Gina's Necklace
Goal 3: Reflection
It is important for students to develop an understanding behind math. For this, teachers need to understand the way that each individual child learns, because not every student learns the same way. Therefore, adaptations need to be made to lessons so that every student has the ability to develop a mathematical understanding of a certain topic.
The lesson plan attached shows an example of a problem that has several different ways of answering the problem. The students were provided with exact manipulatives that could help them answer the problem. The students could also create pictures to show their answer. For students who understand equations, this particular problem allows an opportunity for students to form and answer an equation. All methods provide the student with the ability to find the same answer, if used properly.
Developing this lesson plan has taught me that many options need to be provided for solving a problem. Some students think visually, other do best when they can develop a mathematical expression. All in all, students need to be provided with the opportunity to answer the question the best way they know how. Therefore, teachers need to provide the students with the opportunity and the materials for this type of learning to occur.