Lesson Plan for Elementary Education and Special Education (1-6)

(No more than 4 pages for each lesson)

Teacher Candidate: (All phases) : Megan Riemann

Lesson Title: (All phases ) Introduction to Writing and Graphing Inequalities

Grade Level: (All phases): 7th grade

Primary Subject Area: (All phases) Mathematics

Interdisciplinary Connections: (Phase 2 and 3): Comparison

Lesson Duration: (All phases) : 42 minutes

Language Function: (Bloom’s Taxonomy) (Phase 2 and 3) Analyze

Syntax and Discourse Students will write inequality sentences as mathematical inequalities. Students will also
write mathematical inequalities as sentences. Students list various values that make the inequality true or
false.

KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS

Relevance/Rationale This lesson will help students understand the correlation between mathematical
inequalities and real-life inequality sentences. Students will benefit from this lesson because they will
be able to conceptually understand values that are greater than or less than each other. Additionally,
this lesson will prepare students for the next lesson in the unit because they are mastering this
concept before building upon it.

Class Information: Students in this class need information displayed in a slow and consistent manner.
Specifically, students need vocabulary emphasized frequently throughout the lesson. Many of the
students in the class learn best from auditory instruction, therefore their IEP states that they must
have instructions read to them. Since this class is co-taught, students with disabilities will be able to
receive individualized instruction. In addition, many of the students with IEPs in the class require a
study guide for tests, a calculator and to take the test in a separate room. The class also consists of
students with behavioral issues, therefore some students may need to be frequently redirected and
have preferential seating. Students in this class have a wide variety of ability, therefore the lesson
needs to be presented in a way that meets basic needs as well as challenges some students.

Connect and Build This lesson builds on students’ previous knowledge of inequality symbols by
encouraging them to recall what they know about the relationship between inequalities and
sentences. This lesson will prepare students for future lessons by defining crucial vocabulary terms as
well as explaining basic and fundamental concepts of the unit. Specifically, this lesson will allow
students to master this concept before building upon it in future lessons.

SETTING INSTRUCTIONAL OUTCOMES/ACADEMIC LANGUAGE

Central Focus/Purpose Statement: (Phase 2 and 3) The central focus of this lesson is for students to
analyze the relationship between inequalities sentences and mathematical inequalities. Additionally,
students will analyze the different values of the variable that make the inequality true or false.

NYS Next Generation Learning Standards: (All phases) NY-6.EE.8 → NY-7.EE.4b Solve word problems
leading to inequalities of the form px + q > r, px + q ≥ r, px + q ≤ r, or
px + q < r, where p, q, and r are rational numbers. Graph the solution set of the inequality on
the number line and interpret it in the context of the problem.
Objective(s): (All phases) Students will be able to analyze the relationship between inequality phrases
and mathematical inequalities. Students will be to analyze various values of variables in the inequalities
to determine if the inequality true or false.
Academic Language: (exposed in phase 1) (Included in phase 2 and 3) less than, greater than, less than
or equal to, greater than or equal to, minus, plus, inequality, solution of inequality, solution set,

MATERIALS/RESOURCES

Technologies and Other Materials/Resources: (All phases) Interactive white board, computer, worksheets

CONTENT AND PEDAGOGY

Anticipatory Set/Hook: Elicit Prior Knowledge (exposed in stage 1) (Included in stage 2 and 3) This lesson
will contribute to the essential question by demonstrating one way that mathematicians can represent values
that bigger or smaller than each other. Students will complete a do now as they enter the classroom. This
activity will encourage them to recall previous knowledge as well as prepare them for the lesson. The Do Now
will ask students to write the following sentence mathematically, “I have 3 apples and Ryan has 8 apples. Who
has more apples?” , “ Julia has 14 pennies and Allie has 10 pennies. Who has more pennies?”, “Matt has 5
pencils, but Alex has more pencils than Matt.” After completing and reviewing the lesson independently and
as a class, the teacher will ask students higher order thinking questions. Some of the questions will include “By
writing these mathematical statements, what are we showing?” “Could we substitute values for the
variables?” “do any of these values equal each other?” and “Could they equal each other?”

Procedures (Overview of lesson): (All stages)

Time Instructional Strategies/Learning Tasks

# minutes
5 minutes 1. As students enter the classroom, a Do Now will be placed on the board and students will
be asked to independently complete it. The Do Now will ask students to write the
following statements mathematically. These statements include “I have 3 apples and
Ryan has 8 apples. Who has more apples?” , “ Julia has 14 pennies and Allie has 10
pennies. Who has more pennies?”, “Matt has 5 pencils, but Alex has more pencils than
Matt.”Students will independently complete the do now as the teacher walks around the
room. The teacher will ask students the following questions while they work, “How did
you get that answer?” “How does the last question differ from the first two questions?”
2. The class will review the answers to the do now and the teacher will ask higher order
4 minutes thinking questions such as, “By writing these mathematical statements, what are we
showing?” “Could we substitute values for the variables?” “Do any of these values equal
each other?”and “Could they equal each other?”
3. The teacher will introduce the final unit project to the class. All students will receive a
1 minute copy of the instructions and rubric. The teacher will read the instructions out loud as well
as display a completed example.
4. Students will complete a guided notes sheet to solve inequalities. Students will complete
2 minutes the worksheet as the teacher displays and explains the powerpoint. The first slide will
 state “An __________ is a mathematical sentence that compares expressions. It contains
the symbols, <, >, ≤, ≥.” I will ask students to provide suggestions for the blank based on
what we have talked about so far.
5. The teacher will next display a chart that relates inequality symbols with key phrases.
The teacher will read the key phrases and ask students to come write the symbol on the
6 minutes board in the correct box. The chart will include “is less than, is fewer than”, “is greater
than, is more than”, “is less than or equal to, is at most, is no more than”, “is greater
than or equal to, is at least, is no less than” After the student writes their answer, the
teacher will ask the class to give a thumbs up/thumbs down if they agree with this
answer. The teacher will also ask the class if they know of any other key phrases the
class could add to this chart.
6. The teacher will model the problem “a number x minus 8 is less than 15” through think
aloud, the class will work together to complete the problem “a number y plus 15 is
6 minutes greater than or equal to 20” and students will independently work on the problem “ a
number z plus 13 is more than 30” before the class goes over the answer
7. The teacher will model the problem “x+5 >9” through think aloud, the class will work
together to complete the problem “m+12 < 18” and students will independently work on
the problem “a + 6 ≥ 17” before the class goes over the answer
6 minutes 8. The teacher will display the following definition “A_______________________________
is a value that makes the inequality true. An inequality can have more than one solution.
The set of all solutions of an inequality is called the _____________________________”
and encourage students to suggest words for the definition on the board. After providing
2 minutes students with the correct answer, the teacher will explain the definition in various ways.
9. The teacher will also display a table that demonstrates how various values of x can make
the inequality true or false. The teacher will explain that substituting different values of x
can make the inequality true or false. Additionally, the teacher will emphasize that each
inequality is unique and the same values will not always be true or false. The teacher will
3 minutes repeatedly incorporate the new vocabulary words into this explanation.
10. Students will use the completed chart as a reference as they independently complete the
blank chart on the next slide. The blank chart will ask students to test the values 3, 7 and
9 for the inequality x+9 > 15 and determine if the inequality is true or false. The teacher
will walk around the room to answer questions, prompt struggling students and monitor
6 minutes student understanding.
11. The teacher will ask the students to submit a paper in which they anonymously describe
what they learned today, what they struggled with, what they were good at and what
they liked most about this lesson.
Include higher order questions throughout your lesson
3 minutes Etc.

Differentiation : (Stage 2 and 3): This lesson will be differentiated by providing students the guided notes in
various forms, such as a digital copy or enlarged font. The guided notes sheet will be translated into different
languages for English Language Learner Students and the PowerPoint will include vocabulary from that
language. For example, the inequality chart in the guided notes will be translated to say “simbolo”, “frases
clave”, “es menor que”, “es mayor que, es mas que”, “es igual o igual a como maximo, no es mas que”, “es
mayor o igual que al menos, no es menor que” Students that are visual and kinesthetic learners will be given
the option of using manipulative during the lesson.
Closure: (All phases) The teacher will ask the students to anonymously submit a paper in which they describe
what they learned today, what they struggled with, what they were good at and what they liked most about
this lesson. Additionally, the teacher will ask the students to answer the essential question, “What are the
various ways mathematicians can represent values that are bigger/smaller?”
 STUDENT ASSESSMENT

Before the lesson: (Phase 2 and 3) Students prior understanding will be assessed during the do now
as the teacher walks around the classroom. Specifically, the teacher will check to see if the students
are using < or >, if they understand which value is bigger/smaller and if they use a variable in the
question “Matt has 5 pencils, but Alex has more pencils than Matt.” This assessment will allow the
teacher to understand prior knowledge the students have and allow the teacher to determine if the
lesson needs to be slow and simple or if the lesson could be challenging and fast paced.
During the lesson: (Phase 2 and 3)
Informal Formative Assessment: As the students are individually completing the examples in the
guided notes sheet, the teacher will walk around to monitor student understanding. Specifically, the
teacher will check to see if students are using the correct inequality symbol, using the correct
operation, using the correct phrase, stating the correct operation, appropriately substituting the
correct value for x, correctly using the given operation, understanding the meaning of the inequality
and understanding which value of the inequality is bigger/smaller. This assessment will determine
students' ability to analyze the relationship between inequality phrases and mathematical inequalities
as well as the relationship between various values of x in the inequality.
Formal Formative Assessment: Students will submit an anonymous reflection about the lesson. In this
reflection students will be asked to describe what they learned today, what they struggled with, what
they were good at and what they liked most about this lesson. Additionally, the teacher will ask the
students to answer the essential question, “What are the various ways mathematicians can represent
values that are bigger or smaller than each other?”. This assessment will determine student
understanding relative to the essential question as well as the main ideas they took away from the
lesson.
At the end of the lesson (All phases)
The anonymous student responses will allow the teacher to understand how effective the lesson was
as well as overall student understanding.