Differentiated Units Assignment

Differentiated Units Assignment: First, Sixth, & Algebra

Thaihoa Nguyen
Teachers College of San Joaquin
March 28, 2015

Differentiated Units Assignment

Math concept: Place Value

Grade 1
CCSS. Number & Operations in Base Ten 1.NBT.B.2 2.Understanding that the two digits of a
two-digit number represent amounts of tens and ones. Understand the following as special
cases:
a. 10 can be thought of as a bundle of ten onescalled a tens.
b. The numbers from 11 to 19 are composed of a ten and one, two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, or nine ones.
c. The numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, refer to one, two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, or nine tens (and 0 ones).
Big Ideas: Two digit numbers are comprised of ones and tens.

Lesson Goal #1: Having students use mental math to add single digit with two-digit numbers.
(Students have already work with building two digit numbers using base ten blocks and adding
two digit numbers using base ten blocks.)

Open Question: (On the whiteboard, I wrote 11+9). Without using your fingers to count, what
is the answer?
Expected Student Responses:
29
10
20
Management

Encourage students to have dialogue.

Have students talk about what strategies they used to come up with their
answers.
Encourage students not to use their fingers to count.
Teacher Questions to Probe Thinking: What numbers do you want to focus
on? What have you learned about these numbers?

Academic Language Check: Teacher writes down all students counting strategies on the
whiteboard. This will familiarize first graders to use the vocabulary that describes their actions.
Start at 11 and count nine more = Counting on

Differentiated Units Assignment

Count all the numbers = Counting all

Count by 2s and 5s to get to answer = Skip counting
Combine number to make tens = Regrouping
Activity: Practice with additional problems.
Debrief: Students will talk in a whole group setting and share their thinking and strategies on
how they got their answer. Teacher will record their strategies and thinking on the whiteboard
for all to see and discuss.
Summarize what we learned: Give students this sentence stripe to fill in.
Today I learned that 11 + 9 is equal to 20. The strategy that I used to find my answer is
_____________.
Formative Assessment: Having students orally solve this problem is 12+8 on the way out to
lunch. What is your answer and tell me what you did to get the answer?

Lesson Goal #2: Students will have conversations about strategies they are going use to find their
answers.

Open Question: Using mental math, what is the answer to 11+11+11?

Expected Student Responses
33
60
32
31
Management:
o Listen to students and their reasoning.
o Write down their strategies on the whiteboard.
o Teacher Questions to Probe Thinking: What strategies did you use
without counting with your fingers to find the answer?

Tiered Lesson: Students will be divided into two groups depending how they answered the
Open Question.
Group 1: Students will work in teams of fours. Teacher will give teams problems on
index cards. Students need to work in teams and come up with the correct answers.

Differentiated Units Assignment

They will have conversations within their teams and explain what they did to get the
answer. Students may draw pictures to show their strategies.
Group 2: Students will work with teacher sitting on the carpet. Teacher will write similar
problems on the whiteboard. Teacher will listen and record students responses and
strategies on the whiteboard. This group may also need more work with base ten
blocks.
Academic Language Check: Writing down the strategies on the whiteboard and providing
sentence frames to have students respond in complete sentences.
Debrief: Have students come up and explain their strategies in finding their answers.
Summarize what we have learned: Whole class conversation. We learned that there are
different strategies to help add single digit with two-digit numbers. Please raise your hand and
share with the class a new strategy you learned today.
Formative Assessment: (Ticket out the Door). As students are walking out for recess, have
students solve the following problem: 15+5. They will tell you orally the answer.

Math Concept: Integers

Grade 6
CCSS. The Number System.6.NS.C.5 Understand that positive and negative numbers are used
together to describe quantities having opposite directions or value (e.g., temperature
above/below zero, sea elevation above/below sea level, credits/debits, positive/negative
electric charge); use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-world
contexts, explaining the meaning of 0 in each situation.
Big Ideas: Understanding that positive and negative numbers are to describe withdrawal and
deposit.

Lesson Goal #1: For students to understand what happens when money is being withdrawn or
deposited in a piggy bank.

Open Question: I have a piggy bank here. How can I change the amount of money in my piggy
bank?
Expected Student Responses:

Differentiated Units Assignment

Put money into the piggy bank

Take money out of the piggy bank
Crack the piggy bank and take money out
Add money to the piggy bank

Management

Students are working together with their partner and creating a list of all the
possibilities that can change the amount in their piggy bank.
Students are talking and having conversations about what are happening to
the piggy bank.
Teacher Questions to Probe Thinking: What happens when you dont have
enough money in the piggy bank but you still need money? Explain what
happens when your parents pay a bill?

Academic Language Check: Create a list on poster board of vocabulary words used during the
activity. Introduce students to the academic vocabulary that they will use.
Put in=deposit
Take out=withdrawal
Pull out= withdrawal
Money in bank=balance
Debrief: Have students talk within their group. Teacher provides sentence frames to students
to make their own sentences. Students read their sentence frames to each other.
When I need money, I can _________________________.
When I do not have money, I need to _______________________.
Another way to describe taking out is__________________.
Another way to describe putting money in is__________________.
Summarize what we learned: In your math journal, write a short story about what you did and
describe how you withdrew or deposited money into your piggy bank.
Formative Assessment (Ticket out the door): Complete the following sentence: When I need
more money, I need to __________. This word describes what action?

Lesson Goal #2: Relates to deposit and withdrawal money from a piggy bank.

Differentiated Units Assignment

Parallel Tasks: Students choose which task they prefer.

1. Draw a picture to show depositing and withdrawing money.
2. Make a chart showing two transactions where you are depositing and two
transactions withdrawing money from your piggy bank.
Academic Language Check: Make sure students are using scholar words to explain their piggy
bank. Students self-edit their paper.
Debrief: Have students display their assignment on the students wall. Do a quick conference
about their work. Other students will walk around the room and read each others work.
Direct Vocabulary Instruction: Reflect on what you know about depositing and withdrawing
from your piggy bank.
1. Write the words you learned.
2. Write your own definition of the vocabulary you learned.
3. Write a sentence and draw a picture to represent your sentence.
Open Question: If you got a piggy bank for Christmas, what are the different ways to describe
how money relates to the piggy bank?
Expected Student Responses
You can deposit money into the piggy bank.
You can withdraw money from the piggy bank.
Management:
o Students talk in their team and discuss how the money will be handled.
o Teacher Questions to Probe Thinking: Show/tell me what would happen if
you need money from your piggy bank? What else can you do to change
the amount in the piggy bank?
Summarize what we learned: Complete sentence frame and have your partner read it. I can
change the amount in my piggy bank by ___________. This describes when money is
_________________. Another way to change the amount in my piggy bank is
____________________. This describes when money is ___________________.
Formative Assessment: How can you change the amount of money in your piggy bank? Explain
your reasoning.

Math Concept: Linear Equations

Differentiated Units Assignment

Grade 8th Algebra

CCSS. Linear, Quadratic, & Exponential Models.HSF.LE.A.2 Construct and compare linear,
quadratic, and exponential models and solve problems. Construct linear and exponential
functions, including arithmetic and geometric sequences, given a graph, a description of a
relationship, or two input-output pairs (include reading these from a table).
Materials: 20 alligators clips, dental floss, scissors, three 18-inch long by 3/16 inch diameter (or
thinner) wooden dowels, 12 inch ruler, and activity sheet
Big Ideas: Linear equations show that the mobile needs to be balanced.

Lesson Goal #1: For students to demonstrate how to makes things balance when they are given a
list of materials to use.

Open Question: Show students the mobile. How do you think the mobile is balancing by itself?
Show picture of the Mobile:

Expected Student Responses:

How you hold it

Where you put the clips
How many clips you put on both side
By the string attached to it
Youre trying to balance it yourself

Management

Students are working together in teams of four. Make a list of all the things
holding the mobile.
Have students talk and look for clues to fill in their charts.

Differentiated Units Assignment

Teacher Questions to Probe Thinking: What do I need to do to make it

balance? Why does it need to balance? Describe what you see.

Academic Language Check: Guide students in making a chart to display on the wall. Highlight
new vocabulary for students to read and use. Direct students to write all information into their
math journals.
Balance Beam= mobile object
Distance = how far away the clip is from the edge of the beam
Fulcrum= the balance point of a scale
Weight= heavy, light, more, and less
Same= equal
Effort arm=where the weight is causing the beam to be unbalanced or balanced.
Debrief: Students will use the document camera to share their ideas. Complete the sentence
frame. In order for the mobile to be unbalanced/balanced I would have to__________ and
___________.
Summarize what we learned: Complete the following sentence: Today I learned that
_____________________________________________________________________________.
Formative Assessment: Write in your journal and turn it in. In order for the mobile to be
balanced I need to ____________________. I noticed that when the mobile is unbalanced it is
____________________________.

Lesson Goal #2: Students will create their own mobile and collect data to understand balancing out
an equation.

Open Question: Looking at my mobile, can you tell me what is helping it balance? If I move my
fulcrum point to a different point on the beam, what would happen?
Expected Student Responses
The paper clips are helping it to balance
The mobile will tilt over
Management:
o Listen to students reasoning.
o Have student hold the mobile.
o Teacher Questions to Probe Thinking: Show/tell me what would happen if
I add clips on this side?

Differentiated Units Assignment

Tiered Lesson: Students will be divided into groups of four depending on how they answer the
Open Questions.
Group 1: Students will work together in their teams and create their own mobile
(making their balance beam). They will insert their data on a table. They will explain how
they collected their data and draw a conclusion from their results.
Group 2: Students also form teams of four and with the teachers help will create the
mobile together. The teacher will have a discussion with students and do the activity
together. Students will record the data with the teacher.
Academic Language Check: Make sure students are using scholar words to explain their mobile
from the previous lesson. Do a quick review of the vocabulary using from the word wall.
Debrief: Teacher will have a mobile to present. Have students come up and balance the
teachers mobile and explain their reasoning. Teacher will guide students in understanding how
the data can be related to a linear equation.
Activity: Have students build a linear equation from the data.
Summarize what we have learned: I learned that a linear equation is when_______________.
We have learned that in order for our mobile to balance, you have to find the _________ of the
beam. If I put ___________clips on the right, then ______________clip(s) on the left will make
it __________________. By creating my own mobile, I learned that
______________________________________________.
Formative Assessment: Looking at the mobile presented, how can it balance? Explain your
reasoning and write the linear equation.