Jennifer Thomas

Third Grade
November 14
th
, 2013/8:45 & 10:30
November 7
th
, 2013

A. TITLE/TYPE OF LESSON: Area and Perimeter Monsters/Area and Perimeter practice

B. CONTEXT OF LESSON
-Students are studying shapes and polygons. They have been learning about the different
kinds of polygons and simple 3-D shapes. They will move into measuring area and
perimeter right after learning about shapes. Before this lesson, students will already have
been exposed to measuring and determining area and perimeter. This lesson comes in as a
reinforcement and practice of area and perimeter while allowing students the opportunity
to be creative.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Understand what are the
broad generalizations the
students should begin to
develop? (These are
typically difficult to assess
in one lesson.)
Know what are the facts,
rules, specific data the
students will gain through
this lesson? (These
knows must be assessed
in your lesson.)
Do what are the specific
thinking behaviors students
will be able to do through
this lesson? (These will also
be assessed in your lesson.)
1. Students will
understand that the
space inside of a
shape can be
calculated in order
to determine what is
needed to fill the
space of an object.
1. Students will know
how to determine
and calculate the
space inside of a
shape. They will
know this as area.
1. Students will either count
the spaces inside of the
shape or use the specified
formula in order to
determine the amount of
space taken up inside of the
shape.
2. Students will
understand that the
perimeter will give
you the distance
around a shape in
order to determine
what is needed to
make the distance
around a shape.
2. Students will know
how to determine
and calculate the
distance around the
shape. They will
know this as
perimeter.
2. Students will count the
units around the shape or
use the specified formula in
order to determine the
distance/measurement
around the outside of the
shape.

D. ASSESSING LEARNING
1. Students will create an area and perimeter monster, and they will correctly calculate
and determine the area of each piece of their monsters body piece. They will label
the area on the actual body part.
2. Students will create an area and perimeter monster, and they will correctly calculate
and determine the perimeter of each piece of their monsters body piece. They will
label the perimeter on the actual body part.
3. Students will correctly determine the area and perimeter of the Cheetz-it worksheet.

Jennifer Thomas
Third Grade
November 14
th
, 2013/8:45 & 10:30
November 7
th
, 2013

E. RELATED VRIGINIA SOLS
1. Fine Arts SOLs
a. 3.3 The student will identify craftsmanship in works of art.
b. 3.4 The student will use imaginative and expressive strategies to create works
of art.
2. Math SOLs
a. 3.9 The student will estimate and use U.S. Customary and metric units to
measure:
i. d) area and perimeter.
b. 3.10 The student will
i. a) measure the distance around a polygon in order to determine
perimeter; and
ii. b) count the number of square units needed to cover a given surface in
order to determine area.
F. MATERIALS NEEDED
Grid paper copied on construction paper
Glue
Scissors
Markers, crayons, colored pencils
Tissue paper
Feathers
Paint
Scrap pieces of paper and fabric
Google eyes
Aluminum foil
Cheez-its
Copied Cheez-it worksheet
Copied worksheet for labeling the area and perimeter
Large white paper
G. PROCEDURE
1) Day One (Tuesday):
a. Preparation of Learning Environment:
a. Pass out papers for students to glue into notebook
b. Have interactive journal ready to go
b. Engage-Introduction of the Lesson:
a. Ask students Has anyone ever heard of area and perimeter?
i. If students have, I will ask them what they might know. If
students have not, I will start by explaining, Perimeter is the
measure of the distance around a polygon, and the area is the
measure of the space inside of the polygon.
ii. A polygon is any closed figure with straight sides.
c. Implementation of Lesson:
Jennifer Thomas
Third Grade
November 14
th
, 2013/8:45 & 10:30
November 7
th
, 2013

a. Have students open their notebooks: Have the students glue in their
definitions of area and perimeter, and the picture showing the students
what the perimeter measures/what the area measures.
b. Students will receive a precut figure, and they will label the area and
perimeter of the figure.
c. Next, I will have students take out their whiteboards and markers. I
will create about 2 shapes for students to determine the area and
perimeter of.
i. For the first shape, I will ask the students how they might
determine the area or perimeter.
ii. For the second shape, I will have the students determine on
their own the area and perimeter and write it on their
whiteboard. I will walk around to see the students answers.
iii. If the students seem to understand this idea, I will move on to
the cheez-it activity. If students are struggling, I will make
another shape. Once the students determine the area and
perimeter of the third shape, I will have a student make a shape
for the entire class.
d. Pass out worksheets and cheez-its for the lesson
i. Explain the directions (modeling the first one for the students):
You are going to determine the area and perimeter of each
figure by filling the shapes in with cheez-its.
ii. Demonstrate how the students count each edge of each cheez-it
to determine the perimeter of the figure. Demonstrate how the
students count each cheez-it (or block) to determine the area.
iii. Students will complete the worksheet with a partner.
iv. While students are completing the worksheets, I will walk
around and make sure that students understand how to count
the area and perimeter of the figure.
v. I will collect the worksheets when the students are finished. If
students finish early, I will have a worksheet with 5 problems
that give a specific area or perimeter, and the students have to
draw a figure that has that specified area or perimeter.
d. Closure:
a. I will ask students What is the area? How do you figure out the area
of a polygon?
b. I will ask students What is perimeter? How do you figure out the area
of a polygon?
e. Clean-up:
a. Students will eat their cheez-its and throw their trash away.
b. Students will pack up and get in line.
2) Day Two (Thursday): Creative art portion
a. Preparation of Learning Environment
Jennifer Thomas
Third Grade
November 14
th
, 2013/8:45 & 10:30
November 7
th
, 2013

Set up supplies at the back table: Grid paper, large construction paper,
paint, aluminum foil, tissue paper, feathers, pompoms, extra design
papers, glue, scissors, paint brushes
b. Engage-Introduction of the Lesson (5 minutes)
Begin review of area and perimeter
Who can tell me what area is?
How would you determine the area of a shape?
Who can tell me what perimeter is?
How would you determine the perimeter of a shape?
What is the formula for determining the area of a rectangle and square?
What about a triangle?
What is the formula for determining the perimeter of a rectangle and
square?
c. Implementation of the Lesson
Begin the lesson with the Smart Exchange lesson about area and
perimeter:
http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=11233206-597b-4d51-
8f4c-612865209811 (10 minutes)
o Have the students answer and respond to the topics in the lesson.
o Call on students to come up to the board to answer questions.
Explain what students will do for their creative area and perimeter
monster or creature. (40 minutes)
o You are going to make an area and perimeter monster.
o You will determine the pieces that you want to use in order to
create your monster or creature.
o There is construction grid paper in order for you to create your
monster.
o You must use squares and rectangles to make the parts of your
monster.
o You must have a head, body, and some sort of legs and/or arms.
o You must make sure you determine the area and perimeter of the
head, body, and legs/arms. You will write the area and perimeter
on the back of your piece of construction paper. You will label
Head:
Body:
Arms/legs: (see example)
o You do not have to include any kind of fingers, toes, feet, hair,
etc. in determining the area and perimeter of your creature.
o You may add any color, facial features, hair, jewelry, accessories,
etc. that you would like. Make sure you are creative!
o Please do your best work and make it neat.
o Are there any questions?
Jennifer Thomas
Third Grade
November 14
th
, 2013/8:45 & 10:30
November 7
th
, 2013

While students are working on their monsters, I will walk around and
make sure students are creating their monster properly. I will redirect any
students who are confused or not calculating area and perimeter correctly.
d. Closure
When students are finishing up, I will make sure there are no questions.
Students will begin the cleanup process soon.
e. Clean-up
5 minutes before class is over, students will stop and clean up.
Students will put all the materials away and clean up their area.
Students will turn in their monster/creature so that I can assess whether
they know how to determine area and perimeter.

H. DIFFERENTIATION
For students who are excelling with this project, I will ask them to add more
pieces. For students who finish early, they will complete a versatile worksheet.
For students who are struggling to understand, I will give them precut pieces and
ask them to determine the area OR perimeter of them. Once they determine one or
the other, they will create their monster using these pieces instead of making their
own. It could be that they are just having trouble making the pieces but do know
how to calculate the area and perimeter. However, if they are struggling to
calculate the area and perimeter of the precut pieces, it will give me the
opportunity to show them one on one how to determine the area/perimeter.

I. WHAT COULD WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO
ABOUT IT?
1. There could be a fire drill. Students will stop what they are doing, and I will instruct
them to follow the proper procedures for the fire drill. When the students return, they
will continue working. If they do not finish, they will finish the following day.
2. It could take students longer than expected to create their monster. Students will use
the first 20 minutes of math the next day to finish up their monsters.

Lesson Implementation Reflection

I. How did your actual teaching of the lesson differ from your plans? Describe the changes and
explain why you made them.

- One thing that was extremely different than my original plans is the entire first day. I
never originally planned on teaching the actual topic of area and perimeter; but when I
can in to discuss my written lesson plan a week before teaching my lesson, my
cooperating teacher had me add the entire first day. This included me introducing and
teaching area and perimeter to the students. I made this change from the request from my
teacher, which really made me nervous. I had to introduce and teach a concept from the
beginning. Another thing that was different from my lesson plan was that I decided not to
use my smart board lesson. I originally decided to use my smart board lesson as a review
Jennifer Thomas
Third Grade
November 14
th
, 2013/8:45 & 10:30
November 7
th
, 2013

for the second day. I wanted to find a good smart board lesson for the first day, but I
could not get the one I wanted to view/use to load on my computer. The one I wanted to
use was a smart board lesson that involved the use of geoboards. Because I could not get
the smart board lesson to load, I decided to use examples on a geoboard and displayed
them on the document camera. I had students write the area and perimeter of the squares
and rectangles I displayed on their whiteboards. This worked well, but the students would
have enjoyed using their own geoboards a lot more than just seeing them on the board.
- The last thing that I did was different was that I did not actually use my original smart
board lesson. As I was reviewing, I did not think that I would have time to review the
smart board lesson and for the students to complete their monster; so I did not get to use
it. After not using it the second day, I regretted not using my original smart board lesson
on the first day of my lesson. Other than these few changes, I did not really differ from
my original lesson plan.

II. Based on the assessment you created, what can you conclude about your impact on student
learning? Did they learn? Who learned? What did they learn? What evidence can you offer that
your conclusions are valid?

- Looking back at my assessment pieces, I would say that students did learn area and
perimeter. On the first day, the students completed a cheez-it packet. I think my
conclusion is valid because every student answered the problems correctly, with only a
few mistakes. Students from both the higher level class and lower level class were able to
correctly determine the area and perimeter for the figures on the cheez-it activity.
- When it came time to find the area and perimeter of the monster/creature they created,
many students miscounted. However, they have lines drawn around their figures from
where they counted the perimeter around their body pieces; and many students have
numbers, lines or dots drawn inside of their body pieces from where they counted the
squares inside of the pieces to determine the area. I think many students had trouble
counting the really big pieces that they made, but many of these students also used lines,
dots, or nothing. This tells me they know how to find area and perimeter, but they have
lost count when trying to count the big pieces. When I looked back at the listed area and
perimeter for many of the big animals, they have miscounted. However, I think they still
had the concept of area and perimeter because many of those students have marks inside
and around their pieces, which shows me they still know what they were doing in order to
determine area and perimeter. Also, while I walked around to assist students, they were
counting inside and around and properly labeling which number went with area and
perimeter. Also, when I would walk around and assist students, I would ask them which
one was area and which one was perimeter; and most, if not all, students were able to tell
me which one was which.

III. Describe at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice in a
better or more thorough way if you were to teach this lesson again.

Jennifer Thomas
Third Grade
November 14
th
, 2013/8:45 & 10:30
November 7
th
, 2013

- I think one thing that I could have done to incorporate developmentally appropriate
practice better, was to have included a bigger challenge for students who were more
advanced and for those students who were lower. The students who were more advanced
finished early, and the students who did not understand area and perimeter as well had a
difficult time finishing their creature without a lot of support. I think I could have limited
the process down for the lower kids. I could have each kid cut out the head all at one
time, and determine the area and perimeter. Then, I would have had them make their
body and determine the area and perimeter. Lastly, I would have had them make their
legs or arms and determine their area and perimeter. Then the students would be free to
glue down their creature and add the other extras that they would like. The process would
be scaffolded for the lower students and at a much slower pace.
- Another thing I could have done was incorporate examples that labeled the measurements
of each side of a shape. This is when the students had to add up all the measurements
around the outside of the shape to determine the perimeter. However, I only had the
students count the lines around the outside and the squares on the inside. If I had more
than one day to actually teach area and perimeter, I would have incorporated this into the
next day. I also would have added a second lesson day where students had more practice
determining area and perimeter of given shapes before the students were set free to make
shapes on their own, where they make the area and perimeter. One lesson I would have
done is to make shapes by marking them off using the tiles on the floor in the hallways
and tape for the students to go around and draw, find the area, and find the perimeter. At
this age, students need a lot of exposure to concepts before they fully understand them
and are ready to be assessed on them. Adding more experiences with the concepts will
allow students to have more opportunities to interact and practice with the concepts,
which is what they need at a young age.

IV. Based on the assessment data you collected what would you do/teach next if you were the
classroom teacher?

- If I were the classroom teacher, I would have a review of perimeter and area for the lower
level students first. After a short review, I would move into measuring. I would have
students learn how to use a ruler in inches, centimeters, yards, feet, and meters. Once
students have mastered measuring with rulers, I would move into having students
measure the sides of different polygons to find the perimeter using inches and
centimeters. This will help students find the relationship of perimeter being a measure of
the distance around a polygon. I would also have students use centimeter cubes to fill in
the surface of a polygon to determine how many units are needed in order to cover the
inside of the figure or shape. Students have mostly mastered the idea of area and
perimeter, the only thing that will be the biggest challenge is remembering which one is
which. Once students have mastered measuring the perimeter of figures, I would move on
to comparing and contrasting different kinds of plane and solid geometric figures by
identifying the number of edges, angles, vertices, and faces.

Jennifer Thomas
Third Grade
November 14
th
, 2013/8:45 & 10:30
November 7
th
, 2013

V. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced
about young children as learners?

- One thing that really struck me during this lesson was that students need a set of concrete
directions to be used as a reference. The first time I taught this lesson; there was question
after question about what they were supposed to be doing. I only verbally explained what
they would be doing, but I should have realized that students need something concrete to
hold in their hands as a reference. I think that this also involved a lot of different steps, so
I could have broken it down even further for them. For the first class, the higher ability
group, I should have cut out a head and then determined the area and perimeter of it. I
should have modeled a little more clearly than I did when I taught it. Some students also
became really confused because I only had one spot for their body, but some students
had used more than one body piece. I told the students to only use one body part that they
would find the area and perimeter of, but they were still confused. I had one student who
decided he was going to make three body pieces and then count the area and perimeter of
it. He enjoyed doing it, but it took him a long time, which prohibited him from finishing
the whole monster. I think I threw the students off because I used more than one body
piece, and the students modeled it after mine by adding more than one body piece. I
should have used a simpler model.
- Although I ran into students from the first class having a lot of questions, I found that
their creatures and monsters were much more creative and thought out than the second
group of students. For the second group of students, I cut out a head, and then I had
modeled writing the area and perimeter. Then I explained that they would then do the
body piece and follow up with the arms or legs. The second group did not have nearly as
creative monsters and creatures as the first group, and I do not know whether or not
modeling it for them had something to do with it.
- Even though many students modeled their creature or monster after mine, and they were
instructed to make anything they wanted, they still modeled their creatures after what I
had done. I think next time I would not create an entire model, but instead, I would model
the process. I think this would allow for more creativity.

VI. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced
about teaching?

- One thing that has been reinforced to me about teaching is that students need to have
opportunities for interaction and practice with the concepts. When planning a lesson,
teachers need to have a slow and easy transition into new ideas and concepts. After a
slow transition, the students need a good solid explanation if it is just something that they
need to know. If it is something that students need to understand, a good, strong lesson
that scaffolds students to their own understanding is very important. After students have
had a strong foundational experience with a concept, students need to have continuous
exposure and experiences with the concept before it can really be processed and
understood. Students are not going to just know and understand something after you
Jennifer Thomas
Third Grade
November 14
th
, 2013/8:45 & 10:30
November 7
th
, 2013

teach it to them only one time. They will not remember it without multiple meaningful
experiences/interactions with it.
- Another thing that was reinforced about teaching for me was that you should always have
extra things to do. I knew students could always do multiplication practice with their
flashcards when they finished early, but I did not have anything extra planned once the
students finished their monster or creature. I thought that they would take the entire time
to work on their creatures, but the first class had a fair amount of students finish early. I
had the students who wanted to present their creature present, but I wish I had something
concrete planned in case they finished early. This lends itself into thinking on your feet
for something that students can do when they have a few spare minutes but not enough
time to start something big or involved.
- I also think that incorporating the arts into a unit or lesson will help students to gain
meaningful experiences with the ideas or concepts in a way that students can freely
express themselves.

VII. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced
about yourself?

- One thing that I have learned about myself is that I need to not be so nervous. I am
always nervous that I am not going to do well or the students will not understand what I
teach. However, it felt really good to hear the students really remember what I taught
them about area and perimeter from the first lesson. I just need to remember to relax
instead of be so nervous.
- Another thing that I learned about myself is that I really like to use hands on and
interactive materials. I do not really like the students sitting there and watching me
lecture to them. I think students have more fun and get more out of hands on and
interactive lessons/activities. I want to strive to use things like the smart board or
manipulatives like geoboards as much as possible. Along those lines, I would also like to
incorporate creative art more often. There is so many creative things that can be done
with geometry, and my students are learning about different shapes and things like
rays/angles/lines/line segments/ points. These ideas and concepts would flow really well
into creative art activities.