Dakota State University 

College of Education   
LESSON PLAN FORMAT 
 
Name: ___Brooke Smith_____ 
Grade Level: _______First_______ 
School: _____Medary Elementary________ 
Date: ___________  
Time: ___________ 
 
Reflection from prior lesson: 
In the previous lesson, the students practiced comparing the length of two objects. 
This was a discussion we had as a class. The students were able to explain their 
reasoning and thinking when comparing the two objects. Some students needed 
support in using math language to compare the objects. 
 
Lesson Goal(s) / Standards:   
1.MD.A.1 ​Order three objects by length, compare the lengths of two objects indirectly 
by using third object. 
 
MP1: ​Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them 
 
MP3: ​Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others 
 
MP4: ​Model with mathematics 
 
  
Lesson Objectives: 
Given objects of three different lengths, students will use the transitivity principle to 
measure indirectly with 90% accuracy.. 
 
Given real-word objects, students will give step-by-step instructions to a partner to 
explain how you can compare lengths of three objects to put them in order correctly. 
 
Materials Needed:  
● MathBoard  
● crayons 
● kleenex box 
● stapler 
● pencil 
 ● board eraser 
  
Contextual Factors/ Learner Characteristics: 
This happens right after the students come in after lunch recess. The students often 
need something to refocus them. Students sit at tables or alone with varied seating 
options. It is MCL so all students in the room are currently at a first grade level 
during math class. It is a rural community. 
 
 
A. The Lesson  
  
1. Introduction (10 min)   
● getting attention  
● relating to past experience and/or knowledge 
● creating a need to know 
● sharing objective, in general terms 
First, Engage students with the Interactive Student Edition. Ask the essential question, 
“How can you compare lengths of three objects to put them in order?” Then the 
students will make connections by demonstrating what they know about length. There 
will be classroom objects display (stapler, pencil, board eraser) for the students to 
compare the lengths of. After this we will then group the students to try and figure out 
ways to fit objects in a kleenex box. Second, I will remind the students that we 
compared two objects and discussed similarities and differences. Today we will be 
looking at three objects with different lengths. We will need to compare the objects 
and their lengths in our lesson today. 
  
2. Content Delivery (30)   
Part One: Explore: (7 min)​ Students will be given a clue of different strings that are 
different lengths. The students will use their crayons to draw the strings using the 
clues. We will do some math talk about the students answers and how they came to 
their conclusions. Ex: How did you get “this” answer? How did you know to make this 
string longer than this string? (point to strings you are talking about) 
Part Two: Explain: (7 min) I​ will guide the students through a model. We will read the 
clues together and I will guide them to the conclusion that the green pencil is longer 
than the brown pencil. Students will need to write in the provided space if the pencil is 
longer or shorter and explain.   
Part 3: Elaborate: (7 min) ​The students will now work on their own to determine if the 
lines are shorter or longer and provide reasoning for their answer with drawings of the 
lines.   
Part Four: Problem Solving and Applications: (9 min)​ The students will complete 
exercise 4 and 5. In exercise 4, students will use higher order thinking to put the 
lengths of four objects in order. In exercise 5, apply the meaning of longer and shorter. 
 
   
3. Closure (15):   
Evaluate: ​ The students will reflect and use real life objects to compare length. I will 
also ask the students, “How can you compare lengths of three objects to put them in 
order?” This will lead a class discussion. I want to guide the students through a 
discussion that gets them to think about objects and their different lengths. I want 
them to be able to notice which object is the longest and which is the shortest. I want 
to use some math talk in this discussion to see why they are giving me the answers 
they are and to force the students to think deeper about the length of the objects. The 
students will also write in their math journal 3 different lines with different lengths. 
They will need to write three sentences comparing the lines. 
 
 
B. Assessments Used 
Reflection - ​I will listen and help the students reflect on what they learned in the lesson 
today by guiding them through questions about what they noticed today and the 
lengths of the objects. I want to be able to see that the students understand how to 
compare the lengths of different objects 
 
Worksheet:​ I will collect the students’ worksheet we worked on today. 
 
Math journals: ​I will look at what the students wrote in their math journals about the 
lines they drew. 
  
C. Differentiated Instruction   
Remediation -​ I will have the students that really understand this partner with the 
students that are struggling to understand. They will work together to compare length. 
Enrichment ​- I will have them help students that are struggling to understand 
comparing length. 
Language Support:​ I will read aloud all of the prompts to help students audibly listen. 
The lines are also in different colors to help visually see differences between the lines. 
We also use real life examples to supplement this lesson. 
 
D. Resources 
Math textbook