LESSON PLAN OUTLINE

JMU Elementary Education Program

(Include the title of each of the following sections in your written plan.)

A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON

Fractions Unit: Lets Learn about Fractions through M & Ms

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON

Over the last two weeks we have started our measurement unit in math. The students learned
about mass and capacity, and had the opportunity to measure various items within the
classroom at different math stations. In addition to measurement, we also started to introduce
fractions. With the number of snow days, and delays, the mathematics units had to be pushed
back. With the third grade mathematics benchmark right around the corner, we want to get
some fractions in before the students have to take the assessment. The students were briefly
introduced to fractions last week at one of the mathematics stations where I had Mrs. Shomo
work with them on a fractions learning activity. In this activity the students manipulated
fraction pieces to figure out which fraction was bigger and/or smaller when given two
fractions. Mrs. Shomo reported to me that the students did a great job, and from what I
observed, I agree that they seemed to be doing well. Therefore, because we briefly introduced
the students to fractions in small learning groups, we are going to do a whole-class learning
activity to learn/explore more about fractions.

In this class there are many different learning abilities. There are students in my class who
easily grasp the material and can complete the learning activities without any assistance, and
there are also students who struggle and need a great deal of support. When working with
such a diverse group of learners, I have learned through my observations and experiences thus
far in the classroom that it is important to divide the class into small learning groups when
possible. Last week we divided the class into small groups of 2-3 students at different math
stations. When dividing the students I try to pair a high ability level student with a low ability
level student so that the high student can assist the low student. Note: Usually we have a
special education teacher come in to assist the five lowest students, but recently she has been
working with another third grade class. Therefore I usually send the lowest five to the back
table to work with Mrs. Shomo.

This lesson plan focusing on fractions aligns perfectly within the third grade curriculum.
Every day during the first twenty minutes of math the students complete a daily review,
specifically called Math Madness, at their assigned seats that reviews different
mathematical concepts/topics that have been explored throughout the year, and will be present
on the Virginia Math SOL in May. I send the five lowest students to the back table with Mrs.
Shomo to complete the assigned Math Madness together. Once the students have finished
working out the problems, we will review the Math Madness together as a class. Red pens
The following information should be included in the header of the lesson plan:
Megan Geisel
Mrs. Carolyn Shomo, Riverheads Elementary School
April 9, 2014; 1:15 p.m.
will be given out to each student. The red pens are utilized by the students to mark the
problems that they get wrong. This allows them to visually see what they need to work on.
After we review Math Madness, I will tell the students that we will be focusing on fractions
today. We will be doing a learning activity utilizing M & Ms. In order to engage the students
immediately, I will first ask them questions such as, What are fractions? When do we use
fractions? I will let several students respond in order to initiate a class discussion. After we
have our class discussion, we will start our M & M fraction learning activity. Bags of M &
Ms will be given out to each student. One bag of skittles will be given out to a student who
cant eat any chocolate. After the bags are distributed and each student has the corresponding
M & M worksheet, I will lay down the rules regarding the M & Ms (i.e. You cant eat them
until after the activity, etc.). With my own bag of M & Ms, I will then demonstrate what we
will be doing utilizing the idoc camera. For example, I will take out all my M & Ms and
count how many I have. I will write the total number on the corresponding worksheet. I will
then tell the students to open up their bags, and tell them to follow the same process. The
mathematical terms: numerator and denominator will be introduced during this lesson.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Understand

Know
The students will understand that
the value of a fraction is
dependent on both the number of
parts in a whole (denominator)
and the number of those parts
being considered (numerator).
Do
The students will be able to find,
name, and write the fraction
represented by each M & M color
based on their assortment in their
bags.
The students will develop an
understanding
The students will use concrete
materials and pictures to model
the M & M fraction word problem
with a partner.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING

The group will be evaluated and assessed based on their responses to questions asked by the
teacher during the math lesson, and through the students utilizing their bags of M & Ms to
find the fractions of the different color M & Ms. I will walk around and mentally take note of
any student who is struggling. Because the students havent had much exposure to fractions,
and this is more of an introductory lesson to fractions, the students will be mostly assessed on
their responses to the questions that I ask. Their responses will allow me to plan for future
lessons focused on fractions. Their responses will also tell me which students are already
grasping the idea of fractions and which ones are not quite there yet.


E. RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING

Computation and Estimation
Focus: Computation and Fraction Operations
3.3 The student will
a) name and write fractions (including mixed numbers) represented by a model;
b) model fractions (including mixed numbers) and write the fractions names; and
c) compare fractions having like and unlike denominators, using words and symbols (>, <, or
=).

F. MATERIALS NEEDED

M & Ms Miss Geisel
Fun Fractions with M & Ms Learning Activity WS-Miss Geisel
1 bag of skittles-Miss Geisel
Paper Towels-Miss Geisel
Math Madness-Miss Geisel
Red Pens-Mrs. Shomo
Idoc Camera-Mrs. Shomo

G. PROCEDURE

Preparation of the learning environment

First Learning Activity (Math Madness): Five students will be at the back table with Mrs.
Shomo to complete this task while the rest of the class will be seated at their assigned seats.
Second Learning Activity (M & Ms): All students will be seated at their assigned desks. The
teacher will have all learning materials prepared beforehand.

Engage -Introduction of the lesson

I will introduce the lesson by telling the students that we have learned a little bit about
fractions through the Math Madness and from one of our math learning stations, but today we
are really going to dig in and learn more about fractions through the utilization of M & Ms.
Whole-class discussion: What are fractions? When do we use fractions?
Where have we seen fractions? Let several students respond.

Implementation of the lesson (specific procedures and directions for the teacher and
students)

Quick overview of the first learning activity (Math Madness): I will have the student whose
weekly job is handing out papers to hand out the Math Madness worksheet to each student.
I will send the five students who need assistance to the back table to work on their Math
Madness with Mrs. Shomo. I will set the timer for 8 minutes. I will remind students that the
Math Madness needs to be completed individually and quietly, and that they will have 8
minutes to complete it.

Once the timer goes off, I will ask the student whose weekly job is red pens to hand out a
red pen to each student. I will tell the students to put their pencils away. I will place my own
Math Madness worksheet under the idoc camera. I will read each question, and pick on a
student who is raising his/her hand quietly to share his/her answer. I will ask that student how
he/she solved the problem. We will solve it together to confirm the answer. (Note: I told Mrs.
Shomo to jump in at any time if she has been showing the students a particular strategy to use
to solve a mathematical problem).

Once we go over each problem (approximately 5-6 minutes), I will ask the same person who
handed out the worksheets to collect them. I will also ask the same student who handed out
the red pens to collect them.

2
nd
Learning Activity (Main Activity)
As I stated in the Engage-Introduction of the lesson section of the lesson plan, I will first
engage the students by asking the students what they know about fractions (activating the
students prior knowledge).

After the whole class discussion, I will have a student hand out the worksheet titled Fun
Fractions with M & Ms to each student at their assigned desks. As he/she is handing out the
worksheet, I will hand out a pack of M & Ms to each student, and one bag of skittles to the
student who cant eat chocolate.

Boys and girls, student X is coming around with a worksheet titled Fun Fractions with M &
Ms. Please write your name nice and neat on the top of the paper. As he/she is passing out
the worksheet, I will be coming around with a bag of M & Ms. For you L, I have a bag of
skittles. As you receive your bag, please do not open it up.

Once each student has a bag and worksheet at their assigned desks, I will remind the students
again to not open up their bags of candy. With my own bag of M & Ms I will demonstrate
how to do the first step.

If we look at step one on our worksheet, it tells us to first guess how many M & Ms are in
our bag. Thus Im going to first guess/estimate how many M & Ms I think are in my bag. I
think there are about ____ M & Ms in my bag, and I am going to write that number on the
line next to step one (I will be utilizing the idoc camera like I did for Math Madness to
show where I wrote my number). Now I want everyone to hold your bags, and guess/estimate
like I did how many M & Ms you think are in your bag. Give the students a minute to
estimate and write down how many M & Ms that they think are in their bags. I will walk
around the room to monitor the students, and to make sure that all of the students have written
a number down.

What were some of your estimates? How many M & Ms do you think are in your bag?
Raise your hand if you would like to share. I will call on students who are raising their hands
nice and quietly.

Let several students share.

For step 2 it says that you will open your bag of M & Ms. Before we open up our bags, I
have one rule that you will need to follow or you will not be allowed to participate in this
learning activity. The rule is that you will not be allowed to eat any of your M & Ms until the
end of this learning activity. As I just said, if you do eat any of your M & Ms before the
learning activity is over, you will not be allowed to continue to participate, and your M & Ms
will be taken from you. You may now open up your bag of M & Ms and start to count. Once
you have counted your M & Ms, write down the number on the line next to step 2. After
writing down your number, I would like you to sort your M & Ms into piles based on their
color. This will help you with the next step.

I will walk around the room to assist any student who may need help.

After the students have finished counting and writing their numbers down on their
worksheets, we will move on to step 3. Now I want everyones eyes focused on the
smartboard. We need to figure out what our numerator and denominator will be for each color
in order to complete the next step. Does anyone know what a numerator and denominator
is?

Let several students answer.

A numerator represents the top number of a fraction, and the denominator represents the
bottom number of a fraction. So, for example, if I am at a birthday party and I have a large
cheese pizza that I need to split into 6 even pieces so that each person gets one slice, each
person would get 1/6 of the pizza. In other words, one person would get one slice out of the
six slices that are there (I will draw a visual utilizing the idoc camera so students can visually
see what I am talking about). One slice represents the numerator, and six pieces represents the
denominator.

Looking at step three on your worksheet, it is asking for a fraction that represents the number
of each color. What do you think the denominator or bottom number will be? Let several
students answer. The bottom number will be the total number of M & Ms that were in your
bags. Now that we know the denominator, how do you think we will find the numerator for
red M & Ms? Let several students answer.

The numerator or top number will be the number of red M & Ms that you have. So we will
put the total number of red M & Ms over the total number of M & Ms in your bag to make a
fraction. The red M & Ms is just one part of your whole bag of M & Ms. Your fraction
should look something like this. (I will write down my fraction on my worksheet utilizing
the idoc camera).

Once the students find the fraction of the first color, they will then find the fractions of the
other colors. I will go around the room to assist any student who may need help.

Once students have completed all the parts of step 3, we will move onto step 4. Step 4 asks
the students to eat one of each color M & M. After they eat one M & M of each color, they
will have to recount their total number of M & Ms. Once they count their M & Ms, they will
write their new total on the line next to step 4. Like step 3, the students will find the fraction
of each color, and write it on the line that corresponds to that color.

I will walk around the room and assist any student who may need help. Once I observe that
the students are finished, I will divide the students into pairs to complete a short M & M
fraction word problem. I will pair the students based on who works well together, but also
based on learning abilities. For example, I might pair a high ability student with a low ability
student.

The students should have at least five minutes to work in pairs at their desks to complete the
word problem. Once I observe that the students are basically finished, I will call on a pair to
share their answer with the class by coming up to the idoc camera to show their work. I will
allow for three or four pairs to come up depending on time so we can see as a class all the
different ways to solve the word problem.

Once we have completed and discussed the M & M fraction word problem, I will collect the
papers, and tell the students that they may now eat their M & Ms

Closure and cleanup

Tell the students that they can eat their M & Ms quietly at their desks, but they need to throw
away any wrappers in the garbage can before beginning to eat.
One student will walk around to collect the M & M worksheets.
I will write in the teacher agenda utilizing the idoc camera what the math homework for
tonight is which will be to do one fraction worksheet out of the fraction learning packet.
Tell the students to put their binders away once they have their homework written down.
Tell the students to have a sharpened pencil ready for Social Studies. Once they have a
sharpened pencil, the class should be sitting quietly showing me they are ready to start social
studies.

H. DIFFERENTIATION

I believe that at least 75% of the students in the class will meet all of the learning objectives.
If any student though is struggling to meet the required objectives, I will have Mrs. Shomo
take those students to the back table to assist them.

Any student who finishes early will be allowed to utilize my laptop and/or Mrs. Shomos
laptop to go on to Mrs. Shomos portaportal website. On her portportal website she has a ton
of interactive learning games focused on fractions. The student(s) will pick an interactive
website of their choice, and practice fractions!

I. WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO
ABOUT IT?

There could be an emergency drill during the math lesson. If a drill does occur, we will finish
the math lesson after it is over if time permits. If there is not enough time, we will finish the
lesson tomorrow. I will have the students put their m & ms into individual plastic bags, and
because they didnt get to eat their M & Ms, I will give each of them a Hershey Kiss that I
have from last weeks social studies test.

Because Mother Nature has been full of surprises this semester, a snow day could occur. If a
snow day occurs, the lesson will be presented the following school day.