Second Formal Observation Student Teaching

Observer: Cooperating Teacher

Alexandra Keresztes
Grade 4
Date

February 26, 2015

Title of Lesson

Reinforcing partial products of 1 digit by 3 digit:

How can you multiply a multi-digit number in two ways?
Grade 4
Math: Multi-Digit Multiplication
Students will be able to represent multi-digit by single-digit
multiplication by illustrating the partial products on an area model
Students will be able to represent multi-digit by single-digit
multiplication by expressing partial products in multiplication
sentences
Students will be able to solve multi-digit by single-digit multiplication
problems using partial products
For students who complete the step ahead: Students will be able to
create an expression that will give the greatest possible product, given
a set of numbers
CCSS-MATH-4.NBT.B.5 Multiply a whole number of up to four digits
by a one-digit whole number, and multiply two two-digit numbers, using
strategies based on place value and the properties of operations.

Grade Level/
Content Area
Objectives

GLEs or
Common Core
Standards

Instructional
Materials &
Resources

Instructional
Activities &
Tasks

CCSS-MATH-4.OA.3 Solve multistep word problems posed with

whole numbers and having whole-number answers using the four
operations.
- ORIGO Slate Module 7, Lesson 3:
- Step-In Discussion
- Student Journal, Module 7, Lesson 3
- Exit Slip
- bag of numbered marbles
Lesson Introduction:
Review homework from the previous night (students will check
one anothers work unless they want to check their own)
Introduce lesson focus: Today we will be looking more at how
we can multiply a three-digit number using partial products.
Project Step-In Discussion on board; when the marbles are
projected onto the board and the blanks are shown, pull 4 names
out of the sticks to draw a marble out and write the number on one
of the blanks
Draw another name to break the rectangle into 100s, 10s, and 1s
Ask for help finding each partial product and the total product
Individual Practice:
Ask students to set up their offices

Second Formal Observation Student Teaching

Observer: Cooperating Teacher

Assessment

Learner
Factors

Have students complete exit slip; place in classwork bin when

finished and pick up Journal 7.3 from the front table to work on
Instruct students to complete Journal 7.3 in their offices
o Leave marbles up on the board for students to choose
from

Lesson Wrap Up:

First four students done will put their solved marble problems on
the big white boards
Students who are finished can try to create their own problem with
one-digit by three-digit or one-digit by four-digit (for a challenge)
for morning work
Informal: Students will be coming up to annotate on the Promethean
Board and will be discussing if there are any other ways to solve the
problems.
Formal: Students will complete Journal 7.3 and Exit Slip
Students will be building upon the previous days lesson and transferring
their understanding of visual partial products to partial products using
only sentences.
Students will build upon their interpersonal skills as they discuss how to
break up the marbles that were drawn on the visual representation and
how to break it into multiplication sentences showing partial products and
as they play games at the end of the activity. Students will strengthen
intrapersonal skills as they complete the problems and exit slip on their
own. Students will strengthen their logical/mathematical skills and visual
representation skills as they work through the entire lesson.

Environmental
Factors

Extension/
Enrichment
Activity

A, A, M, N, and Z help visually represent the number sentences on the

rectangles given on the worksheets and on the exit slip (if necessary)
No student grouping will be used. All problems will be done individually.
After exit slip is completed, some students will be able to share the
number problems they created from the marbles on the front page.
Students will be challenged to create a one-digit by three-digit or onedigit by four-digit multiplication problem for the next days morning
work.
They will also be challenged to solve their problem as they will be asked
to check over their classmates work after morning work.

Second Formal Observation Student Teaching

Observer: Cooperating Teacher
Lesson Reflection:
1. How effective was the lesson plan? Explain.
Although I followed the lesson plan, which was set up to reinforce the previous
days lesson, I do not feel that it was as effective as it could have been. I think
that it would have been more successful to have gone through Journal 7.3 prior to
doing the exit slip. It would have been better for me to have read through the
problems in the Journal and then walked around the room to answer any questions
the students might have had prior to asking them to do the exit slip so the exit slip
would have accurately measured their learning over the entire lesson rather than
just the reintroduction to the information.
After the previous days lesson, I also realized that some of the students were
making errors with their multiplication facts from 09, which they should have
been very familiar with from 3rd grade. Rather than going over the previous
nights homework, I administered a fluency test that had a random set of 50
multiplication facts prior to beginning the lesson.
2. Was the pace of the lesson appropriate? Explain.
The pace of this lesson was generally appropriate, but I should have only given a
set amount of time for the students to do the Exit Slip and Journal. The students
who I wanted to share their work did not have time to because I was waiting for
everyone to finish what they were working on.
Next time I intend for students to share their work, I would like to leave 2 minutes
at the end of the lesson per student sharing. In this lesson, I would have left 8-10
minutes for everyone to clean up and gather themselves to see everyones work.
3. Did you implement effective classroom management strategies? (Ex: use of
proximity, positive reinforcement, etc.) Explain.
I think that my classroom management could have been more effective for this
lesson. At the beginning of the lesson, the transition from the fluency test to the
lesson itself was a little bit disorganized, but once I explained what I had in my
paper bag, they all became more engaged.
This is going to be my next major area of focus for lessons. Even with only 19
students in the classroom, it is difficult to have a wide range of learners in the
room because it is hard to gauge appropriate amounts of time for different
students to get through a lesson without boredom sitting in for those who are
already finished and may distract their classmates as a result. In future
reinforcing lessons, I would like to have a separate activity box with challenges or
an enrichment activity that the students can work on after finishing what they are
asked to do.
4. Were all the students actively engaged in the learning process? How did you meet
individual needs of students?
I met the individual needs of students by allowing those who used calculators or
multiplication charts to use them through the lesson. Additionally, I helped some
students by drawing in either the rectangles or the blanks for the partial product
equations. Using the offices ensured that each student had their own space to
do work and also helped them remain on task.

Second Formal Observation Student Teaching

Observer: Cooperating Teacher
For the most part, I think that students were engaged in the learning process. The
students who very easily grasped the concepts of the lesson were faster to finish,
as was expected, and enjoyed the opportunity to show the problems they created
on the white board. These students also enjoyed creating their own problems
while waiting for their classmates to finish working. During the introduction of
the lesson, they were all engaged because of the use of a prop yet, I found this
prop to be distracting because I did not immediately ask for the marbles back.
While I realized that props can increase engagement, I also noticed that they can
be a distraction if not used correctly.
5. Were the materials of interest to the students? How do you know?
Some of these materials were interesting to the students. When I began the lesson
with a bag of marbles, all of the students were engaged, however I did not
immediately take the marbles back from the students which presented a
distraction. Additionally, because the students always do these types of
worksheets, I feel that they would have done better with a different type of
activity to reinforce the use of the two strategies to solve one-digit by three-digit
multiplication equations.
6. Discuss the effectiveness/ineffectiveness of your teaching. (What worked, what
didnt, how does this inform your instruction?)
With the aforementioned information in mind, I would change this lesson to give
the class the Journal immediately after working through the marble problem on
the Promethean board and read through each problem as a class with the Journal
in front of them. Going through each problem and checking for questions through
each section of the Journal, I will be able to check for individual understanding
and see if there is anywhere that I might give further guidance. Additionally,
walking around the room while students are working on their Journals will allow
for me to notice if the students are making errors and address it individually or on
the board for the full class.
Once students have completed the Journal, they can then pick up their exit slips
from the front table in the room. I will feel more confident that this lesson has
properly reinforced the students understanding of one-digit by three-digit
multiplication if they complete the exit slip after practicing the strategies one
more time.
7. Discuss your assessment. (What was learned?, how do you know?)
I feel that the assessments presented when I actually taught this lesson were
extremely beneficial to determining the next days lesson. Since I replaced the
homework check with a fluency test, I had two assessments out of that.
Additionally, I had the exit slips and Journals.
While the students were completing the exit slips, I was walking around the room
and many students were asking me clarification questions. This informed me that
the next time I do an exit slip, I want to do it during the last 5 minutes of the
lesson. Doing this allows me to ensure that all of the students have an accurate
idea of the lesson and can do the exit slip independently, as intended.
From the four formal assessments I had at the end of this lesson, I was able to
assess what the core areas of concern for individual students and place them into
learning groups to facilitate their learning through different math games during

Second Formal Observation Student Teaching

Observer: Cooperating Teacher
the next math workshop. The major areas of concern were place value, area
model labelling, math facts, and a challenge group. Rather than using the next
lesson in the curriculum, one-digit by four-digit multiplication, I wanted to make
sure that all the students understood what they were doing with this math and had
extra practice in their areas of need. Using games to facilitate this and placing
one teacher with each of the three groups that needed practice helped ensure that
all students were getting specific attention to help them improve the area they
were struggling in.