Naomi Hernandez-Hama

EDEF 490
Dr. Kamai
November 29, 2018
My Best Lesson
Description
“Go Math!” is a popular resource used in many different elementary schools
nowadays. According to Adventist Education (2018), Go Math is a “comprehensive grades
K-6 mathematics program created to support the Common Core State Standards for
Mathematics and the NCTM Curriculum Focal Points”. Go Math! also comes with many
interactive lessons that come with differentiation strategies to better accommodate
students of all levels. Because Go Math! comes with already made lesson plans, I wanted to
stray away from using those, and create a more meaningful lesson for my students.
Being in my class since the beginning of the year, really taught me a lot. I learned
that majority of my students are visual and kinesthetic learners. I have also observed that
when visuals are not present, the students lose interest very fast. I really had to keep this
in mind when creating my lesson because I wanted to make it as interesting as possible. If I
did not take this into consideration, my lesson wouldn’t have benefited my students in
anyway; which would show in the lesson assessments.
Another thing that I noticed was that my students do well when the teaching is
projected off of the Promethean Board. They are very used to meeting on the carpet and
turning their attention to the screen, which is why I felt most comfortable incorporating
this in my lesson. Because there is a variety of students who posses different skills within
the classroom, I chose to incorporate Task Cards. According to Teach Hub (2018), task
cards are valuable to student learning in many different ways. One way is that they
“motivate students, especially the ones who struggle on a daily basis.” This allowed those
students to work at their own pace and not feel rushed to complete their assignments”.
Task cards are also differentiated. They are even quite versatile and can be used in many
ways. These cards can be used independently, as whole group instruction, or even as exit
tickets or review cards.
Overall, my teaching went very well. But, there was a situation I encountered during
my lesson. The instructions were for the students to Turn & Talk about something they
liked or learned about the Google Slides activity we just finished. During the conversations
that were happening, one student insisted on drawing on his whiteboard. I repeatedly
asked this student to stop because those were not the instructions given. This particular
student has an IEP, and his father’s wish is to keep him included in the classroom and with
everything his other classmates are doing. So, to grant his father’s wish, I kept him within
the group, and asked him very nicely, many times, to stop playing and do what was told.
This was becoming a bigger problem because he was not only distracting himself, he was
also distracting the students around him. While giving the other students a Turn & Talk
task, I quietly went to the student, bent down next to him, and asked him to stop what he
was doing because he was becoming a distraction to not only himself, but the students
around him. I reminded him of our goal of not distracting others and concentrating when
work is being given. This seemed to have work because he decided to place his whiteboard

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November 29, 2018
on the ground, without being told, and continued to follow in instructions. This particular
situation stood out to me because it not only tested my patience, but it also challenged me
to handle one situation, while not stopping the lesson and bothering the other students. I
believe I handled this situation very well, because I was able to stop the student, get him
back on track, and not stop the lesson while distracting the other students.
Analysis
My overall objective for this lesson was for students to be able to correctly read, write,
and represent decimals using place value. They knew when they were successful if they
could read decimals using the correct vocabulary, write them correctly, and represent them
using correct place value.
The results of the assessment proved that my students learned what I intended
them too. I chose to incorporate the Guided Instruction teaching strategy specifically for
this lesson, because the students were getting introduced to a brand new chapter. Although
I used the Guided Instruction method, I also chose to include Independent Work time. This
best supported all students, but especially those who are excelling, and like to move faster
than the rest of the class. As previously stated before, they are visual learners, which again
supports my choice of incorporating an Anchor Chart. Throughout the lesson the students
were constantly referring to the chart for extra support. I also left the chart up for the
duration of my lesson for those students who needed that visual representation. Because of
the variety of learning levels in my classroom, I needed to come prepared with work for the
early finishers. That is another reason why I chose to use Task Cards, so the students could
work at their own pace.
There was a specific time in my lesson where a particular student said something
that lit all the lightbulbs in the room! It was while I was going over my anchor chart when
this student mentioned that the place value on the right side of the decimal is just a mirror
image of the place value on the left side. It was amazing to hear him say this, because it was
something I never mentioned yet! And it seemed to ignite the understanding of his
classmates because more of them took an understanding after he said that. There was
actually two other students who were struggling with the task card portion of the lesson.
These students are actually English Language (EL) learners and so they understood the
place value of decimals, they were just struggling with reading the task cards. Once I read
the task cards for them, they were able to correctly answer the questions. Next steps
include continuing this chapter in their Go Math! Workbooks, which I can also use a type of
assessment to see how well they grasped this concept.
Reflection
I think the approaches I took for this lesson were very effective and meaningful.
Because I focused this lesson based off of a Go Math! lesson, I felt it was more meaningful to
create my own lesson, and use it as a introduction to the next chapter. It also was beneficial
in the way, that it created that extra support some students needed. Instead of going

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Dr. Kamai
November 29, 2018
straight into the Go Math! workbook and using those examples for extra practice, my lesson
acted as that extra practice.
In the near future, I would consult with other teachers besides my mentor, including
the EL teacher, and a different fifth grade teacher. The reason I would consult with the EL
teacher, is so that I can better support the English Language learned within my classroom. I
did assist them with reading some of the task cards, but if there was a better way I could
have supported them, I would have used that method. I also would have liked to know if the
strategies I used within my lesson, were able to comprehend. For future reference, I would
also like to meet with another fifth grade teacher prior to my lesson. I think this would have
benefited me in the long run, because I haven’t really gotten to see different ways the other
fifth grade teachers, teach math. If I were able to see them, I could have picked up a few
teaching strategies to use in my lesson.
Overall, I think my lesson went as planned. If I were to change one thing, it would be
the pre-assessment. Although I was tracking the students’ data in my notebook, it was a bit
hard to see if everyone was getting the correct answer or not. The students really enjoyed
how interactive it was, but if I were to teach this lesson again, I would have something
more concrete where I easily track data.
Disaggregated Data
My two focus students were both fifth graders ranging from ages 9-10, both EL
learners. These two are great students, but just need a little extra time to finish given
assignments. For this lesson, I created a separate rubric due to them needing extra time,
and their lack of communication, focusing on their ability to respond verbally. This rubric
gave the students the opportunity to verbally explain whether they understood the concept
or not.
For this assignment, I let the students continue with their Task Cards, but if they
were having trouble, they could ask me for help. I read the Task Card outloud to them, but
then I asked them to verbally share with me how they would solve the problem. I used this
rubric because I knew, that even if they were struggling to complete the handwritten work,
if they were able to communicate how they would solve the problem, they understood the
concept. Looking at Appendix A you can see that both of these students were able to
physically and verbally show they understood the concept. I chose to assess them verbally
to help practice their communication skills, and also because I knew they were capable of
doing both.

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EDEF 490
Dr. Kamai
November 29, 2018
Appendix A

Rubric Used for Focus Students

3 2 1

Communication Student is able to Student is somewhat Student struggles to

verbalize their able to verbalize verbalize their
thinking using their thinking using thinking and does
correct some mathematical not use
mathematical vocabulary. mathematical
vocabulary. vocabulary.

Content Student is able to Student is somewhat Student struggles

understand the able to understand with understanding
concept of using the concept of using the concept of using
place value with place value with place value with
decimals. decimals. using decimals.

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Dr. Kamai
November 29, 2018
Appendix B (Student Sample Work - Low)

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November 29, 2018
Appendix C (Student Sample Work - Medium)

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Appendix D (Student Sample Work - High)

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November 29, 2018

Appendix E (Sample Student Work - Low)

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EDEF 490
Dr. Kamai
November 29, 2018
Appendix F (Student Sample Work - Medium)

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Dr. Kamai
November 29, 2018

Appendix G (Student Sample Work - High)

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EDEF 490
Dr. Kamai
November 29, 2018
Appendix H (Focus Student A Work)

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EDEF 490
Dr. Kamai
November 29, 2018
Appendix I (Focus Student B Work)

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EDEF 490
Dr. Kamai
November 29, 2018
Appendix J (Focus Student A Work)

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EDEF 490
Dr. Kamai
November 29, 2018

Appendix K (Focus Student B Work)

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