MIAA 330 Error Analysis and Learning Trajectories

Donna Robertson
1/22/15
Kindergarten Third Grade Span
The first lesson is provided by Dania Chandler, second grade teacher
at John R. Williams School in the Lincoln Unified District. After the lesson
in Engage NY Module 2, Lesson 2, she recorded students working on #3 of
the Problem Set, provided below.

The students were unsure of what to do at times. They were making

tape diagrams as a way to show their strategies, but even with this visual
method, some were adding or subtracting without being able to state why.
When asked their results from Step 1, one child said the strip was 18 cm.
This student had added the amounts rather than subtracted. Another had

correctly found the amount of 8 cm, but didnt have a tape diagram and
number sentence that reflected that process.
When asked for their results from Step 2, the students were able to
state that they needed to find the total length of both strips, but again were
unclear in how to do so and were using incorrect amounts. Mrs. Chandler
asked many questions to help redirect their thinking without telling them any
solutions. Examples of her questions: What can we do? Where can we
look to find what to do? What are we trying to find out? Can you show that
in a number sentence? This teacher consistently found ways to redirect
them to the text and the task on hand, which is an excellent teaching strategy
in any subject area.
Fourth Seventh Grade Span
The next lesson is provided by Victoria Coburn of Tully C.
Knoles School in the Lincoln Unified District. It is from Fifth Grade
Engage NY Module 2, Lesson 5 and includes a set of three-digit
multiplication by two-digit multiplication problems. During the practice
part of the lesson, the teacher interviews students about their processes to
achieve the products and whether or not their partial products were accurate.
The first student is very accurate, but when asked to explain her steps, she

uses the term placeholder for zero in her partial product but is unable to
tell more about why there is a need for a zero in that partial product.
The second student struggles with basic multiplication and
addition facts, and so the process is slower and less accurate for her. But she
is also lacking basic number sense and an understanding of place value.
When the teacher asks her to write the multiplication problem 434 X 21, the
student writes 40034 instead of 434. The teacher sees the need for
reteaching place value and does a mini-lesson with this student until she can
correctly state how many digits would be in the number and can write it
correctly. It is a bit of a startling moment to have a fifth grader make such
an error in a basic task like correctly writing a stated number. This student
needs a lot more time on practice in place value, and the teacher will want to
have some time using place value blocks with this student until she no
longer incorrectly writes a three digit number.
Both students seem to rely more on memorized steps of the
multiplication algorithm rather than having a true understanding of the
process, and the teacher will want to spend more time with the area model of
multiplication with these students.

Algebra
This lesson is provided from Marcos Nuno of Colonial Heights
School in the Lincoln Unified District. It is from Engage NY Grade 8,
Module 3, Lesson 8 on similarity of triangles.

The recording of this lesson was a bit difficult to hear and

understand. Most of the students seemed to be unclear on the concept they
were being asked to practice. Interviewed students could not state with
confidence or clarity their strategy for dilation in this instance. One student
was able to state that he was pretty sure that he could multiply values by
, but then other students disagreed with that strategy. At this time, the

recording ends, so I dont know if other students are able to express their
strategy more clearly or not.
Any error analysis I can do pertains to the seeming lack of
communication of clear, thorough, accurate mathematical reasoning. It is
likely that these students may be more confident in other non-geometrical
areas. But if not, the teacher may want to focus on daily math journaling
and increased opportunities to communicate their mathematical reasoning.