Mayanne Kim

ITE 325
March 15, 2014
ITE 325 Lesson Plan Format

Name Mayanne Kim Title: Measuring Bodies and Making Comparisons

Grade Level and Setting Preschool (3-4 year olds)

Date Taught 3/12/14 3/13/14 Duration 10-10:30 am Number of Students 16

Overarching Mathematical Goal(s):
Children will be able to measure their body by using a measuring tool and count these
objects (e.g. blocks)
Children will be able to use comparative words (e.g. taller, shorter, smaller etc.) to
compare the height of their body to the height of other children.

Consider Your Students Needs:
Considering All Students:
Children have had practice counting past 10 as a group.
Many of them can rote count up to 10, and few can rote count beyond 10.
As a class, children and the teacher count the days of the month up to the current day.
Children have had some practice counting items and pointing to each item as it is
counted.
Children have had some practice, with adult help, identifying "more" and "less".
Definitions in kid-friendly language:
o Measurement: See how many blocks it takes to get to get from Student As foot
to head
o Height: How tall or short something is

For English Language Learners:
I dont feel many modifications of this activity will be necessary for English Language
Learners because we will be working in small groups. They will get extra support if
needed. If they have trouble with saying certain numbers, I would allow them to count
in the language they are comfortable with and saying the number in English afterwards.
I will also provide vocabulary for the children in kid-friendly language (e.g.
Measurement, Height).

For Students with Special Needs:
I will have these students in a smaller group with me so they can have extra support
when placing blocks and counting their blocks. If they have trouble counting, I could
provide them longer blocks to measure with and count.

Kim - 2


Materials Needed:
Each student will need:
1. Chart paper
2. Measurement tools (e.g. blocks)
Teacher will need:
1. Pen to trace students
2. Camera

Sources:
Hawaii Early Learning Development Standards (HELDS handout)
Elementary and Middle School Mathematics Teaching Developmentally (8
th
Ed.)
http://rec.ohiorc.org/orc_documents/orc/recv2/briefs/pdf/0020.pdf

Standard/Benchmark
HELDS/HCPSIII/Common Core Content Standards:
GK.36.b Verbally count to 5
o I can count to 5
GK.48.a Verbally count to 10
o I can count to 10
GK.48.q Make comparisons among objects that have been observed
o I can use the words "taller and shorter to describe my friends
GK 48.e Children are able to: Recognize and name the number of items in a small set
(up to 5 objects).
o I can find out how many blocks I have

NCTM Process Standards:
Representation
Assessment
Observe and Ask

Formative:
Are children able to use the measuring tools appropriately? Are they lining the objects
up from foot to head to measure height?
Ask, Why are you starting from your foot and going to the top of your head? (Or vise
versa)
Ask, How many blocks are being used to measure your body? Can you count?

Summative:
Can child count up to 5 objects? 10 objects? Does child need adult help while counting?
Does child exhibit 1:1 correspondence? If so, up to what number?
Can the child determine who is taller or shorter by looking at their outline and
Kim - 3
measurement data compared to a classmates outline and measurement data?






Assessment Recording Sheets and/or Rubrics:

Name Appropriate use
of material
Count up to
what number?
1:1
correspondence
Use
comparative
language
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Activities/Instructional Strategies

INTRODUCTION (1 minute)
1. Share the morning message of, Today we will be looking at measuring height
2. Ask, Does anyone know what height means?
3. Explain measuring height means to see how tall something or how short something is
BUILDING BACKGROUND (5 minutes)
4. Refer back to the zoo, What was one really tall animal that we saw? (Giraffe) What
was one short animal we saw? (tortoise, bird)
5. Draw these animals on the chart paper
6. Share a problem with the children, Who is the tallest in the class? Who is the
shortest?
7. Say, Point to the child who you think is the tallest and ask this child to come up to the
front of the class
8. Say, Point to the child who you think is the shortest and ask this child to come up to
Kim - 4
the front of the class
9. Ask children, Who is taller? How do we know? Who is shorter?
10. Propose that another way to find out is by measuring, where we use a tool to see how
many it will take from one end to the other end
FOCUS/MINI LESSON (5 mintues)
11. Share my outline drawing and how I will use blocks to measure my height
12. Explain that height is from top to bottom or from bottom to top
13. Model how to place each block next to each other from the feet to the top of your head
14. Ask children to help me count while I point to each block
15. Model writing the number on the paper
16. Explain that we will use blocks as our measuring tools so the block center will be closed
today.
17. Explain, I will be calling you, so listen for your name so we can see how tall you are!
18. Excuse children to go to centers and call students in groups of 2 for the measuring
activity

GUIDED PRACTICE/ INDEPENDENT WORK (25 minutes)
19. Allow child to lay on the paper to trace their body
20. Allow child to follow my previous modeling by placing blocks next to the outline of the
body. Observe if they can remember the process of measuring
21. Allow child to measure their body, and begin to outline another child
22. Allow this child to cut their sheet of butcher paper off from the roll, while you have a
powerful interaction with the child measuring
23. Ask child, How can we keep track of how many blocks we used to measure our height?
24. Suggest tracing blocks or writing the number of blocks down on the chart paper
25. Ask child, Can you count the blocks to see how many blocks tall you are?
26. Show child another childs measurement and ask child Who is taller? How do you
know? Did you use more blocks than the other child?
27. Excuse child when child is finished, by this time the other child should be finished
cutting and you can have this child begin measuring
28. Invite another child to outline their body

Anticipated Student Response and Student Problems
Child does not use 1:1 correspondence to count each block teacher can ask child to
slowly count with me as we practice pointing to each block as we say the number out
loud. Child may need me to hold their hand while pointing to each block. Teacher can
also provide child with a pointer tool to hold while pointing to each block.
Child is unable to rote count each block teacher can count with them or another
student can count with them to discover the amount of blocks
Enforcing cardinality teacher will ask, How many blocks are there? if child is unable
to remember how many blocks, teacher can re-count with child and then say, There
are X amount of blocks. Can also ask, How do you know?

CLOSING (5 minutes)
Kim - 5
29. After half of the students have measured themselves, have a discussion and ask
comparative questions
a. Allow children to come up in front of the classroom (Presenting two outlines)
Ask, Who is taller? or Who is shorter?
30. Allow another day for students who have not done the activity to feel inspired to do the
activity

Any other resources needed (worksheets, data tables, etc): none
Assessment Recording Tool:
Data tool is attached for Formative and Summative Observe and Ask

Other Assessment Notes (other things students said and did):










Kim - 6

Name Appropriate
use of
material
Count up
to what
number?
GK.36.b
GK48.a
1:1
correspondence
GK.48.e
Use
comparative
language
GK.48.q
Notes
1.

2.



3.



4.



5.



6.



7.



8.


9.

10.


11.


12.


13.


14.

15.


16.
*Indicates parent did not approve Digital Media Release form
Kim - 7
Data Table

Name Appropriate
use of
material
Count up
to what
number?
GK.36.b
GK48.a
1:1
correspondence
GK.48.e
Use
comparative
language
GK.48.q
Notes
1.

8 8 Same, taller,
shorter
1 vs. 9 same height
2.


8 8 Taller Me vs. 2
3.


11 4 at first, then 7
second time
Taller Me vs. her, shes
taller
4.


8 8 N/A No answer, got
distracted
5.


8 7 at first, then 8
second time
How many? Counts
again
6.


7 7 Shorter
Me vs. her
Placed blocks
around head
7.
8 8 Taller than
Malu
How many? 4 b/c
Im 4
8.


9.

8 8 Taller Me vs. 9
10. N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

11. N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

12. N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

13.


7 4 at first, then 7
second time
Taller her vs.
me (her)
Places blocks
beyond head
14. N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

15. *


16. *
*Indicates parent did not approve Digital Media Release form






Kim - 8
Assessment Rubric

Standard Not Yet Evident Emerging Expressing Excelling
GK.36.b Verbally
count to 5
I can count to 5
GK.48.a Verbally
count to 10
I can count to 10
We do not yet
see child
attempting to
verbally count.
I can count to 2 or
3.
I can count to 5. I can count up to
10.
GK.48.q Make
comparisons among
objects that have
been observed
I can use the words
"taller and
shorter to
describe my friends

We do not yet
see child
attempting to
use comparative
language.
I can use the word
taller or shorter
to describe myself
to my friends.
I can use the
words "taller
and shorter to
describe my
friends.

- I can use the
words "taller and
shorter to
describe my
friends and/or
animals
- I also can use the
word same to
compare

GK 48.e Children
are able to:
Recognize and
name the number
of items in a small
set (up to 5
objects).
I can find out how
many blocks I have

We do not yet
see child
attempting to
recognize and
naming number
in a small set.
I can count the
number of blocks,
but need to
recount when
asked, How
many?
I can find out
how many blocks
I have and name
the number.
I can find out how
many blocks I
have, name the
number, and find
the number (up to
5 objects).
Kim - 9

Reflection Questions

1. What math concepts did you, the teacher, have to understand in order to teach this
lesson well (cite sources)?
I needed to first understand what practices are appropriate for preschool children.
Hands on activities and activities about themselves work best to keep the children engaged.
I needed to understand the definition of measurement and height for my own
reference before I attempt to convert the definition into kid-friendly language. I needed to
understand counting is more than just being able to recite numbers (Moomaw). I needed to
recognize the types of questions I needed to ask children to help build their understanding
of numbers (e.g. How many blocks did you use?). I needed to understand that cardinality,
a childs ability to understand that the last counting number said represents all the numbers
in the group (Van de Walle, Karp & Bay-Williams, p. 131), is achieved overtime with lots of
practice.

2. What experiences did students have prior to the lesson that should have helped them be
successful? What are some concepts and procedures they should have had some
understanding of to be successful? (cite sources)
The children receive practice counting past 10 throughout the day. They use the
calendar to count up to the current date. One child gets the change to point to each
number using a stick, which helps to reinforce one-to-one correspondence. This is a daily
task, so children will begin to understand that each number has a name while counting and
watching another child point to each number. They also count how long it takes for their
garage door to open for outdoor centers. It usually takes 20 seconds so the children have
practice rote counting up to 20, and beyond 20 with the calendar.
In order for the children to be successful, they need to have some understanding of
the meaning of height and measurement. I defined measurement as seeing how many
blocks it takes to get from your foot to your head. I defined height as how tall or short
something is. They also needed lots of practice rote counting and counting items before
doing this lesson. They needed to have some concept of early counting (Van de Walle, Karp
& Bay-Williams, pp. 130-131), particularly in the Corresponder level of thinking where, A
child at this level can make a one-to-one correspondence with numbers and objects, stating
one number per object. If asked How many? at the end of the count, they may have to
recount to answer (Van de Walle, Karp & Bay-Williams, p. 131). This activity also helped me
to see which students need more practice with one-to-one correspondence and cardinality.

3. Reflect on your assessment plan. Were you able to use it? Why or why not? Useful data
allows you to monitor individual, small group and whole class progress toward developing
conceptual understanding, procedural fluency and reasoning/problems solving skills. If
you were not able to collect useful data for at least half of your children, how would you
change your assessment plan?
I used a checklist as my data assessment tool and found time to use it while working
with one child at a time. While working with my first child, I almost forgot to utilize my tool
Kim - 10
as I set up for my lesson at centers. The more I used my data tool, the more comfortable I
became filling it out while interacting with the child measuring his/her body. A checklist was
an efficient way to collect data and keep track of the behavior I am looking for and
remember the questions I need to ask the child. This allowed me to collect useful data for
each child I worked with because I had behaviors that related to the standards being
assessed on my tool. I was able to indicate if the child showed certain behavior (e.g. one-to-
one correspondence) and observe the childs counting capabilities. One change I would add
to my assessment plan is having a recording device with me as I work with each child. I had
a video camera recording from a distance, however the classroom grew loud with all the
children at different centers. I would use the recording device to create individual work
samples for each child that I can review at another time. I would also be able to hear the
specific questions and answers that were said during our interaction.

4. What understandings did the children exhibit? List at least five specific things the students
did and said that are evidence of understandings. If they did not show evidence of
understanding, what would you have asked to get more information?
I presented a child with her outline and another childs outline. I asked, Are you
taller? Shorter? Or the same height? she responded, The same! I asked, How do you
know? and she replied, cause eight and eight is the same. I showed her another childs
outline and asked her the same prompt. She said she was taller because eight is bigger than
seven. She was able to practice using comparative language and recognizing that some
children are the same height. Many of the children exhibited understanding of one-to-one
correspondence, some up to four and many up to eight. Another child that was lining up her
blocks noticed that her blocks were going crooked and lined them up so they would be
straight from her feet to head. She was able to follow my modeling on how to measure. I
asked her to predict how many blocks she thinks she will need to get from her feet to head,
and she guessed seven (she ended up using nine blocks).

5. What misunderstandings did the children exhibit? List at least five specific things that
students did and said that are evidence of misunderstandings? If they did not show
evidence of misunderstandings, what could you ask to get more information?
I experienced a misunderstanding during my interaction with Joseph. After he
arranged his blocks from his feet to his head, I asked him, How many blocks did you use to
measure your height? he counted up to eight, but answered, Four and he held out four
fingers. I suggested that we count again, and we got eight blocks again. I asked him why did
he say four the first time, and he answered, Because Im four. I was able to explain to him
that four is his age, but he used eight blocks to measure his height.
When asked the question, Who is taller? Aunty May or you? on separate
interactions four children answered Me. I put our body outlines next to each other and
asked the question again. They answered, Me again. I asked them to lie down on my
paper and I marked their height on my body. I showed them afterwards and asked the
question again, and they said that I was taller. Another misunderstanding was exhibited
when comparing one childs outline to another childs outline. They were the same,
however she insisted that she was taller than her friend.
Kim - 11
When placing blocks atop their outline most of the children were able to line up the
blocks from their feet to head. One child placed continued placing blocks beyond their
head. Another child placed blocks that went around their head. I asked the child who placed
blocks beyond her head if she needed more blocks and she said yes. I explained to her that
we measure height from our feet to head or head to feet, so if our head is here (I marked it
on her paper) do we need more blocks? The visual representation helped her see that she
needed to take the block away. I gave a similar explanation to the child that continued to
place blocks around her head, while modeling how I measured my height on the outline of
my body.

6. What would you do the same and differently if you could teach this lesson again? Include
specific ideas that are related to the Process Standards (pp. 3-5), the Common Core
Standards for Mathematical Practices (pp. 5-7), Selecting Worthwhile Tasks (pp. 36-42),
Orchestrating Classroom Discourse (pp. 42-46) and/or Planning for All Learners (pp. 64-
70).
I would teach this lesson again in my own classroom. I would improve my
introduction to this lesson by finding an interesting mentor text in relation to height. My
mentor teacher read the book, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, before my lesson. I should have
chose a book that shared a story of children measuring items or their bodies to show the
class what types of behavior is appropriate when measuring (Van de Walle, Karp & Bay-
Williams, p. 38). When asking children to predict who is the tallest and who is the shortest, I
had them point to whom they thought was the tallest and shortest. Next time, I will have
children come up and stand side by side to give the class a physical representation of
height.
Children would still measure their bodies, however I would want to find a way to
display their body outlines in the classroom so they can always look and revisit their work.
Ideally, this would be a measuring center where a child can choose two friends and
compare/measure them. I would want to start at the beginning of the year and have
children track their growth throughout the year. We can use different tools throughout the
year to measure our bodies with (e.g. blocks, string, tape). We can also create a class graph
as a way to communicate the math concept of height. This allows children to see that there
are different methods of expressing ideas and math concepts (Van de Walle, Karp & Bay-
Williams, p. 4).
Overall, I felt that this activity was a worthwhile task. I was able to handle two
children at a time and I didnt have to try hard to keep them engaged. While one child was
using blocks to measure their body, I had another child lay on the butcher paper to outline
their body. I had this child cut their paper from the roll, which was a task on its own. While
this child cut their paper, the other child was just about finished lining up his/her blocks and
I was able to engage with this child.
7. If you were to teach a follow-up lesson, what would be the focus of the next lesson? What
would the specific problem/task be? (Written as it would be presented to students)
A follow-up lesson would be focused around comparing our height to that of some
of the animals we saw on our visit to the zoo. We can brainstorm as a class what are some
tall and short animals that we saw; as well as some animals we predict are our same height.
Kim - 12
We are currently learning about farm animals and we can see our height to some of these
animals as well. I would ask, What are some animals at the zoo or farm that we want to
compare our heights to? We can make a list, and look up some of the average heights of
these zoo and farm animals. I can cut yarn that represents the heights of these animals, and
we can compare the animals to our bodies. We could also try to use blocks to see how tall
these animals are in blocks.

Citations

Moomaw, S. (n.d.). early childhood building blocks. Retrieved from
http://rec.ohiorc.org/orc_documents/orc/recv2/briefs/pdf/0020.pdf

Van de Walle, J. A., Karp, K. S., & Bay-Williams, J. M. (2013). Elementary and middle school
mathematics. Pearson.