Lesson Plan Format

Date: 7th of April, 2015

Class:

Time: Start: 10.00 am

Year 2

Finish: 10.40 am (40 minutes)

Key Learning Area: Mathematics

Lesson Topic: Using formal and informal units of measurement

Recent Prior Experience (specific relevant concepts, skills and values the school students have experienced prior to this lesson):
-

S are familiar with the terms distance, length and estimate. They also have an understanding of how to measure items and using some formal
measurements such as m and cm.

Syllabus Outcome(s):
- describes mathematical situations and
methods using everyday and some
mathematical language, actions,
materials, diagrams and symbols
MA1-1WM

- measures, records, compares and

estimates lengths and distances using
uniform informal units, metres and
centimetres MA1-9MG
Key:
Questioning
Explanation

Group work
Demonstration

Indicators of Learning for this lesson:

Behaviours that contribute toward achievement of outcome(s).
Quote syllabus numbers. Must be clear, specific, observable.
Curriculum Content Strands may be used as headings.
By the end of this lesson, the students will:
- Be able to put objects in order of height correctly

- Be able to select appropriate units to measure with

- Be able to measure a variety of classroom objects using informal

materials

Any safety issues to be considered:

Assessment:
Strategies which will be used to assess
learners attainment of learning outcomes.
Should be linked to each learning indicator.

Observation of Ss during the body of

the lesson when measuring objects
if Ss measure without spaces or
overlapping.
Purposeful Roving: Moving from
group to group during the body of the
lesson to establish S knowledge as
well as provide probe questions to
extent knowledge.
Collect worksheet which asks them
to write their answers and gauge if
they understood how to undertake
the task.

Be able to use mathematical terms correctly e.g. Length

and estimate.
Resources:
List resources you used in preparing the lesson AND those used in the lesson implementation.
- Book

paper clips, bread tags, unifix cubes, base 10 sticks, paddle pop sticks, pens/pencils
Desk (teacher/student) , Student height, shoe length, workbooks, 30cm ruler, pencils,
whiteboard, door/door frame, windows, pencil case, chair, posters on the wall

LESSON SEQUENCE
Lesson Content / Indicators of
Learning (What is Taught):
Note key skills, concepts and values
addressed in each section. Link to your
Indicators of Learning.
INTRODUCTION
T asks questions such as:
- What are words we have heard or
used before about measurement?
- What do these terms that we have
heard mean?
- What do we use these terms for?
Language used by teacher:
- We are measuring the length of
their bodies
- What do we estimate that their
height will be?
T Demonstrates the measuring of one
student using an informal unit of
measurement e.g. using a book. Show the
students how to measure by placing the
book to the side of the students and
holding the place
DEVELOPMENT
Measurement of objects using informal
units of measurement is the key concept
being looked at.

Timing
(mins)

Teaching Strategies / Learning Experiences:

(How it is taught)
Write detailed steps showing what the teacher (T) will
do and what students (Ss) will do.

7minute
s

3minute
s
-

T demonstrates an example to Ss e.g. the

length of this pencil = 5 bread tags

Gain students attention with a visual sign

(raising a hand in the air)
Begin with discussion (questions) on length and
words that we have associated with length. E.g.
length, distance, metre, centimetre, measure,
estimate.
Ask five Ss to come out to the front of the
classroom.
o Estimate what their height is as a class.
o Using an informal unit of measurement
such as a book, to measure each of the
students and write their heights on the
board

Ss are provided with a range of materials to

use as informal units of measurement
In groups of four in functional groups, Ss are
given a worksheet to complete. This contains a
list of classroom items that they are required to
measure, what informal unit they are using to

Resources and Organisation:

Ask S to come and sit on the floor

Invite the students with difficulties to
come closer to the front/in a position
that they are able to see and hear
what is happening.
- Include the children that have
difficulties with English in the
measurement process so they are
included.
- Five students come to the front to be
measured
Resources:
- Book

Ask Ss to return to their desks.

Resources:
paper clips, bread tags, unifix cubes,
base 10 sticks, paddle pop sticks,
pens/pencils, books, hand span etc.

Discuss and explain to Ss how this is an

appropriate unit of measurement for this
object as it is small and you want to use
the appropriate informal units to measure.
E.g you dont want to use 100 unifix cubes
if you can use 10 pencils
Explanation of how to measure using
informal units is given i.e. placing end-toend with no gaps and the materials do not
overlap.

T uses the probe question:

- Would you need more/less of a
different informal unit to measure
the same thing?

17
minutes
5
minutes

measure, an estimate and their results.

S to come and select three different types of
informal units of measurement that they would
like to use to measure these classroom objects
(The informal units of measurement will be
grouped in small, medium and large, students
are to select one of each). (Demonstration and
Explanation/discussion)
S are given time to then record their results.

Roles of students in the functional

group are:
o
o
o
o

Question
S then investigate the probe question and pick
2 items on their list that they will then remeasure using one of the different items that
they have.

Extension activity for gifted students:

Students create their own tape measure, using an
informal unit measurement to mark on it.
- Students then use this to measure classroom
objects and order them from shortest to
longest.

Recorder
Measurer
Gopher
Reporter

The objects to be measured will

include:
o Desk (teacher/student)
o Student height
o Shoe length
o Workbook
o 30cm ruler
o Pencils
o Whiteboard
o Door/door frame
o Windows
o Pencil case
o Chair
o Posters on the wall
o Door handle
Ss pick a partner they would like to
work with and are then put together
for ability groups. Higher achieving
Ss will be placed together. The
students who have difficulties will be
place together so that they can be
closely monitored by the T and gain
extra assistance when necessary.
For the Ss with the cochlear implant,
the group will stay in one area of the
room and use their gopher in the
group to go and collect different

objects before they move. This is so

he will be in a comfortable position
to hear his peers more clearly.
CLOSURE
T asks:
- What things did we need to know
to complete this activity?
- Did anyone learn anything new?
- What would you like to do next
time we do something like this?

8
minutes

Ss put their materials back at the front of the

room.
One group member presents what they had
discovered to the class, whether their estimates
were correct or not and why they think that
might be.
Reflection questions
Thank Ss for participating in the lesson

Students organize their materials at

the front of the classroom.
Students come back to their desks.
From where theyre sitting, one
group member presents their
findings.

The school that this lesson plan has been designed for is in Auburn, a low socio-economic
suburb. This suburb contains a high number of migrant, meaning that a large portion of them
having a language other than English identified as their first language and that they are
mostly born overseas (Localstats.qpzm.com.au, 2015). Within this school, the class that is
being taught is a stage 1, year 2 class. It is a small class with only 18 students. The resources
that are available are quite limited as the school relies heavily on government subsidies. This
means that the teacher brings many of the resources from home. This classroom has most of
its students performing at an average level however, there are two students who are
considered gifted and talented and require some extension on tasks. There are also three
students who are functioning at a lower level to their peers. This is due to their special needs
that they present which need to be addressed and considered during the teaching activity.
Two of the three students have difficulty communicating in English as they have recently
arrived in Australia. This makes it difficult for them to read, and understand instructions. The
third student has a hearing impairment and uses a cochlear implant. This means that
arrangements need to be made of his seating as well as other aspects that have been
addressed on an individualised plan for his learning.
To the individual student, the purpose of education is to achieve their needs and goals. From
a structural functionalist approach, education is considered as what society needs as a whole
to work smoothly and efficiently (Allen; Vick,2001) . There are however, many factors that
affect the teaching, learning and achieving the needs and goals of the individual learner. In
particular, low socio-economic (SES) factors have a large impact on the teaching and learning
environments. This can be through a small amount of funding and lack of resources available
to the teacher and students. Family also has an effect on the educational setting.
The family unit can be seen as its own social institution that represents social relations that
have been accepted over time. Being from a low SES also has an impact on the family and in
turn the student, as economic strains on family might mean that students dont have access to
resources at home such as a computer to complete homework or research activities (Earle &
Fopp,1999). It might also put further strain on some of the students with working parents as it
might mean that they become carers for younger siblings, leaving inadequate times for
themselves to complete school related activities.

The different teaching and learning strategies that have been used throughout this lesson are
explanation, demonstration, questioning and group work. These four strategies have been
used throughout the lesson to engage children in cooperative work and promote higher order
thinking. Group work is a large part of the lesson and has been shown to have many benefits
especially for the students who are performing below average in the class. Brady (2006)
discusses how cooperative group work promotes equity through higher level interactions that
is required when participating with others in a group. They are also organised into function
groups, providing each member with a role. This role allows students to contribute,
summarise and coordinate information as well as maintaining their behaviour and friendly
relationships (Brady, 2006). Questioning throughout the lesson provides students with an
opportunity to further their thinking and knowledge. Demonstration provides students with a
visual representation of how to complete the activity while the explanations provide an in
depth knowledge as to how the task should be completed as well as background knowledge.
These are all imbedded throughout the lesson to give students a holistic learning experience
that caters to different learning styles.
The assessment strategies used in this particular lesson are informal methods. Informal
assessment and roving mean that students are able to have their learning evaluated without
any added pressure to feel as though they need to perform and are able to continue on with
their work. Ashenden (1996) supports this type of assessment as he discusses the
importance of a strong method of assessment that is consistent and includes components
that make up the overall performance that has been viewed. This type of assessment also
needs to be completed frequently and focused on specific aspects of learning, balancing a
variety of different strategies to be valid and beneficial to the students.
When lesson planning, this lessons aims was to integrate skill development and content
knowledge throughout. It is also important to be mindful of the varying needs (such as
emotional and social) of the individual students in the class (Groundwater-Smith, Cusworth &
Dobbins, 1998). Throughout this lesson, there have been provisions made for students to
accommodate these social and emotional needs by providing cooperative activities and a
safe learning environment. There are many different factors that need to be considered when
creating a lesson plan such as the availability of resources, funding and availability of support,
the culture of the school and the teachers individual preferences (Groundwater-Smith,

Cusworth & Dobbins, 1998). Lessons need to be engaging and insightful for students to be
able to learn different skills and concepts as well as expanding their own knowledge and
perceptions. This particular lesson provides a flow of learning through the introduction body
and conclusion. This gives students opportunities to connect lessons and previous knowledge
from different contexts and apply them to various other situations.
The resources that have been chosen for this particular lesson are all object that students
would be familiar with and have a general understanding of their size and use. This type of
familiarity with the resources mean that students are comfortable with using them as well as
know a variety of different ways that they can be used. It emphasises the processes of
making sense in the classroom by using resources that students have in their everyday lives
(Domnguez, 2010).
Throughout teaching, lessons are executed but it is also important to have positive
communication and classroom management. Throughout this lesson, management strategies
such as cooperative learning or group work are used to build personal links between group
members and encourage friendships (McBurney-Fry, 1998). It also allows for students to
direct their own learning and provides the teacher with time to assess more than one student
at a time in a group (Cope, 2005). This means that there is more focus on small groups of
students as purposeful roving is conducted. Gaining students attention through raising of a
hand is also a classroom management strategy used and one that is not rude or demeaning
to students. Communication strategies are equally important as they encourage positive
student-teacher interactions and build on relationships (McBurney-Fry, 1998). In this lesson,
questioning, explanation and discussion are used as positive communication to build
relationships with students as well as encourage thinking processes.

Reference list:
Ashenden,. (1996). Outcomes: Why and How. Curiculum Corporation, (2), 44-47.
Brady, L. (2006). Cooperative group learning. In Collaborative learning in action (pp. 126141). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson, Prentice Hall
Cope, B. (2005). When it goes pearshape: Dealing with really difficult situations. In How to
make a classroom management plan (pp. 119-135). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.:
Pearson/SprintPrint.
Domnguez, H. (2010). Using what matters to students in bilingual mathematics problems.
Educational Studies In Mathematics, 76(3), 305-328. doi:10.1007/s10649-010-9284-z
Earle, L., & Fopp, R. (1999). Introduction to Australian society: A sociological overview.
Sydney: Harcourt Brace.
Groundwater-Smith, S., Cusworth, R., & Dobbins, R. (1998). Teaching: Challenges and
Dilemmas. Australia: Harcourt Australia Pty Limited.
Localstats.qpzm.com.au,. (2015). Auburn Demographics (NSW) Local Stats. Retrieved 7 May
2015, from http://localstats.qpzm.com.au/stats/nsw/sydney/parramatta/auburn
McBurney-Fry, G. (1998). Improving your practicum. Katoomba, N.S.W.: Social Science
Press.
Vick, M. (2001). Schools and society: Changes and continuities. In J. Allan (Ed.), Sociology of
education: Possibilities and practices (2nd ed., pp. 41-64). Katoomba, N.S.W.: Social Science
Press