This week I will be writing about how I have used my knowledge gained in math class and applied this experience in an interdisciplinary project. To be more precise, I used my knowledge of mathematics to develop a unit plan for mathematics. This unit plan was a collaborative assignment for my assessment course. My colleges and I choose to focus our assignment on the grade eight mathematics curriculum expectations for circles. We divided up the unit into five separate lessons.
First, we decided to developed a lesson plan for assessment for learning. This required developing a lesson that would assess student's previous learning. To do so we proposed to test students on their knowledge and ability to apply formulas for measuring the area and perimeter of rectangles. If students are proficient in these latter capacities it seemed appropriate to move on to measuring circles. The second lesson plan required students to measure and apply the formula for calculating the area of a circle, while the third lesson plan required students to measure and apply the formula for calculating the circumference of a circle. Lessons two and three are perhaps the most crucial parts of the unit. If students are able to comprehend how to calculate the area and circumference of a circles successfully and consistently, they should be able to complete the rest of the unit without too much difficulty. It was for this reason that extra time would be allotted to lesson two and three depending on how students in class progressed as a whole.
Lessons four and five were intended to be a little more fun and interactive for students. Lesson four focused on a group project. For this project students are asked to complete a scavenger hunt. Their goal was to go around the class and the school measuring different circles for either their circumference or their area. Lesson five centered around an independent project. This project required students to discover and record measurements for both the area and circumference of three different circles outside of school.
I thought organizing a unit plan was a great way to see long term instructional planning coincide with long term student learning. I feel like I have not yet received enough experience lesson planning with a long term strategy in mind until this opportunity. I think that this will be a useful in the future and especially in term of mathematics where it is vital that students comprehend fundamentals before moving on to larger projects. I think this project would have been a lot more difficult if I had not had the experience gained from my mathematics course this semester.
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