Read the summary that outlines what a typical lesson is like in Illustrative Math. Then select one of the lessons to watch. The lesson plans are also linked below in case you want to reference them as you are watching the lesson.
- Summary of a Typical Lesson
- Sample Lesson Videos:
- Corresponding Lesson Plans:
Consider
- What is rolling around in your head about this lesson design?
- What caused you to pause and think?
- What math experiences from your own classroom came to mind as you were watching and reading?
Respond and Interact
Please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above. Read our colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight or interesting possibility.
Please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above. Read our colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight or interesting possibility.
The lesson design reminded me the importance of engaging students with a warm up. A warm up can initiate student engagement and allow students of all levels to have a voice. I was intrigued by the 3 activities in the lesson. I like how the teacher had kids moving, by sitting on the floor or at their desks. Students were discussing with the whole class and were given opportunities to have a voice in the activities. It was also a good reminder to include a cool down activity.
ReplyDeleteKathryn, I agree with your statement the importance of engaging students with a warm-up. I see more engagement with my students.
ReplyDeleteI like this lesson design. I see the value of warm-up before the lesson. I do a discussion warm-up with my students while we walk to class. We go over what we learned the day before. When we get to class they have a routine of gathering their items that are listed on the board. Now they are in the habit of looking for the warm up. I now have some tools for better warm-up activities. I like how the teacher for the 3rd grade started out seeing when the students were ready and giving them directions if they weren’t. It looked liked all students were engaged. I saw that when she asked the student the answer, she also added, “how do you know”. I often forget to ask this question. I will add this to my notes while I teach. I like how she student moving. I have active student and try to incorporate movement in my lessons. I also like that each phase of her lesson is no more than 20 minutes long. I wish I could include the gallery walk to my lessons. I have 2 other groups in my class at a time, so this wouldn’t work. I going to incorporate the “cool-down” for my lessons. I see how I can add this to the end of my lesson.
ReplyDeleteI agree with warm up routine. As I start my lesson with warmup session everyday. Initially it took me a lot of time and then now figured out to finish it in 15 mins. Then the lesson activity followed by a game for understanding. I have to incorporate the way of using 3 activities for lesson.I am going to incorporate the " cool down" lesson as well to end my lesson.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the warm up routine being important. Bringing the cooldown from the previous lesson into the warmup sounds like a great idea to reinforce learning. I also like the breakdown of the suggested minutes for the lesson, even though it may not look the same in my Resource Room.
ReplyDeleteSomething I noticed about this lesson design is how student forward it is. From the very first activity all the way through to the lesson synthesis, student thinking and student voice is at the center. Students had so many different opportunities to grapple with halves and fourths, gain clarity on the understanding, and share their thinking with others. I noticed the teacher listening to student thinking, facilitating discussions and sharing, questioning to dig deeper, encouraging thinking and clarifying ideas. There was so much math in 34 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI really loved how the lesson is being broken down with 20 minutes. I like how the teacher added how do you know. I feel like students will not be afraid of saying anything because there is no wrong answer. I like the warm ups. It is great that it goes back so the students will remember prior lessons.
ReplyDeleteOne of the items rolling around in my mind after learning about this lesson design is that I wish I had more than a 30-minute math lesson in my small groups. So much great content in this design, but not enough time for me. My goal is to become skilled and efficient enough to use this plan and become fluent enough in the structure to keep a nice flow going. This could roll into a weeklong lesson, especially if things are going well and students are invested. Perhaps I can see it possibly working within 30 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI regularly do a 5-minute warm up in my small groups, but I would like to bring what I have learned about Optimizing output, Cultivating conversations and reasoning to the forefront more often for our lessons. I also want to put more emphasis on strengthening the Information Gap, and really thinking about Discussion Supports and having them with my students and amongst themselves.
Tina - I love how you are constantly thinking about how you can "make it work" with the parameters that you have (i.e. smaller group size, less time, etc). Your little mathematicians are so lucky to have you! ❤
DeleteI think the warmup activity is valuable in getting students ready to think about the lesson. I use a warmup activity currently; however, I am using it for students to practice previous taught skills while they wait for the rest of the class to arrive. This section is helping to reframe my thinking so that the warmup activity ties into the day's lesson. I also like the synthesis section of the lesson. This section will help students digest the lesson and make connections to big-picture understanding.
ReplyDeleteMy thinking aligns with this as well. I can see the warm-up as more of a check for understanding to see what your students already know and feel confident at before beginning next steps. This gives us an opportunity to adjust our sails during the lesson, reteach if necessary, and introduce new learning.
DeleteI noticed the lesson began with a goal or focus and then students were engaged by beginning the sorting. It feels "flipped" in that the students were doing the heavy lifting from the beginning of the lesson, with the sorting into categories and examining each other's work. It felt more like a check for understanding at the "beginning" of the lesson instead of waiting until the end. This gave the teacher information about what students already knew and understood so that she could focus on any misconceptions moving forward. I noticed the "learning goal" was also in their workbook or worksheet, b/c she asked them to highlight it there as well (when she read it orally). I like that students are experiencing the goal both visually and verbally.
ReplyDeleteWe currently do a warm up, but it is much faster and less engaging. From now on, I'll be having the students share their thinking and strategy for solving the problem. Additionally, I like the deeper dive and greater student involvement in the lesson. The students appear more engaged in the learning process.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1st grade video session, I really liked how there were several different ways to learn the lesson. It included using many different manipulatives, pictures, etc. that helped reinforce the concept. I enjoyed how the teacher had the students move around going from their desks to the floor, to different groups. The teacher kept the momentum going and a lot was learned in a very short time. I loved how the students were not afraid to use their voice. I'm looking forward to using all these techniques with my groups.
ReplyDeleteI watched the 3rd grade lesson and I liked how student-centered and engaging it was. The students are doing the explaining and justifying of their own knowledge. I think our resource students will love the chance to do more group work and manipulatives, such as the card sorting activity. I also think the synthesis portion is great for regrouping after the activities and ensuring we all reflect on why we just did what we did.
ReplyDeleteGetting to watch a video lesson in this format was very helpful. I found the lesson we worked through during the training to be very valuable, but I’m glad I had a second opportunity to watch one! I took so many tips and tricks out of watching the first-grade example provided in this section. At the start of the lesson, one of the first things that began rolling around in my brain was how the teacher had the front of her room set up. I began thinking about how our new flat panels can be used with Illustrative math. I like that the teacher had white board space right next to the flat panel so she could jot during the warmup close to where the lesson and target are posted. As far as the lesson plan is concerned, right away I noticed how much I liked the formatting. It seems simple and straightforward to follow. Yes, it does seem lengthy and like there are a lot of pages. But I also noticed the formatting was pretty spaced out and minimal on each page. This made me feel like the lesson was something I could tackle and manage.
ReplyDelete