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Title: Staircases Name: Lori Barnhart Date of Lesson: ? Subject Area/Topic: Math/Problem Solving Grade Level: first Standards: Problem Solving: Build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving. Communication: Organize and consolidate their mathematical thinking through communication. Numbers and Operations: Understand numbers, ways of representing numbers, relationships among numbers, and number systems.

Outcomes/Objectives:  Students will be able to understand the meaning of numbers through solving problems and comparing their thought process with peers.  Students will be able to: o Combine two quantities o Compare two numbers to find the larger one o Count a set of objects o Use numbers to show how many o Order a set of numbers

Vocabulary: larger/smaller

Materials/Technology: Class set of Number cards, Counters (ex. Buttons), Interlocking cubes (at least 30 per student), 6-8 decks of both sets of Staircase Cards (#’s 1-12, & #’s 13-20).

Procedure: Incorporates an ongoing learning process, an ongoing assessment, and building new mathematical knowledge through problem solving. Students will work in groups of two.

Engage: How does building a staircase sound to you? We are going to learn about numbers today and how to build a staircase! Come to the table and explore with me! Barnhart 2

Explore: a. Using the number cards, the teacher will scatter the cards in random order and ask the students: What numbers do you see? What is the smallest/largest number? (SYMBOLIC) b. The teacher will start making the staircase of cubes to match the cards. “The first step is to place one cube behind the number 1 card.” The teacher will continue this pattern until the students understand what to do, while asking questions such as: “Will our next step have more cubes?,” “Will it be higher or shorter?,” etc. (CONCRETE) c. Have students pair up to build a staircase of cubes together as shown in the large group.

Explain: a. Students will talk with their partner about how they accomplished their task, and then share their thoughts with the rest of the class (using the vocabulary words discussed). b. Teacher will emphasize the order in which they completed their task, and the vocabulary they used.

Expand/Extend/Apply: a. Students will take the staircase building one step further by: a. Building staircases higher than 12 b. Building staircase “patterns” i. Every other number starting by 1 (evens) ii. Every other number starting by 2 (odds) iii. Every third number starting by 3 b. Building up through the numbers in the teens c. Building random staircases using the deck of number cards (shuffle the cards and build the staircase according to the order of the numbers drawn)

Evaluate: a. The teacher will hand out one deck of number cards (1-12) to each pair of students. b. The teacher will explain how to play the game of “compare” by demonstrating it (the deck is divided in half between the two students. As they take turns flipping over the first card, they see whose number is the “larger” of the two). Barnhart 3

c. When the students are ready, the teacher will introduce “double compare” (the same concept as “compare,” but they each flip over two cards, adding their own together, and then seeing whose is larger). d. The teacher will walk around while the students are playing to make sure they understand the concept, and can explain it also.

Adaptations/Modifications: If there is a student that is having trouble performing this activity, the instructor of the lesson would obviously not do the “extend” part of the lesson. The instructor would also lessen the number of cards used (instead of 12, maybe 5 or 6).

References:  National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2000). Principles and standards for school mathematics. Reston, VA: The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc.  Kilman, M., Russell, S.J., Wright, T., and Mokros, J. (1998). Mathematical Thinking at Grade 1. White Plains, NY: Dale Seymour Publications.

Reflection: This lesson will be a great lesson to try out. This is definitely not one that could be taught all in one day though. It would probably take a few days, if not a week, depending on the comprehension level of the students. I will need to make sure that I know where all of my students are at each new step of the lesson, to make sure that I am not leaving anyone behind. This lesson is a great time for working on social skills in groups!

Ideas for Integration: In order to integrate Science into this specific lesson plan, one would need to do a little more probing with the questions. This lesson could even be done outside, and instead of using number cards, the students could count things in nature that they see, and make number cards using the number of that one item they saw, along with a picture they drew of it.