Term III
Goals / Objectives
We want our students to explore the various conceptual connections of multiples and
multiplication. In our fifth-grade classrooms, we have seen that number sense is expected as
intuitive in our students, but we have rarely seen it visited on its own. Number sense is incredibly
expansive and many connections can be made to solidify and maintain students’ grips on number
sense and we want to engender that expansion on this topic in our lesson. Specifically we will be
focusing on number sense’s connections to the determinants of change in patterns (starting
number vs. numerical multiple). This focus will also encompass many other mathematical ideas
that we will not necessarily emphasize but will be an inherent aspect of the lesson itself (place
value, base 10, patterns in sums, pattern differences in even and odd numbers).
The Task
Imagine that you have several robots that can only move forward or backward: a two-stepper and
a three-stepper.
● Pick the number on the 10 x 10 grid where the robots will start.
● Explore the walks
● Try at least two different start numbers for each robot.
● Write about the patterns you find in your grids. Think about:
● Patterns in the ones place
● Patterns in the tens place
● Even and odd number patterns
● Patterns in the sums of the first and second number, the third and the fourth
number, the fifth and the sixth number, and so on.
● What changes a pattern more, the stepper or the start number? Explain your
thinking.
Unpacking the Mathematics
As said previously in the “Goals/Objectives” section, number sense is a concept that students in
our fifth grade classroom should already have but it is never directly addressed. It is simply not
a topic that we have seen covered in our classes. Interestingly enough, number sense is
something that we have seen our students struggle with to an extent when solving problems that
require the application of such mathematical concept. Therefore, we would like to build upon
their current knowledge of number sense and expand it heavily with the aid of accessible
numbers that they can navigate around.
It is important to mention that this task is a strong example of a low floor high ceiling task, for it
does not require extensive prior knowledge of number sense while possessing the capability of
broadening the number sense/knowledge of number sense in our students to great extents. This
task will require as little as knowledge in addition, counting by ones, skip counting,
multiplication, and an application of both in certain contexts. The additive strategy of repeated
addition demonstrates that the students can unitize into groups. To further develop their
multiplicative skills, students must be able to apply an understanding of place value, properties,
and relationships. These skills can be demonstrated through skip counting and algorithms. This
lesson helps students work on early transitional strategies, such as skip counting, to develop an
understanding of place value. Most, if not all, of our students are capable of addition and can
certainly skip-count (OGAP), thus, this activity will be very practicable and doable for our
students. They will be using addition/skip counting/multiplication (OGAP) to find the “steps” of
each robot (which are essentially multiples) and they will utilize a combination of addition,
counting, and multiplication (perhaps even the conceptual understandings of doubling and
halving) to examine patterns that occur from these operations (as well as the
dependence/influence of the starting point of their robots on these patterns).
Certainly, a difficulty we have discussed is the ability to gauge the current understandings of
number sense among our students. However, we find that this understanding isn’t entirely crucial
because our task is so low floor high ceiling. Nonetheless, a difficulty we are in preparation for is
the potential lack of meaning making that will be present in the patterns our students observe.
We hope to counter this extensively by continuously asking our students why they think that
specific pattern has happened and to support their mathematical claims/arguments. The analysis
of the evidence in the patterns must be present for this lesson to take place.
We are expecting our students to use skip counting, prior multiplication (multiplication tables),
repeated addition, and counting by ones if necessary. The point of the lesson is not to assess how
capable our students are at finding multiples/sums, rather we are hoping to guide our students to
help them find patterns and compare patterns as mentioned in the previous section.
Student Strategy Representation
Counting On A Model
Materials and preparation
Grid Papers
A Recording sheet
● For each student.
Index Cards
● Exit slip for students to conclude and summarize what they learned.
● What was an interesting pattern you found? Explain why.
For this lesson, we plan to go to the library and work at a table. We (individually Rachel and
Gene with each of our own groups) will sit at the front of the table to lead each of our students
through the lesson. Students will receive all the materials as soon as we sit down and provide the
instructions and norms.
We have usually had management difficulties with students on other tasks (such as the number
talks) for we are not in the classroom as often as other student teachers. To address this, we will
concretely and constantly remind our students of the norms for our lesson, especially at the
beginning of the lesson. This firm placement of the norms will set the standard for the behavior,
the concentration, and the respect that we will expect from our students as they duly expect all
three from us (which we will continually provide).
Part II: The Lesson Plan