Investigating a key mathematical

concept at the k-12.

Ayesha Hassan Al-Ali.

H00328412
Basel Badran.
23th of February 2016.

Education is a very expanded word that has so many components that come
under it. Teachers teach, and students listen. This is what everyone got used
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to. But nowadays we have so many strategies and definitions that came into
the education to make it better and develop it. One of these definitions is the
process of inquiry. It is the involvement that leads to understanding
(Cii.illinois.edu, 2016). In this process, we use the 5E. The 5Es are: Engage,
explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate.
This activity I am demonstrating will be an inquiry-based math activity. This
activity is for KG1 students that are four to five years old. The concept I will
be teaching is early geometry. I will introduce the students to three 2D
shapes that are the circle, triangle, and the square. The students will be
working in groups.
Here are the 5Es and how each part of my lesson fits one stage from the 5E:
Engage:
Each learner has previous knowledge. While engaging, teachers have the
opportunity to find out what the students already know about a certain
concept. It gives the learner the opportunity to recall his current ideas about
this topic. In this stage, teachers try to capture the students interest and
make them curious and eager to learn (Inquiry, the Learning Cycle, & the 5E
Instructional Model, 2016).
I will have three groups of 3 students. Each group will get a brown shape on
A3 paper (Circle, Triangle, and Square). They will also get a collection of
small colored shapes that are cut out like some pizza ingredients. The brown
paper will represent the pizza base, and the colored shapes will represent the
topics. Students will have three minutes to create a pizza in groups using the
shapes by sticking them on the base.
Explore:
Students in this stage investigate the materials. After engaging, they would
produce questions that are related to the material they just had. During the
exploring stage, students will get some experience, and they will start
constructing their understanding (Inquiry, the Learning Cycle, & the 5E
Instructional Model, 2016).
While exploring, each group will come out and describe the pizza they made.
They will compare between their pizzas and then we will record the
similarities and differences they found on the board.
Explain:
In this stage, the learner will have the opportunity to connect his experience
with the learning in the lesson. By doing this, the student will learn the
concepts in the formal language. The student will also understand the
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content easier, and he will be able to deliver the previous experience he is

having (Inquiry, the Learning Cycle, & the 5E Instructional Model, 2016).
Students will have to explain the shapes of the ingredients on the pizza and
tell their colleagues what each shape represent. We will show a song about
shapes and then we will ask them about the shapes names that were
mentioned in the song and how many edges do they have.
Elaborate:
During elaborating students apply and extend the concepts and experiences
they know in new situations. They can connect them to real life or other
situations that have the same concept, but they didnt notice before
(Primaryconnections.org.au, 2016).
We will show students some pictures, and we tell them to search for the
shapes we just mentioned. The pictures can be of a school or a garden or
even a house. They will also record and count how many shapes are there in
this picture. We will also tell them to search for the shapes in the classroom.
Evaluate:
It is the last stage, and we can gather and test the students understanding
of the whole lesson. We test the students ability to use the concepts and
definitions and how to apply them (Primaryconnections.org.au, 2016).
We will tell the shapes name, and students will draw it in the air with their
fingers. After that we will show an online game on the smart board and
students will play in turn.

References
Cii.illinois.edu. (2016). Inquiry Process. Retrieved 22 February 2016, from
http://www.cii.illinois.edu/InquiryPage/inquiry/process.html
Inquiry, the Learning Cycle, & the 5E Instructional Model. (2016) (1st Ed.). Retrieved
from http://www.kacee.org/files/Inquiry%20&%205E%20Instructional
%20Model.pdf
Primaryconnections.org.au. (2016). 5Es Teaching and Learning Model. Retrieved 22
February 2016, from https://primaryconnections.org.au/about/teaching