Math 370 - Spring 2009 - Final Project:
Developing a Lesson Plan
http://beshapiro.com/math370/lesson-plan-project.html
 
The purpose of this project is to give you an idea of some of the things you need to think about when teaching high school mathematics, and to learn to appropriately delegate tasks and take responsiblity for a group project.

Each group will turn in one project.

Change in scope: (1) You only have to do one lesson plan, not two, as originally posted; (2) Most groups will not have to make presentations; if time permits, some groups may make presentations on the last week of class; (3) The weight of the project has been reduced to 15% of you total grade to bring it more in line with the midterm projects and homeworks; (4) Please make sure to turn in a hard copy of your project on paper; (5) The paper is due on the last class session.

The Project: Each group will be assigned one of the 22 requirements from the California Standards, and will be responsible for developing a lesson plan for some topic in each requirement. You don't have to teach the entire subject, just pick out some aspect of it. For example, if your group is given requirement 18:

18. Students know the definitions of the basic trigonometric functions defined by the angles of a right triangle. They also know and are able to use elementary relationships between them. For example, tan(x) = sin(x)/cos(x), (sin(x))2 + (cos(x)) 2 = 1.

You don't have to explain all of trigonometry; pick some aspect of it. To get an idea of the scope of the project, click here to see the sample lesson plan on diagonals.

The original version of this lesson plan is at http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?id=L655. To see some additional lessons plans check out http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonsList.aspx?grade=4&standard=3

Parts of a Lesson Plan

  1. Learning Objectives: what you expect the students to actually get out of this. This is probably two or three bulleted items.
  2. NCTM Standards and Expectations: what NCTM standard does this apply to?
  3. California Standards: Which California standard is this applicable to?
  4. Textbook references: include a reference from our textbook (if it is discussed in our textbook, which might not be true); a reference from your high school textbook; At least three additionl references which might be web sites.
  5. Materials: a list of all the handouts and anything else you need, like a computer, etc.
  6. Instructional Plan: explain what you are going to do during the class, and in what order. This is the most detailed part of the lesson plan. One to two pages long.
  7. Questions for students: pose some questions that test their knowledge of the subject, and give the answers. Three to four questions and answers.
  8. Assessment: describe how you will determine what the students have learned, against your stated learning objectives. Three to four bullet points, each a short paragraph.
  9. Extensions: extra credit assignments for students, or additional material that you might like to cover if the students seem really interested or you have time. Three to four short paragraphs.
  10. Teacher Reflection: How will you assess your own effectiveness at teaching? How might the students react to your teaching methods? Pose three or four questions to yourself.

Schedule:

Tuesday March 17 - Topic assignments in class
Thursday May 7 - Final Written Project DUE in class on PAPER.
Last revised: 01-March-2009