections of slope
● To show learning students will be paired up and responsible for cutting and pasting
images to match a base function to their derivative which will be hung around the room
as an exhibition of learning
● To extend pairs will be given more difficult functions such as Sin and Cos functions
and asked to match to their derivative

Close: Synthesis
● To finish off the lesson students will write in their kept math journals and bring out their
graphic organizers with the learning objectives. Students will describe how they
believe they achieved the objectives through which means to encourage reflection.
● Finally students will share with each other about their thinking in regards to the days
learning and jot down any unique ideas from their partners to keep in the journal.

Assessment Notes:
● Formative assessment will occur throughout as the teacher rotates around during
poster activity and the teacher can give feedback if students are far off.

● Further formative feedback is given through the journals each day or week as it is read
through.

Created by Kevin Low, Jen McAllister & Steve Scott.