MATH LESSON PLAN

Math Lesson Plan

Name of Student

Name of Instructor

Date

Math Lesson Plan

Lesson plans are a core theme of most preservice teacher education programs. Preservice teachers learn how to create them, how to critique lessons others create, how to teach working from a plan, and how to judge the results. By definition, a lesson plan is good to the degree it helps teachers teach well and students learn well.

“Lesson plan” usually refers to a single lesson, designed for one class period. However, it can also refer to a sequence of such plans designed for a unit of study. (Such a sequence may be called a unit plan.) In this document, “lesson plan” mean a plan to facilitate one more times of organized teaching and learning.

The figure below shows that the need for written detail depends on lesson plan's audience.

A personal lesson plan is an aid to memory that takes into consideration one's expertise (teaching and subject area knowledge, skills, and experience). It's often quite short—sometimes just a brief list of topics to be covered or ideas to be discussed. (For example: “Show how to derive quadratic formula by completing the square; then use spreadsheet to show how to plug in values.” “Use Taxman software to introduce factoring.”)

A collegial lesson plan is designed for a limited, special audience such as your colleagues, a substitute teacher, or a supervisor such as a principal. It contains more detail than the first category. It is designed to communicate with people who are familiar with the school and curriculum of the lesson plan writer.

A (high quality) publishable lesson plan is designed for publication and for use by a wide, diverse audience. It contain still more detail than the second category. It is designed to communicate with people who have no specific knowledge of the lesson plan writer's school, school district, and state. It is especially useful to preservice teachers, to substitute teachers in unfamiliar situations, and to workshop presenters seeking to elicit in-depth discussion.

his section explores some possible topics that need special attention in a math lesson plan. It also explores some themes that are especially important for math success and that math lesson plans should specifically emphasize.

Increasing Math Expertise

Students should increase their levels of math expertise during every math unit of study. Thus, in preparing to teach a math lesson or unit of study, begin by thinking how a student's level of math expertise will be maintained and improved by the time and effort the student spends on the lesson or unit of study. Keep in mind that math is a broad and deep discipline. The various components of math are thoroughly intertwined.

Problem Solving

The absolute heart—the unifying mission—of math education is students getting better at math problem solving. Here is a brief summary of what problem solving includes:

Question situations: Recognizing, posing, clarifying, and answering questions.

Problem situations: Recognizing, posing, clarifying, and solving problems.

Task situations: Recognizing, posing, clarifying, and accomplishing tasks.

Decision situation: Recognizing, posing, clarifying, and making ...