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HighLevelMathTask
SolutionTool

Name:___TerriConway___

HighLevelTask:___GreaterThan,LessThanandEqual___

Probingquestionsforthistaskmightbe:
1.Howcanwetellwhichnumberisbiggerthantheother?
2.Lookingatthissymbol(>)whatdoyouthinkitcouldtellusabouttwonumbers?
3.Whichwayshouldthesymbol(>,<)befacingwhenwelookattwonumbers?
4.Whathappensifwearecomparingtwoofthesamenumbers?
Solution1
19____23
Studentlooksatthetensplaceanddecideswhatnumberisbigger.Studentinserts(<)symbolmaking
thesentence19islessthan23.
Followupquestionsthatprobestudents
understandingofthissolution.

Followupquestionsthatextendoradvancestudent
thinkingaboutthissolution.

Whydidyoulookatthe1andthe2whendeciding Whydidyouuse(<)symbol?
whichnumberwaslarger?
Doyouknowwhatthedifferenceisusing(>)
Whichnumberisbigger10or20?
insteadof(<)?
Studentsmightnotunderstandthedifferencebetweenlessthanandgreaterthan,dependingonwhich
waythesymbolisfacing.

Solution2
19____23
Studentlooksattheonesplacetoseewhichnumberisgreaterthan.

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Followupquestionsthatprobestudents
understandingofthissolution.

Followupquestionsthatextendoradvancestudent
thinkingaboutthissolution.

Whydidyoulookattheonesplacefirstbefore
thetens?

Ifthenumberswerebothinthe20s,whatwould
youlookattotellwhichonewaslarger?

Doyouthinkthat10isgreaterthan20?

20____23?

Thestudentcouldpossiblyseethat9isgreaterthan3andpick23asthebiggernumberignoringthetens
place.
Theyareusedtodoingthiswhenaddingandsubtracting.
Solution3
Studentputsthesymbolfacingthewrongnumber.

Nowwhichnumberislargerthantheother?
LetsthinkaboutAllytheAlligator,shewantsto
eatthebiggestnumber.Whatnumberwouldshe
eat?

NowthatAllytheAlligatorpickedhernumber,
whichdirectionwouldhismouthpoint?
Ifwewantedtoreadthissentence,wherewould
westart?

Theymightmisinterprethowtoreadagreaterthanandlessthansentence.

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REVISED LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Your Name: _____Terri Conway ______
Date: ___March 4, 2016___

Total Lesson Duration: _____________________________

Topic: ___Greater Than, Less Than, Equal____

Grade: ___1st___

Goal(s):
Students will be able to identify which of two numbers is greater
than the other.
Familiarize students with less than, greater then equal symbols
and when they are used.
Be able to read a sentence using greater than or less than
symbols.
Common Core:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.NBT.B.3
Compare two two-digit numbers based on meanings of the tens and
ones digits, recording the results of comparisons with the symbols >,
=, and <.

Materials & Resources Needed:

White board/poster paper to write in front of the class
Alligator
M&Ms
Plates
Paper and pencils for students
Sequencing Group Work

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My lesson will be Whole group carpet to whole group desks

individual practice.
My class doe not know how to work in groups or partners. The most
successful way I have observed instruction in my class is through
whole group discussion.
Using the five practices I plan on:
Anticipating how students will look at my tasks and what possible
answers they might have. I have looked into how some
misconceptions could affect our discussion and completion of the
task.
Monitoring how students are thinking about the task and use
questions that assess the way they are thinking about the tasks.
Selecting students that I know are going to help support my
lesson and can handle volunteering for me. I have carefully
selected two types of problems that will have them think two
ways about solving these kinds of problems.
Sequencing the order of my tasks as well as when and where I do
them (ex: the carpet, then to their desks) to help with student
focus
Connecting the my tasks together. How we move from using the
alligator to help us choose the bigger number to using the tens
and ones places. I also am using a real life connection here.
Academic, Social and Linguistic Support (Provide 3 specific ways
in which you will use academic, social, and linguistic resources to
support the learning of your students. Locate these ways across the
three parts of your lesson (Launch, Explore, Discuss). These supports
should reflect ideas from our course readings)

When introducing the vocabulary, I am planning on using words

they already know smaller, bigger to scaffold their learning of
less than and greater than.
My students have a lot of behavioral issues, and I plan on
changing the scenery in the middle of the lesson to help my
restless learners.
I am also planning on using big pieces of paper in front of the
class so that everyone can see what I am doing.
If a student is just not grasping the information, I plan on using
probing questions to help them find the answer on their own.
(seen in my lesson).

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LAUNCH (___10____ minutes)

Assume I am your teacher substitute for this lesson. You want to ensure
that I understand what you want me to do in all three parts of your
lesson. So, for the Launch, describe what you will do and say in order
to (a) help students understand the purpose of this lesson and (b) get
them interested in the lesson. What are you going to show them? Ask
them? Tell them? How are you going to raise their curiosity? What
expectations are you going to communicate to them? How are you
going to activate their in-school and out-of-school experiences related
to this topic? Feel free to organize all these things that you will do and
say in some order (e.g., list, diagram, visual), so I as your substitute
can follow your plan easily.
Activity Done at the carpet:
Teacher: Hello class! Today I brought a special friend with me and her
name is Ally! Can anyone guess what kind of animal she is?
Students: Alligator!
Teacher: Yes! Now before I bring her out, there is something you should
know about her. She is a very hungry alligator, and when she is
choosing to eat something she always chooses the bigger option. She
is not very good at counting so she needs your help deciding what she
is going to eat.
I need two volunteers, I am only going to call on someone who has got
their legs crossed and sitting quietly. Allys favorite food are M&Ms.
Here we have two plates of M&Ms. (Student 1) is going to hold this
plate, (student 1) can you count the number of M&Ms on your plate for
us? Student counts 19 M&Ms and the teacher writes 19 on the board.
(Student 2) will you count the number of M&Ms on your plate for us?
Student counts 23 M&Ms. So we have 19 M&Ms on this plate, and 23
on this plate. If Ally wants the most M&Ms she can have, whos plate is
she going to pick?
Students: (Student 2)s plate!
Teacher: Great! Now when we compare these two numbers, we use a
similar symbol to Ally the alligator and it looks like this: write the
greater than symbol on the board in between the numbers 19 and 23

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with the open side facing the 23. Can anyone tell me why I made open
side of the symbol facing the 23?
Students: Because the 23 is bigger than the 19.
Teacher: Great! Can someone tell me how they know that 23 is bigger
than 19?
Students: Because it is!
Teacher: When comparing numbers, which side should we look at first,
the tens place or the ones place?
Students: Tens place!
Teacher: Good! Now when we look at the tens place, we decide which
number is bigger. So when we look these two numbers, which is bigger
10 or 20?
Students: 20!
Teacher so we automatically know that 19 is going to be less than 23
because of the tens place so we dont need to look at the ones places.
Can anyone tell me why when we would need to look at the tens place,
AND the ones place?
Students: If the tens place is the same number!
Teacher: Youre right! We are going to look at this using an example of
comparing numbers in our very own class today.
Can I have everyone return to their seats for the next part of our
activity?

EXPLORE (__10__ minutes)

Students will be working (describe arrangement) on the following highlevel task (include task here).
Insert your charts here displaying possible student solutions and
specific questions you will ask to assess and advance students
thinking). Specify how you will notice and record (monitor) the
students ideas that are at play.

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What would you do to keep students engaged? What would you do if a

student doesnt understand the task at all (e.g., cannot seem to get
started)? What would you do if a student finishes early?
Boys vs. Girls task at their desks:
Teacher: Okay, now I am going to call on someone to do a job for me. I
am only looking for someone who has their pockets on their chair and
sitting quietly. (Student 3), will you please count the number of girls
that are in our class today out loud for us? I only want to hear (student
3)s voice okay?
Student 3: 12311 girls in the class.
Teacher: Alright so we have 11 girls today in class. Write 11 girls on the
piece of paper in front of the class. Now I need another volunteer.
(Student 4), will you count the number of boys in the class out loud for
us?
Student 4: 12313 boys in the class.
Teacher: Write 13 boys on the piece of paper in front of the class. Now I
am going to have this side of the room compare the number of girls vs
the number of boys in the class, and this half of the room is going to
compare the number of boys vs. girls in the class.
Place two large white pieces of paper on each side of the room in front
of each group of students. Write 11____13 on the piece of paper on
the side comparing girls vs. boys. On the other piece of paper write
13____11.
Now, can I have this side of the room copy what I wrote on the piece of
paper in front of them? And can I have this side of the room write their
sentence on this piece of paper?
Everyone write down their sentence? Next I need you to place this
symbol on the blank in between the numbers to tell us which one is
greater than the other.
I need someone to tell me what they did first when they looked at the
two numbers.
Students: Looked at the tens place! (if there is silence ask: Did you look
at the tens place? Or the ones place?

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Teacher: Great! But what did you do when you noticed they were both
in the 10s?
Students: Looked at the ones place to see which number was bigger.
Teacher: Awesome! So now can this side of the room comparing girls
vs. boys, can someone tell me which way they put the symbol?
Students: The open part is facing the 13.
Teacher: Great! Can you tell me why you did this?
Students: Because the 13 is the bigger number and the open part of
the symbol points towards the bigger part.
Teacher: Thank you! Now the students that compared the boys vs.
girls. Which way did you point your symbol?
Students: Students: The open part is facing the 13.
Teacher: Great! Can you tell me why this symbol is not facing the same
way and this one?
Students: Because the numbers are in different places.
Teacher: Great! And the open side of the symbol always faces towards
the:
Students: bigger number!
Teacher: Now we are going to read these sentences together. When we
look at the girls vs the boys, we start to read- everyone altogether- 11
is. what than 13. Pointing at each number as it is said aloud.
Students: smaller!
Teacher: Yup, the way to say smaller when we talk about two numbers
is less than, so lets read it again altogether: 11 is less than 13!
Great! Lets do this with the boys vs. girls side. Pointing at each number
as it is said aloud. 13 is what than 11.
Students: bigger!
Teacher: Yup, and when we say bigger we mean greater than. Lets
read it again out loud: 11 is greater than 13 now this one: 13 is

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greater than 11.

DISCUSS (_____ minutes)

Sequence the solution strategies that you anticipated in the previous
Explore part of this lesson.
In what order would you want these solutions to be shared/presented?
In what ways would this order contribute to develop students
understanding of the learning goal? What would you be doing during
this sharing time? What would your students be doing?
How are you going to ensure that everyone pays attention during this
sharing time?
Write specific questions you would ask during this time so students
can: (a) expand on, debate, and question the solutions and ideas being
shared, (c) make connections across strategies presented, (d) begin to
form generalizations. Finally, state specific ways in which you will invite
students to help you reflect about what they learned.
The order I want these presented is
Have the students be able to tell which number is bigger than
the other.
Have them explain how they knew which number was bigger.
Talk about order when looking at the tens and ones place to
compare numbers.
Then have them learn how to insert a symbol.
Then the students will learn why the symbol could face two
different ways.
Last have them be able to read the number sentence.
I think that by sequencing events this way, it uses the first things we
learn to help them with the last things we will learn in the lesson. The
tasks keep building off one another. During this sharing time I will be
directing the lesson. I expect my students to be participating with me
and answering my questions as we learn. When it is time for them to
do the task, I expect them to follow along on their paper in front of
them so they have practice writing the symbols.
During sharing time, I plan on reminding them many times that I only
call on students that are sitting quietly and raise their hand. I will not

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call on anyone that shouts out an answer. I also hope that by doing one
part of the lesson on the carpet, and one part of the lesson at their
desks they can focus a little longer than just staying in one place.
(In my dialogue I have may questions that I ask to help for a, b, and c.)