EDUC 417 Special Education

Lesson Plan Outline

Design For Learning
Instructor: Abby Diamond
Lesson Title: Addition with Skittles
Curriculum Area: Math

Grade Level: 3rd grade

Date: September 9, 2015
Estimated Time: 20 minutes

Standards Connection and IEP Goal:

1.) Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding
to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions,
e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to
represent the problem. [1-OA1]
IEP goal: Add within 50 with prompting
Learning Objective: When given a worksheet, student will correctly complete the addition
problems scoring an 8/10 to be considered proficient.
Kid Friendly Objective: Today we will be practicing our addition skills using skittles!
Evaluation of Learning Objective: The student will be given a worksheet with two problems
on it about adding skittles. The student will be asked to draw a picture of the problem and to
write the problem. The student must receive an 8/10 or an 80% on the worksheet to be
considered proficient. On the worksheet, one point will be given to each correct number written,
one point will be given to the student drawing the picture, and two points will be given to the
correct answer, meaning each problem is worth 5 points for a total of 10 points total that is
possible on the worksheet.
Engagement: The teacher will start off explaining the behavior expectations for the student. She
will show them the first minute of the Adding and Subtracting song video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UID5GYLI_lk. The teacher will then tell the student they
will be working on addition today. Good morning student! Today I will be teaching you and I
need you to sit in your chair, keep your feet on the ground, and your hands in your lap. To start
off with, we are going to watch this short video on addition. I know you are already familiar with
addition, but I want you to listen and pay attention to what the video says adding means. I am
going to ask you what it said adding means once it is over. Once the video is over, the teacher
will explain that they will be working on adding today. Lets think back to the video we just
watched. What did it say addition means? Good job! Like the video said, addition means to put
together. When we add, we just put things together. So we start with a few, then add a few more.
Today, you and I are going to work on adding!
Design for Learning:

I.

Teaching: The teacher will start off reviewing what addition is and why addition is important.
She will get out the skittles and use them to teach simple addition problems emphasizing that
addition is adding more on to something. She will use skittles and a poster board with empty
boxes for the student to put the skittles in and then have the student write the number that goes
there. Okay student, today we are going to use a fun item to practice addition. Why do you think
that adding is important? It is important in our daily lives because a lot of what we do is related
to it. For example, you use addition when you are cooking and buying things, and you use it to
count money or count things like books, pencils, people, or food. It is a very important skill to
know. Now, we are going to practice adding with something that you enjoy: skittles. Now, while
we are using the skittles I do not want you to eat them. At the end of the activity, I will give you
some skittles to eat. We are first going to do the problem 5 + 3. Show the student 5 + 3 on the
white board. So, lets say Student A has 5 red skittles. I want you to count out 5 red skittles for me
and put them on the paper plate. And I have 3 green skittles. Count out 3 green skittles and put
them on the paper plate. Now, if we add on my green skittles to your red skittles, how many do
we have in total? Count the skittles to find out. Let student use the skittles to find the answer.
Great job student! We have 8. Now, I want you to draw me a picture of what we just did on your
paper using the skittles as your example. The student should draw 5 red circles and 3 green
circles. Good job! Lets think about how we would write this as a problem. On the white board
draw three big boxes. Have the student help you decide what to put in the boxes. Write the
numbers in the boxes. So, we first said that Student A had 5 red skittles. Where would we write
the 5? Great job! We would write the 5 in the first box. Now, remember I said that I added on my
3 green skittles. Now where would I write the 3? Yes, I would write it in the second box. What
sign do you notice that is in between both of the numbers to show that I am putting both the red
skittles and the green skittles together? You are right, it is an addition sign. And, how many
skittles did we say that we would have in total? Great job! We said we would have 8 total.
Teacher will repeat this process again with the student using a different addition problem. She
will use the problem 8 +4.
Opportunity for Practice: The teacher will assist the student in filling out a worksheet with a
couple of simple addition problems on it about adding skittles together. There will be a set
amount of skittles in a bag. They will do the first problem together. The student will fill out the
rest of the worksheet on their own. Okay student, now we are going to do some practice addition
with your skittles. Here is your bag of skittles. I want you to use your skittles to fill in the
addition problems to find the answers. I want you to draw a picture of the skittles with your
crayons to help you. Lets do the first one together, and then you can try to do the other two on
your own. So the first one says to count out the red and green skittles. So first, count out the red
skittles and put them on the paper plate and draw a picture of them on the paper. Next, count out
how many green skittles you have and draw a picture of them using your crayons. Then, I want
you to write the number in the box under the correct color. Great job! Now, I want to you to try
to do the next one on your own. Start off by counting up the color of skittles and drawing the

picture of how many you have. Let student work independently but assist student if they need
help.
II.

Assessment: The student will complete the assessment about the word problems. To start off
with, the teacher will explain the worksheet. Okay great job with all your hard work student!
Now we get to do one more activity. This is very similar to what you were just doing. It is a
chance for you to show me how you can add skittles together. I want you to use your skittles to
solve the problems. First, I want you to write your name on the top of the paper. Then, I will read
the problems out loud. I want you to use your crayons to draw the color of the skittles and then
write in the number of how many color skittles you have in the boxes. This is like what you just
did. Then, write in the answer of how many you have all together. Let me know if you get stuck. I
will sit right next to you while you work on these problems. The teacher will read both problems
to the student. Then the teacher will let the student work independently on the worksheet. You
did a wonderful job on the worksheet!

III.

Closure: Teacher will praise the student for working hard on his assignment. They will review
what they talked about addition and the importance of it. Then, the teacher will give the student
some skittles to eat as a fun way to end the lesson. Great job today! I am so proud of you for
solving those addition problems. Think back to the video that we watched in the beginning of the
lesson. Do you remember what it said about addition? Yes, you are right. It talked about how
addition is putting together. Addition is important because we use it in our daily life. We use to
help us buy things and count things. Praise him for his hard work. Now, because of all your hard
work, you can eat some skittles. Great job today student!
Differentiation Strategies and Plans for Individual Learners:
Student A: The teacher will seat Student A near the teacher since he has difficulty paying
attention. The teacher will make sure to ask questions to him throughout the lesson to make sure
that he is understanding the concept. She will explain things slowly and give him short directions
in short steps and in as few words as possible.
Accommodations and Modifications:
Student A: This will be a one-on-one lesson with Student A. Student A has an intellectual
disability so he struggles in all subjects, but especially with math and reading. The teacher will
provide many supports to help Student A throughout the lesson. The teacher will give Student A
extra time to complete the practice activity and the assessment. Because the student struggles
with reading, the teacher will thoroughly explain both the practice activity and the assessment
and give verbal directions. Another accommodation is on the assessment. The assessment is
colored coded and has symbols, the numbers are in a bigger font and in bold, and there are big
boxes to put the numbers in for the problems. This is to help the student complete the math
problems. On the assessment, the teacher will orally give him the problems. Student A also does
not have strong written expression skills. When scoring the assessment, the teacher will give

credit to the student for drawing a picture of the skittles or for verbally saying the answer. The
teacher uses the skittles throughout the entire lesson as a manipulative for the student to use and
manipulate to solve math problems.
Extensions:
If the student catches on fast to the problems using the skittles, the teacher will give the student
additional practice problems to do with the skittles. These problems will include 7 + 8, 5 + 6, 4 +
4, 9 + 6, and 6 +4. The teacher would also have the student create his own addition problem
using the skittles and have him draw a picture of it and write the problem.
Materials and Resources:

Crayons
Skittles sorted out by colors and in bag for practice activity
Skittles to eat at the end
2 paper plates
iPad
Addition Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UID5GYLI_lk
White board
Marker
Pencil
Assessment sheet
Practice sheet

Date Analysis:
The student did a great job on the assessment. Although I provided some support on the
assessment, the student correctly answered both problems. He counted the correct number of
skittles given from the word problem and wrote the correct the numbers in the blank. He
completed both addition problems correctly.
Reflection:
Overall, I think that the lesson went fairly well, although there were definite things that I
could have done differently. The student did really enjoy doing the addition problems with
skittles, and he did a great job of staying engaged and on task. One of the main things that I
could have done differently is to state what the student would be doing in the lesson when I state
the behavior expectations of the student. Although I stated the behavior expectation for the
student, I waited to explain what we would be doing until teaching. This is one comment that my
supervisor made, and she was right. It would have been more helpful for the student to have a
clear idea of what we were going to do in the lesson; for example, that first we were going to

watch a video on addition, then we were going to practice doing addition problems together, and
last the student would do some addition problems on his own. Another thing that I should have
done differently in my lesson was to really model how to solve the addition with the skittles once
before I had the student do anything. Although I was trying to involve him and see what he knew
without my help, I should have modeled first exactly how to solve one problem exactly how to
solve a problem by counting out the amount of skittles, putting the numbers in the boxes, and
adding them together. Next time, I will make sure to do the I do portion and model well what I
expect the students to do before asking them to do it.
Another thing that I learned was to always check technology first. I was supposed to have
the student watch an Addition video for the engagement portion and I had it pulled up on the
iPad, but the video would not play. I should have played the video first and made sure it would
load instead of just assuming it would work. For future lessons, I know now to always check the
technology before. I also realized after teaching this lesson that on the assessment, I might have
helped him too much and given him too much support. I realized after I finished the lesson that
he might have been able to do most of the assessment without my help and prompting. This is
fine line to find, but I think that for future lessons, the best thing to do is to gauge how much the
student grasps and to adjust the amount of help and assistance accordingly.

How Many Skittles Do You Have?

Name __________________________
a picture of your skittles.

Red

Green

Orange +

Purple

Green +
+

Yellow
=

Name: _FOR TEACHER TO READ, NOT FOR STUDENT_____

1. If Bob has
green skittles and Ms. Diamond has
red skittles, how many will you have all together? ________
a picture of your skittles.

Green +

Red

2. If you have
red skittles and you add
purple
skittles, how many will you have all together? _________
a picture of your skittles.

Orange + Purple

Name: _____________________________________

1.
a picture of your skittles.

Green +

Red

2.
a picture of your skittles.

Orange + Purple