Multi-Tiered Support System Plan

The learners in this component are 7th grade math students. There are 27 students between the ages of 12 and 13. Fifteen of the students are performing on grade level, as measured by i-Ready diagnostic testing. The remaining students are performing one or more grade levels below. I provide in-class support to this class. I am assigned to this class because of the diverse needs of the students. Five of the students have learning disabilities in math and/or reading, but are performing high enough not to require Inclusion support from a certified Special Education teacher. Two other students are on Multi-Tiered Support System plans, because of their learning gaps. My goal is to fill those gaps, increase their confidence, and help them grow academically.
Students were told that they spent $50 on a meal and want to leave a 20% tip. They are asked to find the total amount, with tip included, and are challenged to do this with no paper, pencil, or calculator. The goal of this lesson was for students to practice calculating the percent of a number mentally, and to properly determine how to use the percent in the context of the given problem. I want students do the calculations mentally so that they really think about what it means to take a percent of a number. Calculators are quick, but students often forget to stop and think about whether the answer in the calculator makes sense. The 7th grade math standards state that students must be able to use proportional relationships to solve multistep ratio and percent problems. Students are expected to solve problems involving tax, discounts, gratuities and commission. When solving this type of problem, students often find the percent of the number, but then either stop, or can’t decide if the value they find should be added or subtracted. For example, they often forget to subtract the discount to find the sale price. The number talk featured in this component was an example of this type of multi-step problem solving. Students had already learned to find a percent of a number, and had begun solving problems, but were still working on using the context of the problem to determine the
They don’t need to hide behind a calculator. Little by little, they are realizing that they can solve problems using their own thoughts. By requiring them to explain their thinking, they are taking ownership in their ideas, allowing for greater retention. When considering the specific learning goals for this unit, students were able to identify that “10” was incorrect because it was a number less than the starting value. They recognized that they needed to add the tip to get the final amount. This was a big success, as many students struggle to connect the calculations with the context. In the video, students were also able to connect a percent to a ratio, a decimal, and a fraction. Students at all levels have a difficult time seeing that a fraction, decimal and percent are all different representations of the same value. When given a skill check quiz focusing on multi-step percent problems, 24 of the 27 students in this class were proficient or higher, showing that they can find a percent and apply it to a given