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Here is a patterns lesson
Grade level: 1 (could be adapted for various grade levels)
Objective: The student will be able to recognize, create, and describe various patterns.
Goal: The child will understand pattems and look for them throughout their mathematical experiences.
– lots – o – links
– unifix cubes
– recording sheet
Anticipatory set: I would begin my lesson on patterns by having the children pick out patterns in the room. For example, floor tiles, wall paper, clothing, etc. could be used as examples. Through this sharing activity, I would ask the children to explain what a pattern is or what a pattern is not. This introduction would both introduce pattems as everyday occurrences, and also define them in words that the children could understand because they would be doing the explaining.
Activity: The activity that I would indude in this lesson would involve the lots – o – links. The activity would proceed as following:
1. Have the children select a partner and assign each pair “A” or “B”.
2. Pass out links to each pair in the class.
3. Have each pair create a pattern.
4. After a short period of time, enough to get the pattern started,have the A’s pass their pattems to the next pair of A’s, and have the B’s pass their to the next pair of B’s.
5. Allow this group to try to figure out the pattern and continue it. Then pass the patterns to the next set of pairs.
6. Continue this until the patterns are resumed to their creators.
7. Have each pair stand up and share their original and ending patterns with the class.
Practice: Have the children create more pattems with unifix cubes. Have them record their pattems by coloring in boxes on the recording sheet to correspond to their pattern Also, have the children find other patterns outside of the classroom, for example, at home or on the playground.
Closure: Discuss with the class how patterns could be helpful. For example, they can give us clues as to what will come next (as in the links activity they did in class). With older children, patterns with numbers would be introduced at this time. Also, the children could take turns creating patterns and posting them in the classroom for their classmates to figure out. This would reinforce the concept of patterns throughout the year! Assessment: Assessment in this lesson could be done while the children are doing the activity. The teacher could discuss with the pairs how they figured out the patter, what the pattern is, and how they plan to continue the pattern, etc. Assessment could also be done on the unifix recording sheet and examples brought in by the students. Assessment would be informal as the teacher would need to look for understanding of the concept of patterns.