Successfully Completing The Topic Introduction To Measurement

Samantha Meyer
MATH 324
Lesson Reflection
Due: April 22

Date of Lesson: Monday, April 13
Grade Level Taught: 4th grade
Math concept covered: Introduction to measurement
Mentor teacher’s name: Jessica Ross
Intern name: Samantha Meyer

Lesson Reflection:

On Monday, April 13th I taught a lesson to Ms. Ross’ fourth grade class at Hawthorne Elementary School with Ms. May. Overall, I believe the lesson went well and had a successful outcome. I was extremely prepared for the lesson with a detailed lesson plan, materials, and discussion questions all planned in advance. This was very beneficial when teaching the lesson and resulted in a smooth and effective lesson. The beginning of the lesson did a great job introducing the lesson because I asked the students effective questions to get them thinking about the topic. One way I believe I could have enhanced the introduction of the lesson even more is by getting more students involved in the discussion. After asking each question, I could have asked students to turn and talk to a neighbor and leaned down to talk to individual students, which would encourage every student to participate instead of just a few. After introducing the topic, the students participated in interactive game on the Smart Board involving measurement. This went well because the game not only got students participating but excited, motivated, and grabbed their attention. If I were to teach this lesson again, I would make sure to ask more questions while the students were playing the game in order to check that the students were not only doing the activity but also understanding it. In order to have enough time for the entire lesson, only a few students were able to play the game, which could be a negative but I believe the game was successful even with not every student participating, The students seemed to really enjoy this part of the lesson and were very engaged. It was easy to tell the students enjoyed the game because every student had their hand in the air eager to play! The main part of the lesson consisted of ruler bingo and a measurement scavenger hunt. I believe this part of the lesson went very well. The students enjoyed the change from their typical math lesson. The two activities were more fun and interactive, which resulted in the students participating more and motivated to learn. I also really liked the two activities working simultaneously with each other because the ruler bingo taught how to read a ruler and the measurement scavenger hunt taught how to use a ruler. The students needed to learn how to do both of these skills and I believe the lesson was very successful in doing this. The ruler bingo was successful because even though it was a game, the students still learned from it and were required to think on their own and work hard. Through out the game I walked around the room helping students and checking up on students. This definitely had a positive effect on the lesson and pushed students to stay focused and work hard. I also made sure to continuously ask questions throughout the game instead of just strictly “playing bingo”. This also kept students focused, participating, engaged, and learning. If I were to play this game again, I would change a few things to improve the overall outcome. The first mistake I made was not using proper math vocabulary according to common core. When talking about measurements I used words like “larger” and “smaller” instead of “less than” and “greater than”. Another thing I would change is to sit the students who have math IEP’s with the second teacher in the room. These students struggled throughout the game and were not able to keep up with the other students. If they were sitting with a teacher to receive 1-on-1 help, I believe this would have helped them greatly and the students would have gotten more out of the lesson. The last thing I would change about the bingo game is timing. The bingo game was going on at the same time of the scavenger hunt and it was hard to keep track of the pace of each activity and when each was going to end. If I was going to teach this lesson again, I would choose a time like “10 minutes” for each activity to switch with both activities having a timer so the whole lesson was on the same track. Overall, I believe bingo was successful and the students really enjoyed playing the game. The students learned how to read a ruler, how to use a ruler, and understand inches to the exact inch, ¼ inch, ½ inch, and 1/8 inch. The students definitely enjoyed playing because they were engaged and eager to keep playing and excited to “get bingo”! The lesson took a lot of time therefore the ending was very rushed and unfinished. This was unfortunate because there was a well-planned ending for the students, which did a great job closing the lesson. Instead of using the planned ending, I decided to quickly ask questions to the class as a way to end the lesson. This was not the most ideal ending to the lesson but it still had students review the most important points of the lesson and worked as a closure. Since I was not able to complete the planned ending for this lesson, I would use that material for the math lesson the next day. When the students were finished completing both activities they were going to be brought back together as a whole class to finish the lesson. The next day, I would instruct the students to find their “Inch-by-Inch Recording Sheets” and take them out on their desk. I would then go over the correct answers as a class in order for every student to have all of the correct answers. The students would then be given a worksheet to complete individually. Having the right answers on the recording sheet is important because those numbers will be used to complete the worksheet correctly. Once the students were finished working on this worksheet, I would go over the answers as a class. I believe completing this worksheet is important before moving on to a new topic in the measurement unit. Once this assignment was finished, I would then continue moving on with a new lesson. Since the lesson I taught was an introduction lesson to measurement, I would work off of this topic continuing with a topic that builds on measurement and inches. During the bingo game, it was easy to realize that students were struggling with exact measurements when the answer was ½ inch, ¼ inch, or 1/8 inch. Since I was able to notice the students struggling with this topic I would teach the next lesson on this topic. During this lesson I would have students start off as a whole class with their math notebooks on the carpet, learning the topic through a flip chart with definitions, examples, and sample problems. I would then split the class into math stations that had students work on this topic further in various ways. These stations would make sure students engage in the Standards for Mathematical Practices by making sense of problems, reasoning with others, working with models, and solving problems. The students would work with manipulatives, technology, worksheets, and group work at each various station but each station would relate to the topic of measurement being taught. I believe this would be a very successful follow up lesson to the lesson I taught previously the day before. Overall, the lesson I taught was effective because the students learned something new, understood new ideas, participated throughout the whole lesson, and were very engaged throughout the whole lesson.