Sunday, 15 November 2015

Standards and Backwards Mapping


Standards and Backwards Mapping
Preet Khinda
Module 5: Unit 1: Activity 2

I am going to teach mathematics to grade 7, 8 in AL Rayan International school, Accra, Ghana. I have not started my training as yet. They do not have set defined standards for the middle school. They have topics which need to be defined into standards. Therefore, going through their curriculum, I have chosen Various topics need to be covered and looked for a standard defining those topics clubbed together. These are the standards that I will be incorporating in my teaching. My source for this standard is Common Core standards that will be effective in all North Carolina schools.
Solve multi-step real-life and mathematical problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and decimals), using tools strategically. Apply properties of operations to calculate with numbers in any form; convert between forms as appropriate; and assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies.

The reason I have chosen this particular standard is because everyday in nearly everything we do, we use conversions from percentage to fractions to decimals.  Whether we are cooking and we have to check the quantity of ingredients, or we are travelling and we think about distance (how much covered and where we have reached) or even when we are working, we use these conversions in our minds all the time. For example, I have a recipe for one-pound cake but I want to make a smaller one. So I need to see what fractions of ingredients will I use and convert that fractions into the weight of the ingredient. Or If a woman making $25 an hour gets a 10% raise, she will make an additional 1/10 of her salary an hour, or $2.50, for a new salary of $27.50. If you want to place a towel bar 9 3/4 inches long in the center of a door that is 27 1/2 inches wide, you will need to place the bar about 9 inches from each edge; this estimate can be used as a check on the exact computation.
Thus, I feel that it is very essential for one and all to be very proficient in the goals achieved by this particular standard.

Proficiencies that the students will be able to achieve after completion of this standard

1.    Understand Decimals, fractions and percentages and estimation.

This will be a mind refreshing lesson. This will tell me exactly how much my students already know and are clear about. And also, if there is a need to give them extra time and explanantion to explain one or all the kinds of rational numbers. Estimation strategies for calculations with fractions and decimals extend from students’ work with whole number operations. Estimation strategies include, but are not limited to:
a.     front-end estimation with adjusting (using the highest place value and estimating from the front end making adjustments to the estimate by taking into account the remaining amounts),
b.     Clustering around an average (when the values are close together an average value is selected and multiplied by the number of values to determine an estimate),
c.      rounding and adjusting (students round down or round up and then adjust their estimate depending on how much the rounding affected the original values),
d.     using friendly or compatible numbers such as factors (students seek to fit numbers together - i.e., rounding to factors and grouping numbers together that have round sums like 100 or 1000), and
e.     Using benchmark numbers that are easy to compute (students select close whole numbers for fractions or decimals to determine an estimate).
2.     Proficiently convert between the three.
Students should be able to convert simple fractions and percentages into decimals mentally.
Students should be able to convert complex fractions and percentages into decimals to compare.

3.    Perform different mathematical operations using conversions in any one form and estimating mentally.

Students should be able to perform any and all operations once they are proficient in conversions. They should also be able to estimate the answers where required.  

FOR EXAMPLE: Three students conduct the same survey about the number of hours people sleep at night. The results of the number of people who sleep 8 hours a nights are shown below. In which person’s survey did the most people sleep 8 hours?
• Susan reported that 18 of the 48 people she surveyed get 8 hours sleep a night
• Kenneth reported that 36% of the people he surveyed get 8 hours sleep a night
• Jamal reported that 0.365 of the people he surveyed get 8 hours sleep a night

SWBATD: they will themselves be able to convert all the three scenarios into percentages and then compare and give an appropriate answer.


Assessments that will help you know students are meeting the standard

1.     Exercise from the book. Certain questions to be solved in the class and rest finished at home. This will give me an idea as to how well the lesson is getting through to the students and is there a reason to change my lesson plan.
2.      Individual project to be prepared on the said topic, showing the relationship between different formats of rational numbers, to be submitted at the end of the Unit .
3.     A quiz prepared and delivered by the student groups. The class will be divided into 4 groups of fives. And every group will find one question on the topic that is related to daily life, to be asked to the other three groups. And then explain what it means to them to the rest of the class.   

Learning experiences or activities you will use to help students meet the standard
1.     Bingo
To help the students understand the Conversions and the process, I will prepare a bingo Game that the whole class can do it as an activity and later have a discussion in the class to check the answers. This will give a clear idea to both me where all the students stand and to the students as to how much they have understood.
2.     Flash cards
Flash cards are a fantastic resource for individual practice and a practice with peers, at school or at home. They are small and could be carried everywhere. They can be used as a group activity wherein the students can play this in the class with the student sitting next to them. This will lead to peer to peer discussion and in case anyone has not understood any part of it , the discussion will clarify it more.
This can be given as a home exercise.


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