CTE 7410

Major Assignment #3
ELD Lesson Plan
** Due in Moodle no later than midnight Sunday, end of Week 8 **

The third and final major assignment of the CTE 7410 course asks you to prepare a formal lesson
plan for a lesson that addresses the needs of ELD students. Your task is to develop a series of
related activities into a single, comprehensive lesson plan. The lesson should have enough
material for a minimum of 60 minutes.

The objective of this task is for you to describe a lesson plan with attention given to the linguistic
demands of the lesson. That is, day in and day out you naturally view your lessons from the
point of view of what content you will deliver, and how it is delivered. In this assignment, you
need to view your lesson from the point of how that content is structured linguistically for
your students.

The activities that you describe should be based on your own teaching/educational situation.
Thus, the lesson plans that I receive from all of you will describe activities related to high school
physics, 3rd grade language arts, middle school history, music, special education, and so on;
whatever context you teach. If you are a school counselor or in another non-teaching position,
you can design your lesson around a classroom context with which you are familiar, or perhaps
envision that you will give a lesson on some school-wide issue (alcohol awareness, keeping the
campus clean, school rules and policies, and so on). Regardless, be sure the activities in your
lesson plan reflect techniques or approaches or principles that are appropriate to the teaching of
English Language Learners (whether or not you typically deal with ELD students).

One approach to completing this assignment is for you to envision that you are preparing a
lesson plan for a substitute teacher. That is, you want to be sure to provide enough depth and
detail so that a substitute would understand what to do, particularly in the procedures section.
Again, pay attention to how language skills factor in to the steps of the lesson.

As an experienced teacher, you no doubt already have your own way of designing your lessons.
However, in order to simplify my review of all of the lesson plans that will be submitted for this
assignment, all lesson plans need to be presented in a standard format. Thus, please use the
outline/template below as the format for your lesson plan.

You will note this outline is utilized in the sample lesson plans provided below.

Other points to remember to focus on:

 Be sure to include linguistic objectives as well as content objectives. That is, what
linguistic outcomes do you want your students to achieve (these may incorporate
content). Also, remember that action verbs are desirable for use in stating objectives.
For example, “The students will listen to an academic lecture on ______ and will
demonstrate comprehension of the material by completing a worksheet based on the
lecture content.”
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 Similarly, make sure that you include the linguistic elements of the lesson tasks. The
object is not so much to have you describe a history lesson, for example, but how the
history content, tasks and activities are realized from a language point of view.

Your lesson plan should begin with a paragraph-length description of the background of the class
(content area, level of students, general location of this lesson in the semester, and so on) in order
to “set the stage” (schema) for me.

Format your lesson plan according to the following outline:

1. Goals (broad): What is the overall purpose or unifying theme of the lesson? Specify both
content and language goals.

2. Objectives (narrow): What are the language objectives of the lesson? Use action verbs that
specify behaviors that will lead to the final outcome. Be sure to consider how each of the
language skill areas (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) may be addressed.

3. Materials & Equipment: What do you need to arrange beforehand in order to conduct the
lesson?

4. Procedures: Step-by-step description of the lesson, including: Warm-up, a set of

activities/techniques, and closure. Be sure to focus on how the activities assist students in
comprehending the lesson’s language input and producing the required language output?

5. Assessment: How will you determine the effectiveness of the lesson? This may be formal
(quiz, turn in a worksheet) or informal (circulate around the class, looking for evidence of X,
Y, and Z).

6. Extra-class work: Extension of classroom lesson. What outside work are the students
required to do in order to complete the lesson or prepare for future lessons?

Below are several sample lesson plans. Naturally, the content, age level, and so on of these will
not be the same as for your own lesson. However, these will give you a range of context types.
Also, while there is variation among them in how this assignment was completed, you will see
that they all generally follow the same framework. Reviewing these lesson plans should guide
you in putting together your own. In them, you can see how the language aspects of the lessons
show through beyond the particular academic content.
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Lesson Plan Sample #1

Description of the class and students:

My class is a kindergarten. We have 10 students. Two students are on the autism spectrum; two
are diagnosed as oppositional defiant (ODD); one has cerebral palsy; one was born addicted to
methamphetamine; one is visually impaired; one has Down Syndrome; two do not have official
diagnoses, but have difficulty focusing and processing information (as do many of the other
students). Although none have been identified as English learners, they all have difficulty with
the language in the sense that they are often unable to express themselves in complete sentences.
There is general comprehension and the students do answer with single or two word phrases
readily. A more appropriate description for these students is that they are learning their first
language. In addition, the students who have issues with processing audio and visual information
need a lot of support with the language. Usually there is a lot of prompting and repetition.

Although the students are in a special needs class, we try to stick with a regular kindergarten
curriculum. In our school, all the kindergarten classes, including ours, collaborate and work
together on weekly, and monthly lesson plans. All classes work on the same themes and units,
and have grade level-wide presentations twice a year (they are called family nights, where
families are invited to the school for an evening of fun while the students put on a performance
that is a culmination of their experiences and work in class for those few months).

Lesson Plan:

Goals:
 Content goal: to identify the life cycle of a pumpkin plant and learn the vocabulary
important for the pumpkin plant growth (e.g. seed, sprout, plant, flower, pumpkin)

 Linguistic goals: The students will brainstorm ideas they already know about a
pumpkin; they will actively listen to the teacher read a story on the life cycle of a
pumpkin plant; they will help to retell the story in the large group using key
vocabulary with prompting from teacher; they will retell the story in small groups
through sequencing cards.

Objectives:

Content objective:
 The students will identify and demonstrate their understanding of the life cycle of a
pumpkin plant and key vocabulary through retelling the story as a large group and in
small groups

Linguistic objectives:
 The students will brainstorm ideas as a large group by sharing things they already
know about a pumpkin.
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 The students will actively listen to the story as the teacher reads aloud; they will make
connections to key vocabulary by looking at the illustrations on each page.

 After the story has been read and discussed, the students will help the teacher
complete the sentences to the story by producing the missing key vocabulary on each
page (the teacher will purposely leave out key words like “seed” or “sprout”).

 The students will work in small groups and demonstrate their understanding of the
life cycle of a pumpkin plant by:
o Looking at cards and telling what is happening in each picture using key
vocabulary;
o Sequencing the picture cards in the right order and using words like first, then,
next, and last;
o Retelling the cycle in their own words after the pictures are put in the correct
order.

Materials & Equipment:

 A medium-sized pumpkin
 Knife for carving out the top; Spoon for scooping out the seeds
 Small watering can
 Six seeds for each student (pre-dried so they can take them home); Envelopes for
each student to put six seeds in
 Chart paper and marker
 Book “Pumpkin Pumpkin” by Jeanne Titherington (big book version)
 Sequencing cards for each student
 Construction paper already cut into 14” by 5” strips, with the numbers 1 to 6
written in order along each strip (students will know where to place the first card,
second card, etc)
 Large plastic container and soil (prepared in advance) for planting the seeds after
the lesson
 Photocopy paper for each student to take home that has a simple sentence under
each picture of the life cycle of the pumpkin plant for students to “read” to their
parents, or siblings, or relatives.
 Words to the story and sequencing cards typed in Braille for the visually impaired
student to read along

Procedures:

Warm-up/Brainstorming (5 minutes)
Teacher will ask students to sit on the rug in a semi-circle. Teacher will take out the pumpkin
and ask students to identify what it is. Then invite the students to touch the pumpkin. They can
be encouraged to talk about the shape, color, size, and texture. Teacher can ask specific
questions:
 What color is the pumpkin?
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 Is the pumpkin big or small?

 What is the shape of the pumpkin?
 How does the pumpkin feel?

Lead the students into a brief discussion on how and where they think pumpkins grow. Do not
pass judgment but accept all possibilities. The students should raise their hands to answer or be
called on to share, depending on how the discussion is going. The ideas can be recorded on chart
paper either in words or drawings. Then tell the students that they will hear a story about how a
pumpkin grows. As they listen to the story, ask them to pay attention to see if their ideas are
right.

Read Aloud (15 minutes)

Teacher will read the story out loud. Use the big book version of the book since the pictures are
much larger, as is the text, for the students to follow along. The words of the text are:

Page 1: Jamie planted a pumpkin seed,

Page 2: And the pumpkin seed grew a pumpkin sprout,
Page 3: And the pumpkin sprout grew a pumpkin plant,
Page 4: And the pumpkin plant grew a pumpkin flower,
Page 5: And the pumpkin flower grew a pumpkin.
Page 6: And the pumpkin grew…
Page 7: And grew…
Page 8: And grew,
Page 9: Until Jamie picked it.
Page 10: Then Jamie scooped out the pumpkin pulp, carved a pumpkin face, and put it in
the window. But…
Page 11: He saved six pumpkin seeds for planting in the spring.

After the teacher reads the book once through, go through each page again, pointing out the key
words (seed, sprout, plant, flower, pumpkin) to reinforce the learning. Also discuss questions like
the following, where the students can make inferences from the pictures:
 Is the pumpkin seed big or small? (Small because Jamie can hold it between his fingers.)
 Are the leaves on the plant big or small? (They can guess that the leaves are big based on
the animals around the plants.)
 What colors are the flowers? (Yellow and orange.)
 What color is the pumpkin when it is still growing? (Green; point it out in the text.)
 As the pumpkin is growing larger, what color does it change into? (Orange.)
 Is the pumpkin that Jamie grew bigger or smaller than ours? (Bigger because it is even
bigger than he is!)
 Is the pumpkin heavy or light? (Heavy because he needs a wagon to pull it.)
 Why did Jamie save six seeds? (He will plant them next spring and watch pumpkins grow
again.)

Emphasize after the discussion that this is called the life cycle of a pumpkin. It starts as a seed,
and grows into a pumpkin. It needs a lot of water, sun, and care in order to grow.
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Ask the students to help the teacher read the book one more time. They will help with the key
words. The teacher will purposely leave out the words seed (pg 1), sprout (pg 2), plant (pg 3),
flower (pg 4), pumpkin (pg 5), and seeds (pg 11). She will prompt students to complete the
sentences on each page by pointing to the picture, if needed. They will be expected to say the
words in unison since it will be a single word per page.

Praise the students for doing such a great job of helping the teacher to read the book. Now they
will get a chance to tell the life cycle of a pumpkin plant by working in small groups. Students
will be grouped according to their levels (high [4 students]-intermediate [3 students]-low [3
students]).

Group Work-Sequencing (20 minutes)

The students in each group will be shown a set of cards that they will later sequence. The
teacher/instructional assistant will retell the life cycle in their own words by holding up each card
in the right order, and using the key vocabulary words. After the retelling, the students will
sequence the cards, and glue them in the correct order on a piece of construction paper, already
numbered 1 to 6 (since there are 6 pictures). The pictures are simple with only the key
vocabulary words written on them under the drawings.

Picture 1: pumpkin seed

Picture 2: pumpkin sprout
Picture 3: pumpkin plant
Picture 4: pumpkin flower
Picture 5: pumpkin
Picture 6: pumpkin face (jack-o-lantern)

In the high group, the students will be given a set of cards each and asked to sequence the cycle
on their own. They can use the picture and words as clues. The teacher will encourage the
students to use words like first, then, next, and last to order the pictures. In the intermediate
group, each student will be given two pictures at a time to choose from so as not to overwhelm
them. They can also be given prompts such as, “What happens after the seed is planted?” In the
low group, the students will be given the pictures one at a time, and encouraged to describe what
is happening using the key vocabulary words.

Once the pictures are in order, the students will retell the entire story using their own words with
as little prompting as possible. Then they will color in the pictures. As they are working on this
task, the teacher or instructional assistant will encourage the students to discuss the cycle using
more language. Students can be asked again: What color is the flower? What color is the soil?
What color is the pumpkin? How does the seed grow? Does the plant grow up into the sky like a
tree or sideways along the ground? Where might we find a lot of pumpkins?

Closure/Activity (20 minutes)

Once the students in all the groups have completed the sequencing and coloring, they will gather
at the rug again and sit in a semi-circle. Tell the students that they just learned all about the cycle
of the pumpkin plant. Turn to the last page of the story book and ask the students what Jamie did
at the end. Take out the pumpkin and carve the top off. Ask the students to sit and watch
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carefully. Then take the top off and scoop out some of the seeds onto a paper plate. Take the
plate around the rug and ask the students to feel the seeds. Ask them to share what the seeds feel
like. After the discussion, take out the pot with the soil and show the students how to bury the
seeds in the soil. Invite one student at a time to come to the front and water the soil. Ask them,
“What will happen after we water the soil and give the pot a lot of sunlight?” (They should
answer, “We will see a pumpkin sprout after a while.”) Take this opportunity to retell the cycle
one more time with the students’ input.

Now pass out six seeds (pre-dried ones) and one envelop to each student. Ask each of them to
count with the teacher as the seeds are laid out in front of them. Tell them that these are pumpkin
seeds that the teacher already washed and dried for them. They are just like Jamie. They have six
seeds to take home in their envelope. They will write their names on the envelope (pass out
crayons) and put the seeds inside the envelope. Then collect the envelopes.

Take out the paper with pictures of the pumpkin plant life cycle. Tell the students that they will
take these papers home and tell the life cycle to their parents/guardians. Then they can plant the
seeds together and watch the plant grow.

Assessment:

In the read aloud, the teacher will assess the students’ comprehension by observing and listening
to their responses to the questions.

In the small groups, the teacher/instructional assistants will observe the understanding of the
students as they sequence the cards. In the high group, they will be expected to put the words
into simple sentences. For example, “First, you plant the pumpkin seed. Then the pumpkin sprout
grows. Next, there is a pumpkin plant. Then you see a pumpkin flower. Last, there is a
pumpkin.” In the intermediate and low groups, the teacher will likely need to provide part of the
sentence and expect the students to complete the sentence using the key vocabulary words. The
students will be assessed individually based on their ability to independently sequence and retell
the story, or use the key vocabulary words with the right pictures.

Extra-class work:

In the closure/activity, the students are given seeds and a piece of paper with the life cycle on it
to take home. There are simple sentences with the key vocabulary in each picture. The students
will be required to retell the life cycle five times over the course of the week. There is a place for
the parents/guardians to sign off each time it is retold, to indicate that the assignment was
completed. The instructions will include questions the parents/guardians can ask their child, and
simple activities they can do each time (e.g. underline the word pumpkin, color the pictures, and
find words that being with “p” or “s”). The instructions will also encourage the parents/guardians
to plant the seeds with their child and watch the plant grow.
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Lesson Plan Sample #2

Background:

Political Studies is an integrated curriculum of American Government, Economics and English.

I teach full-time with an English teacher and together we develop and write most of our
curriculum. This year, our block consists of 58 seniors. Two of these students are level 3 ELLs;
one is a foreign exchange student from Russia, the other is from Uganda and has been in the
United States for three years. These two are the first ELL students we have had in our class in
over ten years. Our daily block period is 100 minutes long and we have a lot of flexibility in our
daily and weekly schedule. We are not driven by getting in as many content standards as
possible. We limit the breadth and instead, dive deeply into the study of the selected topics. Our
methodology is imbedded in project-based learning and the pinnacle of the senior year is a three-
month project entitled “Project Citizen” (P.C.) in which student teams complete the following:
Phase One: Identify, research and explain a local community problem
Phase Two: Identify alternative solutions to the problem
Phase Three: Develop a public policy or community action plan for the problem
Phase Four: Present policy or plan to a panel of community members for evaluation and
assessment
Two days a week during this unit, I scaffold particular content material that the students need in
order to develop their understanding of government structure and process. This particular lesson
will be the first formal one in the unit, a broad review of federalism and the division of power in
our system of government. These scaffolding sessions are never longer than 30 to 40 minutes
and are taught at various times during the block. This particular lesson will be broken up over
three days.

Goals

Define federalism and understand why the Framers created it

Define the different types of powers granted and denied to the National and State governments
Create a venn diagram that represents federalism
Determine how this information applies to P.C.

Language Objectives:

Students will learn new vocabulary through a class guided reading assignment. As we read and
discuss, students will take notes on key vocabulary terms and ideas (reading, listening, writing).
After the reading is complete, students will compare and discuss notes with their P.C. team mates
and add anything they missed to their own notes (listening, speaking, writing).
As a team, students will work together to complete the Federalism Venn diagram (speaking,
listening).
Follow-up journal: “What does this information have to do with Project Citizen?” (writing)

Materials:
Magruder’s American Government Chapter 4
Copy of U.S Constitution
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Copy of California Constitution

Venn diagram graphic organizer template
Butcher paper

Procedures:

Day 1:

Introduction: As we have examined our community, we have identified several problems and
issues. What are some of these problems that we have encountered? (Students will identify
homelessness, AB 109 (the bill that approved the prison realignment program), educational
needs, vandalism, mental illness, and drug use on high school campuses just to name a few).
Who is responsible to address these issues? (Allow for answers) Is it a government agency or is
it private citizens acting in conjunction (together) with private agencies? (Again, allow for
discussion as to who responsible and how should the solutions be financed). Today, we will
examine the broad scope of government powers through our system of federalism and the
division of governmental powers between the States and National governments. We are going
to start a short read in Chapter 4, Section 1. We will finish this section tomorrow with the
assessment activity on Day Three.

Frontload the following terms and vocabulary:

 Federalism (reintroduced)
 Delegated powers (expressed, implied and inherent powers)
 Reserved powers
 Exclusive Powers
 Concurrent powers
 Local: Counties and cities

Driving Questions for this assignment:

 Why did the Framers create this dual system of government model? What are examples
of federalism in action?
 What powers are granted to the States and National Government? What powers are
denied to both the States and the Federal government?
 How does this information apply to our project?

Instructions: We are going to read pages 88 – 92 together. These pages focus on the National
government’s powers. Pay close attention to the bolded terms (several of these are our
vocabulary terms). We will stop after each chunk of reading to answer any questions you may
have or clarify any information that is not clear. You will also be required to take notes and
define the vocabulary in their own words. As a class, pages 88 -92 are read and discussed in
class. Notes are collected.
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Day 2:

Morning write journal prompt: (Our students always start on computers for a ten to fifteen
minute morning write. These morning writes can either be a review of the previous day’s
content or a preview of what’s to come)

Yesterday we examined the types of powers delegated to the national government. As we read
and discussed yesterday, we learned that much of the growth of the national government has
been attributed to the implied powers, also called the “elastic clause”. Why did the Framers
create such a governmental system, and in particular, why did they include this clause? What
might have happened to our government if it could only exercise its expressed powers? How
might our government look today?

After morning write: students come back to the tables for discussion of morning write responses
(sometimes students are asked to actually share their writings as well, this will depend on time)
Pass back notes from yesterday. As a class, we review vocabulary and driving questions for this
assignment. We complete the reading of the section (pages 92 – 95), focusing on State powers,
the concurrent powers (powers exercised by both the National and State governments) and how
the federal system reaches the local levels of government. Students are reminded again that as
we read the material together, they are noting the vocabulary terms (and any examples).
Teacher collects notes from students for a check for understanding work ethic assessment grade.

Day 3:

Notes will be handed back to students. Students will assemble into their Project Citizen teams.
Students will compare and discuss notes. Students may add to their notes if they missed
something during the class read. (10 – 15 minutes).
Teacher will project the Venn diagram on the screen and give the following instructions:
You will be given a large sheet of butcher paper along with copies of the National and State
Constitutions. Please duplicate this image onto your butcher paper and label it accordingly. In
your team, work together to thoroughly complete the diagram as possible. In each area, be sure
to give examples of the powers. When you think your team is finished, raise your hand. One of
your teachers will come around to check your diagram for thoroughness and completeness. (We
will identify the most complete and accurate chart and ask the team to come to the front of the
class to model and explain their Venn diagram.

Extra-Class work:

Journal Response. When you consider the issue you and your team is researching for Project
Citizen, do you think the problem can best be addressed by local, state, or the national
government? Explain your answer. How do you think the knowledge gained during this
assignment will be applicable to the creation of your public policy or community action plan?
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NOTE: We have six grading categories at our school: work ethic, time management,
collaboration, communication, content, and critical thinking. The few “traditional” assignments
that are assigned have multiple scores. For example, the reading notes collected in this
assignment will have two: a work ethic grade (neatness, thoroughness, completeness) and a
communication grade (how well are the terms defined and communicated in writing). The
journals will have communication, work ethic, and critical thinking scores. Critical thinking is
assessed on how well the student can take the information and apply it to something else. The
extra-class work journal is an example of a critical thinking exercise. These are only small
formative assessments as we work through this project. Most of the “assignments” for this
project is research conducted by all the team members mostly through interviews with people in
the field of study and in the community. Team discussions of their research are extremely
important as they analyze their community problem and work to create a public policy or
community action plan. Each phase (listed in the Background section) of Project Citizen has a
major formative assessment before teams can move on to the next phase (the teams are working
at their own paces through the project through January when Phase Four - the summative
assessment – will be presented. Our teams are currently in Phase one and our two ELL students
are greatly benefiting from the challenge of listening and speaking to people in the community,
asking questions, and bring their information back to their teams to debrief and discuss.

Assessment/Check for understanding:

The Venn diagram will be assessed in two categories: content and collaboration
The Answer Key for content:
National Powers: coin money, regulate interstate and foreign trade, raise and maintain armed
forces, declare war, govern U.S. territories and admit new states, Conduct foreign relations (C
credit: four powers listed; B credit: five powers listed; A credit: six or more powers listed)
Reserved Powers: regulate trade and business within the State, establish public schools, pass
license requirements for professionals, regulate alcoholic beverages, conduct elections, and
establish local governments (C credit: four powers listed; B credit: five powers listed; A credit:
six or more powers listed)
Concurrent powers: levy and collect taxes, borrow money, establish courts, define crimes and
punishments, claim private property for public use (C credit: three powers listed; B credit: four
powers listed; A credit: more than five powers listed)
Average the three scores together for one content grade assigned to the team;
Collaboration grade (based on combination of teacher’s observation and student collaboration
scores on how well the team worked together on this assignment)
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Lesson Plan Sample #3

ELD Lesson Plan

Context: Public high school 8th grade mathematics class. There are 23 students in the class. 17
of them are native speakers, and 6 of them come from other countries and do not speak English
as a first language. Three of them have Spanish as a first language, one has Chinese, one Arabic,
and one Korean. The students could be classified as average in their math skills. This lesson
comes fairly early in the school year.

Topic: Math Across Cultures

Goal: Students will learn how cultures have developed their own mathematical contexts and
concepts to serve their needs. Students will also break free from the presumption that Europe
was solely responsible for important mathematical developments. Through research,
presentations and assessment, students will also learn to work together and learn from one
another (even from those not in the same group).

Lesson 1 – Introduction and Research of “Who invented Math and When?”

Materials:
 Computer & Internet Access
 If some students feel ready to begin planning while other students are researching:
1. Word Processing & Presentation Software
2. Chart paper & markers

DAY 1 – INTRODUCTION VIA THINK-PAIR-SHARE

Objectives:
 Students will think about and express their ideas on the questions posed for this
lesson, which will require them to develop their writing skills
 Students will comment on each other’s ideas, comparing and contrasting differing
opinions to get a sense of what others might already know from their own
backgrounds (both academic and ethnic)

Procedures:
 Students will use the Think-Pair-Share structure (3 minutes – 2 minutes – 15 minutes)
to answer the questions
 During the Share portion, teacher will facilitate the discussion to push students to
consider other Non-European cultures’ contributions to mathematics if they are not
arising organically
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 After students are finished expressing all their ideas during the Share portion, teacher
will assign groups to further research following topics for the next 1-2 days:
1. Mesoamerican Math – Base 20 Number System
2. Pythagoras and Babylonian Tablets
3. African Math – Chokwe Networks
4. Navajo Weaving – Symmetry, Geometry & Measurement
 Students are informed that they will be responsible for writing a report on their own
topics (thus, becoming “experts”), “teaching” their topic to the class, and creating a
“Note Sheet” for classmates to use during presentations with blanks to be filled in.
 Not only are non-presenting students responsible for completing these note sheets for
each group, but they will also be tested on all the groups’ presentations, with
questions coming from the note sheets.
 If there is time at the end of class, students may begin researching with the following
questions in mind:
1. What part of the world is our culture (and at what point in history)? Draw a
regional map to help illustrate
2. What is unique about our topic/material?
3. How did our assigned culture use the material to help make relevant
computations?
4. What can we say about their lives and how they thought about math based on
our topic?

DAYS 2-3 – STUDENT RESEARCH

Objectives:
 Students will understand the math behind the ideas (i.e. not merely a historical book
report) to be able to teach the concept, thus requiring successful reading skills
 Students must ensure each member of the group is actively participating in the
research and preparation for group presentations
 Students will demonstrate their learning by answering critical thinking questions
suggested by the teacher

Procedures:
 Students will be given two days to conduct research on their topics
 Encourage students to verify their research information for validity (ex: Wikipedia is
fine, as long as it has been peer-reviewed) and seek out different types of sources
 Inquire if the library is available for whole-class research

Assessment:
Students will be formatively assessed during research to ensure they are thoughtfully and
thoroughly answering the prompt questions. If teacher sees some students’ research is
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lacking, they may refer to the following notes on each topic to ensure they are becoming
experts:
1. Mesoamerican Math –
a. Students could compare the base 20 system to our decimal (base 10)
system.
b. Students may also learn that it was a positional system, which allowed for
easier calculations than Roman numerals – which came much later in
Europe.
c. Students should recognize that Mesoamericans were able to develop their
complex calendar and astronomical sciences because of the numbering
and calculations system.
2. Pythagoras & Babylon –
a. Students should be able to use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for the
missing side in a right triangle.
b. Students should have familiarity with at least two different proofs of the
theorem.
c. They will further learn that this theorem actually appeared almost a
millennium prior, in Babylonia.
d. The Plimpton 322 is an important stone tablet from Babylonia which
documents their theorem’s use.
3. African Math – Chokwe network
a. Chokwe people use sand drawings to record generationally passed stories
b. The “network” is a set of paths (edges) that connects points (vertices)
c. These sand drawings are networks that exemplify mathematical graphs
d. Curious and insightful students might see these drawings as a way to tell
the story about how the world began and how easy it is to trace these
drawings (perhaps making it easier to rerecord for future generations)
4. Navajo weaving
a. Students should discover several rug patterns to present with their group
b. Creating a burntwater design, using stairways of increasingly more steps is
important to student understanding
c. Students should learn the rule for finding the next number in a sequence
(adding the next odd number to the current number)
d. They must recognize different kinds of symmetry
e. Students might also find that, in addition to being done mostly by women,
Navajo weaving consists of many calculations… all of which are done in
the weaver’s head
CTE 7410

Lesson 2 – Presentations and Assessment

Materials:
 Computer & Internet Access
1. Word Processing & Presentation Software
2. Chart paper & markers
 Students are also welcome to make whatever they would like for presentations (ex: a
rug)

DAYS 1-3 – PREPARATION AND PRESENTATIONS

Objectives:
 By actively listening to their own group members while preparing their presentation
and to other groups during the presentations, students will be able to describe
mathematical achievements and contributions of other cultures
 Students will learn from each other also by completing any tasks groups prepare for
their presentations as well as the Note Sheets prepared by each group
 By the end, students will develop an appreciation and understanding of the global
nature of mathematics and science

Procedures:
 Students will use whatever materials they desire (including those from home) to
construct meaningful presentations that will last roughly 20 minutes each so that we
have two groups present on each of the two days designated
 Groups will need to have created and distributed Note Sheets for other class members
to complete during presentations that require students to listen to and understand the
material being presented

Assessment:
 Teacher assessment of the presentations is based on each student actively contributing
to the presentation
o If a student’s volunteered portion is unsatisfactory, teacher will help by
asking deeper questions related to the notes and questions listed above
 Teacher will assess the length and quality of the Note Sheets also based on
aforementioned questions and notes from above

Extra-class work:
 Groups will need to complete Note Sheets of information they see as most important
to their topic
 It is essential that their Note Sheets are thorough and contain information covered
during the presentation so that they help all classmates do well on the test later (in
addition to helping the group’s presentation grade)
CTE 7410

DAYS 4 – SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Assessment:
Teacher will administer a test based on questions pulled from Note Sheets. Students will
be allowed to use the sheets as the only resource. The test will be more focused on using a
mathematical strategy from these cultures as opposed to simple recalling of facts.