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Personalized Implementation of the Touchstones in Module 2

Brianne Palensky

OTL 502 – Learning Theories and Models of Instruction

Colorado State University – Global Campus

Dr. Gastrid Harrigan

November 26, 2017

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Personalized Implementation of the Touchstones in Module 2

I have chosen grade 3 mathematics standard 1 from the Common Core State Standards:

3.OA.A.1: Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 5 x 7 as the total number of

objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each (2010). In my lesson plan, I will implement standards and

personal learning goals to each aspect of my teaching. As a teacher, I believe critical thinking

while planning and implementing lesson plans is vital for success.

The Standard

The first step when creating my lesson plan is to find out what my student will need to

learn. Since I am planning to teach my relative in third grade the basics of multiplication, I

referred to the Common Core Standards for 3rd grade math. These standards will be my guide

throughout my teaching. They will essentially be a do-confirm checklist, which I can refer back

to when I am planning my curriculum and teaching my lessons. To clarify in detail what my

student must learn, I will unpack the standards and thoroughly dissect each concept found in the

Common Core standard for multiplication.

Goowdin and Hubbell (2013) conducted research and found that students reported many

of their teachers to perfunctorily plod through the curriculum with little effort given to explaining

its importance or purpose. Making sure students are aware of not only what they are learning, but

why they are learning a specific concept is essential to learning. I will use these standards as a

guide during my planning and will implement engaging, interactive content into my curriculum

so that my student can fully comprehend all aspects of multiplication.

Unpacking the Standard

Goodwin and Hubbell (2013) explain that as a teacher, one of the first things you should

do when teaching standards is unpack them and determine what declarative knowledge (e.g.,
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concepts, vocabulary, facts, details) and procedural knowledge (e.g., skills, procedures, abilities)

students must acquire in order to master the standard. Unpacking the standard shows me as a

teacher what students really need to learn, based on the Common Core standards. As I was

planning my lesson, I looked for big ideas and other knowledge my student must know in order

to master multiplication.

It’s important to know where your students are in terms of declarative and procedural

knowledge so that you are aware of any essential skills they may be lacking. Goodwin and

Hubbell (2013) mention that having standards and unpacking them can help identify prior

knowledge students need in order to identify and address any gaps they may have in their prior

knowledge. Using standards and “check lists” will help me to be aware of these gaps in my

student’s education and will help me create plans to fill these gaps before moving on to the next

subject. After unpacking the standard, I discovered that my student should know the following

before I begin my first lesson on multiplication:

Declarative Knowledge. My student should know are patterns in math and strategies for

using multiplication. My student should know the following vocabulary: factor, product, equal

groups, repeated addition, array, associative property of multiplication, commutative property of

multiplication, distributive property of multiplication, equation, expression, fact family, identity

property of multiplication, multiplication, number line, product, zero property of multiplication.

My student should have a basic understanding of multiplication and know at least one fact about

it.

Procedural Knowledge. The two most important skills my student must have before

learning multiplication are addition and subtraction. My student should also know groups of,

number lines, arrays and repeated addition, as my lessons will consist of utilizing these skills to
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complete multiplication facts. Herlong, Riccomini and Witzel (2013) explain the foundation of

number sense and one-to-one correspondence must be mastered before moving into

multiplication practice.

I will use “check-ins” before I begin my lesson. These will help to determine whether my

student has the essential declarative and procedural knowledge. These check-ins will also ask the

following: What is something that is true about multiplication? What is something you would

like to learn about multiplication? After this, I will set learning goals, because I believe it’s

important to know where my student is going. The main goal of my lesson will be to develop my

student’s understanding of multiplication by using materials to model multiplication based on

equal groups.

Essential Questions

The essential questions for my student are: How can you show multiplication? Is there a

pattern in multiplication? These two questions are part of this concept’s big idea and relate to the

core standards for 3rd grade mathematics. According to McTighe and Wiggins (2013), essential

questions aim to stimulate thought, to provoke inquiry, and spark more questions, including

thoughtful student questions, not just pat answers. Both of my essential questions provoke deep

thought and will ensure my student is critically thinking about the bigger picture, rather than just

reciting multiplication tables.

Personal Learning Objectives

By translating standards into learning objectives, I can determine what my student must

know in order to accomplish this goal. When it comes to my lesson on mathematics, my student

must understand and be able to clearly calculate addition and subtraction as well as understand

multiplicative strategies for multiplication problems.

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I will use the beginning of my lesson to work with my student and help her create

personalized learning goals, using a goal setting template that includes both short-term and long-

term goals. The most basic learning goal will be to know basic multiplication facts. After my

student learns the fundamentals of multiplication, her goal will then be to recite higher number

multiplication facts. I will utilize my weekly “check-ins” to model questions where my student

will say, “I want to know if …”. This will help my student to draw conclusions and think

critically about this subject and will help me as a teacher to know what my student wants to

learn.

Critical Analysis

Using both standards and learning goals will help me as a teacher to really understand

what I need to do in order for my student to learn the most amount possible. By using teacher

directed activities based on the Common Core standards, I will bring real-world situations into

the classroom and into my student’s learning. I will also use my student’s personal learning

objectives to guide my lessons, as well as my student’s learning. By gluing my student’s learning

goals to the front of her math notebook, she will be able to access these goals each day and will

use them as a reminder of where she wants to go. After unpacking the Common Core standards, I

found that my student should be knowledgeable about groups of, repeated addition, number lines

and arrays. The Model 1 multiplication mat will be used as a critical component of my

multiplication curriculum in everyday instruction.

As a teacher, knowing difficulties and common mistakes will help me to be even more

prepared when giving my lessons. I am aware of the foundation that must be mastered before

moving to the next component of multiplication. Utilizing exit tests will be helpful to gain my

student’s knowledge of what has been learned and whether or not she is ready to move to the
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next step of my lesson. All of these components, including standards and goals will help my

lesson plans to be informative, engaging and well-written.

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Model 1:
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WAYS TO R EPRESENT MU LTI PLI CATI ON

GROUPING MODEL (GROUPS) REPEATED

OF) ADDITION

EQUATION

NUMBER LINE (JUMPS ARRAY (ROWS OF)

OF)
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References

Goodwin, B., & Hubbell, E. (2013). The 12 touchstones of good teaching: A checklist for staying

focused every day. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum

Development.

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School

Officers. (2010). Common Core Standards. Washington, D.C.: National Governors

Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers.

Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2013). Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student

Understanding. ASCD.

Witzel, B. S., Riccomini, P. J., & Herlong, M. L. (2013). Building number sense through the

common core. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, a SAGE Company.