Design for Learning

Instructor: Ellie Knox

Lesson Title: Are Numbers Equal?
Curriculum Area: Math

Grade Level/Cooperating Teacher: 1st/ Gartman

Date: 2-23-16
Estimated Time: 2 Days

Standards Connection:
Understand the meaning of the equal sign, and determine if equations involving addition
and subtraction are true or false. [1-OA7]
Learning Objective(s):
When given three equations, the students will determine if they are true or false with
100% accuracy.
Learning Objective(s) stated in kid-friendly language:
Today boys and girls, we are going to look at math equations to see if they are the same
on both sides! If they are the same, we will say the equations are true, but if they are not
the same, we will say they are false!
Evaluation of Learning Objective(s):
The students will complete the handout with the three equations. Students must draw in
the boxes provided to help them determine if the sentence is true or false. Students must
correctly label the three sentences as true or false as well as correctly draw the pictures to
be in the green zone. Students who correctly label two equations and correctly draw two
pictures will be in the yellow zone. Students who correctly label less than two equations
and draw less than two pictures correctly will be in the red zone for remediation.
Engagement:
The teacher will ask the students to join her on the carpet. Ok friends, I would like you to
join me on the carpet. The teacher will wait for the students to sit down. Thank you very
much for sitting quietly and being so ready to listen. I want everyone to look at Student A.
Student A is showing everyone how a first grader should sit, thank you Student A! I want
you all to make sure you are sitting like he is! The teacher will hold up a bag of skittles.
We are going to talk about Skittles today. Who likes Skittles? I do too! Well, you both are
going to help me put together a bag of Skittles for my, Ms. Gartman and Mrs. Rogers. I
think you all can really help me out here! Can you do that? Great! Student B, what is
your favorite color of skittle? Yellow? What a coincidence! I think that Ms. Gartmans
favorite color skittle is that too! Ok, I am going to put 8 skittles in this bag. Count with
me as I put them in the bag. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Ok, thats what
we are going to give Ms. Gartman. Now, raise your hand if you like purple skittles? Wow!
I think Mrs. Rogers would really like some purple skittles in this bag. I am going to put 4
of those in this bag. Count those with me. One, two, three, four. Good, You know what? I
think Mrs. Rogers also would love the green skittles! I think she reeeeeally likes the green
ones. I am going to put 4 of those too. Count with me as I put them in. Ok, one, two,
three, four. Good! The teacher will put the two bags on the white board. Who thinks I

gave Ms. Gartman and Mrs. Rogers the same amount of skittles? The teacher will write
the number of those who guessed on the board. Ok now who thinks that I gave them a
different amount of skittles? Ok, the teacher will write that number on the board. Well
today, we are going to look at math equations to see if they are the same on both sides! If
they are the same, we will say the equations are true, but if they are not the same, we will
say they are false! Transition to teaching
Learning Design:
I.
Teaching:
Before we begin, I want to show you a video. The teacher will play the video. How
funny! What did the two headed monster want for the milk? Yes for it to be equal! The
teacher will write an equal sign on the board. Who can raise their hand and tell me
what this is? Student H, what do we call this sign? Yes! We call it an equal sign. We
use an equal sign in equations! Now, I want you to turn and talk to your elbow
partner. Do not stand up! I want you to turn and talk about what the equal sign
means. When I begin to count down from 5, it is time for you to stop talking and
return to your seat. You may begin. The teacher will give the students one minute to
discuss with their partner. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. You should all be back at your spots on the
carpet. I heard some wonderful discussions. Who would like to share their answer
with the class? Student J, what does an equal sign mean. If we were reading it like we
would read a word, what would you say? Ok. The teacher will write that on the board.
Does anyone have a different answer? Student D, what do you think? Ok! The teacher
will write that on the board. An equal sign means is the same as. Just how the two
headed monster wanted to have the same amount of milk, we want to see if an
equation is true in saying that numbers are the same! So, I am going to write an
equation on the board. I dont want you to read it out loud, but I want you to read it in
your head. The teacher will write 1=1 on the board. Now that is an odd equation,
isnt it? But, I want you to see how we read an equation. I am going to read it first,
and then I want you to read it with me. The teacher will read the equation. One is the
same as one. Ok boys and girls, say that with me. One is the same as one! Wow! That
seems pretty simple, right? Well, I want us to look at some other equations. To do this,
we are going to use a fun hands on object! The teacher will hold individual bags of
skittles up to the class. Before I get a friend to pass these out, you all have to promise
something to me. Hold up your right hand. Repeat after me, I promise to not eat these
Skittles. These are for math, and if I eat these skittles, I will have to use blocks
instead. The teacher will pause. Ok, you promised me. If you eat these, you will not be
able to use these and will instead use blocks. There will be a time for skittles later, but
now we are using them to help us in math. The teacher will dismiss the students back
to their tables. I want everyone to walk back quietly to their seats and clear the space
in front of them. I want my materials helpers to pass one bag out to every friend in
the class. Do not open your bag until I tell you to! The teacher will wait for the
students to take their seats. I really appreciate how Student A sat down quietly and is
not touching her skittles until I tell her to. Ok boys and girls. I am going to write an
equation on the board. I want you to read it with me after I write it. The teacher will
write 3+4=8 on the board. The teacher will read it first. Three plus four is the same as

eight. Lets read this together boys and girls. Three plus four is the same as eight.
Everyone, open your Ziploc bag. We are going to use our skittles to help us see if this
equation is true or false. How many skittles should we get out first, Student J? Yes!
We are going to get out 3 skittles. Lets count those out together. One, two, three. The
teacher will put three skittles on the board. I want to see everyone put three skittles in
front of themselves. The teacher will circulate the room as the students put three
skittles out. Excellent! Now Student B, how many skittles do we pull out of the bag?
Yes! We get four more skittles out. Lets count them out. One, two, three, four. Good.
The teacher will model this by putting four more skittles on the board. Ok, lets look
back at the equation I wrote on the board. The teacher will point to the equation. Lets
say this together again. Three plus four is the same as eight. Well, we did three plus
four.. Lets count the total skittles we have so far! The teacher will point to her skittles
on the board as she has students count their own skittles. Count your own skittles out
loud as I count mine. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Now, lets put out eight
skittles for the other side of the equation to compare them. Take out eight skittles
youre your bag and separate them. The teacher will model this on the board. Lets
count these together. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Hmm Lets go
back to the other side. How many did we count? Yes! We counted seven. The teacher
will point to the board. Is this equation true? Talk to your tables about this. When I
begin to count back from 5, I want you to stop talking! The teacher will give the
students a minute to discuss. She will circulate the room as the students discuss to
hear their conversations. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. I heard some good conversations! Which table
would like to share their answers? Table 2? What did you say? Ok, you said it is not
the same? Raise your hand if you also said that? Ok! Well lets look at this. When we
counted our skittles, how many did we get? Yes! We got 7! The teacher will point to
the equation on the board. So, is this equation right or wrong? Yes! It is wrong! So we
would say that this is a false statement! The teacher will write false next to the
equation. Put all your skittles back in your bag. We are going to do another one. The
teacher will write 6=8-2. Lets read this together. Six is the same as eight minus two.
Ok! Lets get seven skittles out of our bag. Count with me. One, two, three, four, five,
six. The teacher will model this on the board with her skittles. Now, we need to move
to the other side of the equation. Lets get eight skittles out of our bags. Count with
me. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. The teacher will put her skittles on the
board. Now, I want us to look at this equation one more time to see what we should do
next. Six is the same as eight minus two. Student C, what should I do next. Do I take
two more skittles out of my bag, or do I take two skittles away from my nine skittles?
Yes! I take two away. We are doing subtraction, so we take away. The teacher will
take two skittles away from the board. Take two skittles and put them back in your
bag. Lets count how many skittles we have now. Count with me. One, two, three, four,
five, six.. The teacher will point back to the equation on the board. I want you all to
look at the equation with me. Is six the same as eight minus two? Talk at your tables
about this. Compare your two sets of skittles. Are they the same? When I count back
from five, I want you to stop talking. The teacher will give the students a minute to
discuss. She will circulate the room and ask questions to the students. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Great job everyone! Table 4, what did you say? Ok you said that it is. Do the other
tables agree? Raise your hands if you agree? Ok. The teacher will point to the

equation. Lets count our skittles again. The teacher will pull out the two skittles.
Remember that we took these skittles away! Lets count together. One, two, three,
four, five, six. We got six! What number did we start with? 8! And how many did we
take away? 2! Is this equation right or wrong? It is right! So we would say it is a true
statement. The teacher will write true beside the equation. Great work everyone! I
want you all to put all your skittles back in your bag. We have one more equation to
do altogether. And this one is much more complicated. I think you all are up for it! Do
you think you can do it? Ok! The teacher will write 4+1=3+2 on the board. Lets read
this together. Four plus one is the same as three plus two. Wow! Ok, I want you to
take four skittles out of your bag. Count with me. One, two, three, four. The teacher
will put four skittles on the board. Now we need to add one, because we are saying
four plus one. If we add one, how many will we have Student K? Yes! We will have
five. Take out one skittle. The teacher will put one skittle next to her other skittles on
the board. Ok, now we need to check the other side of the equation. Student B, how
many skittles should we get out of our bag now? Yes! Three. Count with me. One,
two, three. The teacher will put three skittles on the board by the line. Ok, now what
should we do, Student M? Yes! We need to get two more skittles out, because we were
saying three plus two! Take two skittles out of your bag. Count with me. One, two.
The teacher will put her skittles on the board. The teacher will point to the board. I
want you to talk to your tables to see if this equation is true or false. When I count
back from five, I want you to stop talking. The teacher will give the students one
minute to talk at their tables. She will circulate the room and listen to conversations.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Excellent conversations boys and girls! This is a tougher equation! Table
3, what did you say? Was the equation true or false? True? Raise your hand if you
thought true? Ok! Lets check by counting all our skittles. Count your skittles as I
count mine on he board. The teacher will point to her skittle son the board. One, two,
three, four, five. So we have five on this side. Lets count the other side. One, two,
three, four, five. So is this equation true or false? Yes! It is true. The teacher will write
true on the board by the equation. Great job boys and girls. I want you to put your
skittles back in your Ziploc bags and close them. I want my materials helpers to
gather up the Ziploc bags and bring them to me. Transition to practice
II. Opportunity for Practice:
The teacher will call the students to the carpet. I want everyone to push their seats back
and come back to the carpet. Thank you for being so on task! Good job! Now, who can
remind us what we have been doing so far? Student F? Yes! We have been looking at
equations to see if they are true or false! And what does an equal sign mean everyone?
Yes! An equal sign means is the same as! You all have been wonderful listeners! Pat
yourselves on the baclk. Now, you are going to get to practice with your table. The
teacher will hold up her poster board to show the students. In a few minutes, you are
going to go back to your tables and work together to see if some equations are true or
false. I want to show you what you are going to be doing first though. The teacher will
point to her poster. Each poster has three equations on it! What I want you to do is work
together as a table to solve if the equation is true or false. I want you to draw in the
boxes on the poster board to show how the equations are true or false. So, look at my
first equation. It says 9 is the same as 9. I drew a picture below to check. They are not

fancy pictures, because this is math art. We just draw to help us understand the problem,
so I do not want you to do really fancy drawings! Lets count them together to see if this
is true. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Ok, lets count the other side.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Great! Now this is an easier one, but I
want to ask you a question. Is this equation true or false? Yes! It is true. So, I wrote the
word TRUE beside the equation. Now, I am going to show you one more and then it will
be your turn. The teacher will point to the second equation. Lets read this together. Two
is the same as 10 minus 7. Lets check this one out. I drew my little circles to help me
check. So, look at what I did. In this box, lets count how many circles I drew. One, two.
So I drew two to represent two on this side of the equation. Lets look at the other box.
What number did I start with? Look carefully. I did not start with 2, I started with 10! So
lets count how many circles I drew on this side. Count with me. One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. See, I started with 10, because that is my original number
in the equation. Now, Student A, did I draw seven more circles or did I take away seven
circles? Yes! I took them away, because it is a subtraction problem. See how I drew an X
over the circles? Lets count how many I have left. One, two, three. Hmmmm. So, is my
equation true? Is 2 the same as 10 minus 7? No! So I wrote the word FALSE beside the
equation. The teacher will put the example on the board. Nod your head if you
understand what we are doing. Ok! Before I send you back to your tables I want you to
listen carefully. When you are at your tables, I want you all to work together. You will
have to take turns drawing on the paper and use team work to solve the problems! Can
you do that?? Good! I want everyone to go back to their tables. The teacher will pass out
the posters to each table. I am going to give you some time doing this, because I want you
to be careful, work hard, and work together. I want to hear you talking to each other
about math boys and girls! Use your colored pencils on your desk. The teacher will give
the students 10-15 minutes to work. She will circulate the room and ask questions to the
students. She will have the table read the equation to her. As she circulates, she will listen
to make sure the students are discussing the problems at their table. When the students
have finished, she will call them back to the carpet. She will have the tables present their
discoveries. Please come hand me your posters and take a seat on the carpet. Now, I
want Table 1 to stand up and share your poster. I want you to read your equations and
tell the class if it is true or false. The teacher will do this for each of the tables. If there is
a problem, she will ask the students questions and work with them to solve the problem.
Excellent job everyone! You worked so well together and solved some hard problems!
Give yourselves a pat on the back. Transition to assessment
III. Assessment
The teacher will remind the students of the objective again. So today we have been
looking at equations to see if they are true or false. We also have talked a lot about the
word equal. Student R, what does the word equal mean? Remember, the two headed
monster wanted equal amounts of milk! Yes! The same. Now, I want you to work on your
own with some equations. The teacher will hold up the worksheet. Listen as I read the
instructions. The teacher will read the instructions. You need to draw in the boxes to show
the equation! Does anyone have any questions? Ok, you may walk back to your seats.
Materials helpers, please give one of these to everyone. The teacher will circulate the

room during the assessment. Remember, I want you to work on your own here. Do not
talk during this time. When you are finished, raise your hand and I will come check your
paper before you turn it in. Before students turn them in, the teacher will review them. If
students incorrectly answer a problem, the teacher will direct the student to draw to help
them understand. After the students have finished, the teacher will bring the students back
to the carpet for closure.
IV. Closure:
I would like everyone to come back to the carpet. Excellent, excellent job today boys and
girls! You worked so hard and I am so proud of you. Now, can anyone remember what we
did at the beginning of the lesson? Yes! We were putting Skittles in a bag for two people.
The teacher will hold up the bags. Now that we have worked with some equations, I am
going to write this equation on the board. We put 8 yellow skittles in Ms. Gartmans bag.
The teacher will write 8 on the board. We wanted to know if we gave Ms. Gartman and
Mrs. Rogers the same amount of skittles. What should I write now? Yes! I would write an
equal sign! What does my equal sign mean? Yes it means it is the same as. So I have
written 8 is the same as. How many purple skittles did I give Mrs. Rogers? Yes Four! The
teacher will write 4 on the board. Lastly, how many green skittles did I give her? Yes!
Four! The teacher will write 4 on the board. Lets read this together. Eight is the same as
four plus four. Raise your hand if you think this is a true statement? All of you?! Ok, lets
check. Lets count Ms. Gartmans eight skittles first. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight. Ok, now lets count Mrs. Rogers skittles. One, two, three fourfive, six, seven,
eight. Wow! You were right! Great job everyone! Because you worked so hard, you all
deserved some skittles. When I call you, come get some Skittles and take a seat back at
your desks. The teacher will call the students individually and send them to their desks.
Materials and Resources:
Video found:
http://learni.st/users/52903/boards/20129-exploring-the-equal-sign-commoncore-1-oa-7
16 ziploc bags of 15 skittles
15 cut out skittles for the teacher
5 poster boards with equations written on them
1 model poster board
colored pencils
pencils
blocks (used if students eat the skittles)
assessment (16 copies) attached
extra skittles
white board
expo markers
Differentiation Strategies (including plans for individual learners):
Students in the green zone:

The students in the green zone will begin to work on equations that involve numbers
between 10-20. They will still determine if the equation is true or false.
Students in the red zone:
The students in the red zone will work in a small group to sort various equations into a
true or false pile. The equations will vary in complexity. The teacher will work with the
students in the small group to explain any misconceptions.
Data Analysis:
Due to a time issue, I was unable to do practice or give the assessment. While the
students were at the tables, I walked around and formatively assessed the students. I
would say there were probably 12 students in the green zone. The students understood the
lesson, and I asked them to vocalize their answers. They all really understood what I
asked, and they knew whether or not the equations were the same. There were three
students who I would place in the yellow zone. I spoke with one student specifically who
is an EL student. When I scaffolded his thinking, he was able to tell me if the equations
were the same or different. The other students would not keep their sets of skittles
separate, so I think that they need to work to understand that the equations are separate.
Overall, I would need to do a follow up practice and formal assessment, so I know
exactly where the students stand on the topic. I feel confident that they understood this
lesson.
Reflection:
This was my first math lesson to teach, and I believe it went very well! I had been
nervous to do skittles, but they worked very well. I loved my manipulatives and video. I
think the students were engaged, and I was able to think quickly on my feet. I have not
done a lesson where the students were at their tables the majority of the time, so that was
a different aspect for me. I was so proud of the way the students acted and behaved
during the lesson!
I liked having the students work at their tables for math. I had not done this
before, so I was unsure of how it would work. I was on point though if the students all
began talking, and I think I was able to get the students attentions easily. I also was very
impressed by my classroom management! I really want to work on it this semester, so I
tried to use what Dr. Hoaglund had told me last semester. I counted back from 5 instead
of raising my voice, and it worked! I also saw the importance of circulating the room and
speaking to the students one on one during a lesson, because I used that as a formative
assessment. Also, when we did the self assessment earlier this semester, I realized that I
never posted the objective for the students. Today, I wrote it out on the board. I really
think the students understood the entire goal of the lesson!
When I spoke with Dr. Rogers, she recommended using a clipboard and taking
anecdotal notes as I observed. I really think that is a great idea, and I will do that next
time to keep track of the students. Also, if this was my class, I would have given them all
a skittle first before the lesson began. I know that I could not necessarily do that, because
my teacher wanted me to save them for home for them. Another question I had was
wondering if this lesson was challenging enough. I did not know where the students stood

on this topic, so I tried to be basic and teach key points. The students really seemed to get
that the = means is the same as, and that was a big focus of my lesson. Dr. Rogers
recommended that I should have some sort of extension for students who were ahead.
There was one student who knew immediately whether or not the equations were true or
false. I do not know exactly what I would do, but maybe I could have given her and
another student who really excel a sheet with some harder equations to show with more
skittles. This will be interesting to look into for the next lesson!

Samford University
Design for Learning

Name____________________
Directions: Write your name on the space above. Then, read
the math equations. If the math equation is correct, circle
true. If it is wrong, circle false. You may use math drawings
to help you solve the problem in the boxes provided.
8=6+2
True

False

9-3=7
True

False

7=3+4
True

False