This lesson really focused on multiplication and division and using these operations in word problems. The students were asked to explain multiplication and division in their own words and using examples. I like how the teacher started off with the quote "A picture is worth a 1000 words" and she came back around to that in the end. I thought that the teacher did a really good idea of guiding the students through the lesson rather than soon feeding everything to them. She really made the students think about the problems they worked with and she allowed them to go in whichever direction they felt correct and then she redirected them.
After listening to the explanations that students gave for their work I think that they have a pretty solid grasp on multiplication and division. Most of them were spouting off expressions like nobody's business. However, when they were asked to explain them they couldn't. They had no clue what they were writing down they just knew how to do it. This goes back to knowing the difference between procedure and concept. These students had the procedure down, but they weren't fully understanding what the concept meant.
I really like this lesson. I like how the students have time to think on their own, with partners, in groups, and as a whole class. I think that all of these different options helps students to fully develop their thoughts. I like how they went over various different strategies and there was only one problem presented to the class at one time. The teacher tried to keep them focused and actively thinking to the best of there ability and I think that this lesson helped to do that.
Thanks Jen:)
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