ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

 The need for this unit came about: When examining the fourth grade scores on the 2003 North Dakota State Assessment, I found that students need more practice in these areas: · Using simple organizational strategies when gathering and organizing information · Understanding that different purposes require different forms of writing · Communicating strategies to solve problems One NCA School Improvement target area for the Northern Cass Public School is that of written language. Students at Northern Cass will: · Construct sentences and paragraphs using standard conventions of English. · Use grammar, punctuations, capitalization, and spelling using standard conventions of English. When reading the book,Best Practice for Teaching and Learning in America’s Schools, by Steven Zemelman, Harvey Daniels, and Arthur Hyde, I came across some impressionable points about teaching math. · Students should be encouraged to formulate and solve problems directly related to the world around them so they can see the structures of mathematics in every aspect of their lives. · Mathematics is not a set of isolated topics, but rather an integrated whole. middot; Problem solving is the focus of a curriculum that fosters the development of math power. · Students need opportunities to use language to communicate mathematical ideas. This unit will bundle the skills and will give students instruction and practice in all areas.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: I want my students to display an awareness and understanding that: 1.Everyone is "Smart" in one way or another. We learn in different ways. 2.Math is all around us, and is used everyday throughout life. Math is more than just "doing" problems. 3.Writing to clearly express yourself is a needed, lifelong skill. Goals: nbsp; Students will display an awareness and understanding of how multiple intelligences relate to learning. Students will become actively engaged in the learning process as they complete the academic activities. Students will effectively apply math skills and strategies and relate them to everyday life. Students will be able to clearly communicate their mathematical ideas.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: nbsp;What is your favorite subject in school? Why? How are you smart? How did you use math today? What profession does not use math? What kind of math problems do you like to solve? If you could write about one thing, what would it be? Objectives: Students will display a clear understanding of individual strengths and weaknesses and relate these to learning. Students will be able to effectively gather information and clearly display it by creating a graph. Students will be able to accurately read graphs and use the information to discuss, write about, and compare. Students will be able to create a math problem that appeals to a specific intelligence. Students will be able to develop a math problem that can be reasonably solved by their peers using a specific strategy. Students will be able to arrive at reasonable solutions for math problems using skills and strategies they have acquired. Students will be able to clearly explain their reasoning on how they arrived at the solution. Students will be able to effectively use different technologies as they complete the activities in the unit.

Assessment

  What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding?  Students can correctly answer questions about the information displayed on a graph. Students can write complete sentences and paragraphs about information displayed on a graph. Students can solve similar math problems that appear in the book. Students can correctly write a paragraph about themselves. What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding?   Students use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the learning styles of two classmates. Students identify the person that they feel is most like them and explain why. A rubric will be used to assess their work. What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding?   Students will be part of a team to create a new 5th grade math book. They will write problems that are meaningful to 5th grade students. Pictures and clip art will be used. Some problems will be written so the students will use a specific strategy in the solution. Other problems will be written in a way to appeal to a certain intelligence. Students can attempt to write a problem that may have multiple solutions. A rubric will be used to assess student work. What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect?   Students will assume different roles as the book is published (Writers, editors, graphic designers, binders). They choose the different role based on their strengths.

Instructional Strategies

 This unit uses project-based learning to get students actively engaged in the learning of academic skills that will be used throughout life. It encourages higher-order thinking skills by having students become aware of the different intelligences, and thinking about learning in different ways. It makes students aware that learning doesn’t take place in isolated subjects. Students are “using” the acquired knowledge instead of just “doing” the skill. Students will develop a final product that bundles many academic skills in a way that makes it a meaningful experience.