Michael Martinez

Business
Figuring Out Financial Statements
Concept Attainment Quick Plan
Section I
1. Instructional Method: I would use this method to teach accounting/finance students about
financial statements. Specifically Id use it to teach them which accounts go onto which financial
statements (Income Statement or Balance Sheet).
2. Topic and Rationale: I would teach the financial statements lesson using this method because it
provides students with the right answers. Students would be given positive exemplars and
they would have to form their own hypotheses about what the exemplars have in common. In
an introduction to business class, I could teach students the different departments that a
business can have (accounting, human resources, research and development, etc.). I could also
use concept attainment to help teach students how to prepare for and complete a job
interview. Positive exemplars would be things they should do and negative exemplars would be
things to avoid.
3. Features and Purposes: A principal purpose of this method is to encourage students to think
critically to form hypotheses after being given a set of data. This is a form of inquiry lesson that
helps students see both examples and non-examples of that data set. Once students can identify
the similarities (attain the concept) they will then be able to provide their own positive and
negative exemplars. This signifies a deeper understanding.
4. Advantages and Disadvantages: One advantage of this method is that it requires students to
think critically. Having students formulate their own hypothesis requires a higher level of
thinking. Another advantage is that a proper concept attainment lesson provides students with
good exemplars on which to base their hypotheses. I believe this is important because students
need good examples to learn. Also, assessing a students understanding is immediate. If their
hypothesis is accepted and they can provide more positive and negative exemplars, there is a
clear understanding. If their hypothesis is rejected, they know that there is some other piece to
the puzzle that they must find.
One disadvantage I can see with this model is the difficulty that comes with providing good
exemplars. Another disadvantage is the fact that it might not work for all students.
Section II
1. Learning Objective:
a. Content: SWBAT identify and categorize accounts into their respective financial
statements by completing the concept attainment activity.
b. Literacy/Numeracy: SWBAT recognize patterns and form hypotheses by taking part
in the concept attainment activity.
c. Democracy: SWBAT demonstrate intellectual curiosity by taking part in the activity
for the purpose of promoting creativity.

2. Materials Used:
a. Whiteboard/Smartboard
3. Model of Teaching and Why It Was Chosen:
a. Concept Attainment
b. I chose this model because I believe it works well for this particular subject. Also, I
like the fact that the design of the model allows teachers to constantly check for
understanding and get immediate feedback from students.
4. Key Terms:
a. Revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities, equity, income statement, balance sheet
5. Background Knowledge:
a. Students need to have a basic understanding of the different financial statements
and the types of accounts each statement lists.
b. Students will also need to know what accounts are revenues, expenses, assets,
liabilities, etc.
6. Assessment:
a. Students will participate in a class activity led by the teacher. In the activity, I will
write lists of accounts on the whiteboard or Smartboard and explain that one list
represents positive exemplars and one represents negative exemplars. Students will
then identify attributes of each exemplar and by using their previous knowledge will
form hypotheses about what they think the exemplars have in common. I will then
provide more lists and exemplars. Students will alter or keep their hypotheses. I will
present more lists until someone comes up with the correct hypothesis. Once a
students or some students have done so, they must provide both a negative a
positive exemplar that satisfies the hypothesis. To assess every student, I will have
everyone turn in a ticket-out-the-door. On that ticket, students must write down a
positive exemplar, a negative exemplar, and a short explanation explaining why
each satisfies the hypothesis.