For this lesson, you will need the Addition Equation Cards. I print the cards on a colored printer and laminate them so I can reuse them.
I gather the students around my chair and say to them, Do you remember what we learned about in our last math lesson? That’s right. We learned about the plus and minus sign. We are going to work some more with the plus and minus sign today. To get us started, let’s see if you can read these addition sentences.
We talk about what each sentence shows. We talk about the different number kinds of animals and the different numbers of each. Individual students say the sentences and then the entire group says them. This little intro to the lesson really gives my English Language Learners a chance to practice their academic vocabulary.
When we are done with the cards, we move over to the SMARTBoard to begin our direct instruction.
For this portion of the lesson, I use the Barnyard Adding SMARTBoard file. If you have a different type of interactive whiteboard, you can still use this lesson by opening the file in Smart Notebook Express. There is also a PDF you can use to recreate this part of the lesson.
I gather my students in front of the SMARTBoard. I have cards with each student's name on. These cards are used for selecting who will come up to the SMARTBoard.
I open the first slide (SMARTBoard Slide 1) with the lesson objective written in "student friendly" terms. There is a content objective and a language objective to help focus on vocabulary expansion for my English Learners (ELs) to be congruent with SIOP instructional techniques. I read these objectives aloud for my students.
I can write and solve addition sentences.
I can tell a friend how to solve an addition sentence.
Slide 2: You've done a great job solving addition sentences. Let's get some more practice with my animals on the farm!
Slide 3: Can you count how many cows are in the barn and then how many are in the yard and add up how many cows in all? I invite a students to come up and count each group. I invite another student to come up and write the plus sign. Another student comes up and writes in the plus and equal sign. A final student solves the problem. We always say the complete sentence after each problem is completed to help expand the academic vocabulary of my students, especially those just learning English.
Slide 4-8: Continue as above.
Slide 9: It's is now Turn and Talk Time. This is an important element of my instruction that loows my students to practice their English Language skills. Every student has a Turn and Talk partner. I ask them to hold hands with their partner and raise their hands in the air so I know that everyone is partnered up.
I say to the students, Tell your partner how you would solve this problem. The students turn to their partner and begin to talk.
When the students are done talking, I call on a student to share her answer with the class. The student says that they would count up the number in each group and then count all of the animals. I ask the student what that is called when we count up all of the animals. The student says adding. I restate the student’s answer saying, To solve this problem, I would need to count the number of animals in each group and then add the total number of animals so I can find out how many altogether. I want my students to have one last opportunity to hear me use this academic language. I then invite students up to the SMARTBoard to solve the problem.
We now return to our seats for guided practice.
For guided practice you will need the Farm Addition Mat. There is a color and black and white option. You can choose to print in color to have the set available for future use or just print the black and white that can be used with guided practice as well as the independent practice portion of this lesson. The recording sheet included in the file will be used during the next portion of this lesson.
You will also need the SMARTBoard file Barnyard Adding Guided Practice. The file contains a dice and work mat that will help guided this portion of the lesson.
I tell the students, We are going to get some more practice adding. I am passing out a sheet with cows on it. You will need to cut out the cows. Put them in a pile and clean up your area of any scraps. I wait while the students cut out the animals.
Now that you have your cows cut out, we are going to make addition sentences. I will roll the die on the SMARTBoard. You will put that number of cows in the barn. Then we will roll the die again and we will put that number of cows in the barnyard. We will then add up how many cows there are in all. I will have someone come up to the SMARTBoard to write out the addition sentence.
We begin the lesson. I tap the die on the SMARTBoard to roll it. The students put that number of cows in the barn. I ask a student to go up and move that number of cows into the barn on the SMARTBoard. We repeat the process for the cows in the barnyard. I have the students come up with the addition sentence. I invite someone to come up to the board and write out the addition sentence. We then say the sentence together.
The students clear their boards. I advance to the next slide on the SMARTBoard and we start the process over again. After several slides, we wrap up guided practice and we move on to the independent practice.
The independent practice portion of this lesson is an extension of the guided practice above. The students will continue to use the same addition mat and manipulatives. Each student will also need a die.
I tell the students, You will be doing exactly what we did during our guided practice. You will roll the die and put that number of cows in the barn. You will roll the die again and put that number of cows in the barnyard. You will then write an addition sentence for the problem and solve it.
When you are done with that sentence, you will clear all of the cows from your mat and you will start over rolling the die again. When you have completed the sheet, bring it to me to check before you put it in your mailbox.
The students begin playing (see video) and I move about the room to observe them working. When they have completed their work, I check it, having them say some of the equations aloud. I give them a small zipper bag to put the cows in. I send them how along with the mat and another recording sheet. I tell the students they can do some more problems at home for homework.