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EDUC 531
Term III Assignment
Plan, Teach, & Analyze a Problem-Based Lesson

Task: How Many Fingers?

Lesson Date and Time: Dec. 6, 2021
Apprentice Teacher: Katie Park
Grade: 2

Part I: The “What”

1-A. The first goal of this lesson is to encourage students to practice and build on their
knowledge of unitizing to further their additive reasoning skills. This goal falls in concert with
the broader goal of getting students to exercise their Base-10 fluency and flexibility. The task
students will be asked to solve is to calculate how many fingers are in their small math group. (In
this case, the number of fingers will be 40.) That task will then be expanded to ask how many
fingers are in the class at large (240 fingers).

The task pushes students away from counting by ones, and to instead view 10 ones as one unit of
10, or 5 ones as one unit of 5. Students will apply their comprehension of repeated addition to
first calculate that 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 40, and then that 24 sets of 10 equals 240. Students will
also be encouraged to look for patterns to solve how many total fingers are in the class by
thinking about how to group 10s together to more efficiently reach 240. For example, once
students figure out that four groups of 10 is 40, they can think about how many times they can
add 40 to reach 240. Another goal of the task is to further students’ skip-counting abilities and
assess their knowledge of how to correctly sequence numbers in even intervals.

1-B. At this point in the year, students in class have had ample practice with double-digit
equations, and learned or refined different strategies for solving them. They have used Base-10
blocks, drawn number lines, portrayed numbers in the form of 10-sticks and ones, and
decomposed equations by the addends’ place value. However, while students have gained
abundant experience with equations that have two-digit addends and minuends, the majority of
the sums or differences for those equations remain within 100. Students have repeatedly been
given opportunities to practice repeated addition, but usually just by a handful of numbers.
Students have had far less practice employing repeated addition for a larger range of numbers,
such as from 40 to 200.
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Currently, some students’ preferred strategy to solve equations is to count by ones, and to usually
do so on their hands. As they work with larger addends, these students are more likely to lose
track as they count and end up with the incorrect answer. Sometimes, their backup strategy is to
visualize the equation by drawing small symbols such as circles and squares, each of which
represents “one.” They then add the total number of symbols together. For example, if given the
problem 16 + 12, some students will draw 16 circles, then 12 circles, and individually count the
total number of circles until they determine there are 28 circles in all. They have employed the
same strategies for equations such as 60 + 11, in which they drew 60 individual symbols in a
clump, then counted on 11 more symbols. On other occasions, they have drawn six groups of 10
circles each as opposed to portraying 10 ones as one unit of 10. For students who are in the
process of developing a more robust understanding of unitizing, this counting fingers task may
present as a challenge.

However, to some extent, this task can build off a strategy students are already comfortable with:
counting on their hands. The task is centered in a medium that is familiar and accessible, but the
rigor of the problem will likely compel them to seek strategies that are more efficient than trying,
for example, to count their 10 fingers 24 times.

1-C. Some anticipated responses, strategies, and errors students could present as they solve the
problem could include the following:

a. Strategy: Counts each individual finger in the small group.

b. Strategy: Counts by looking at each individual hand (counting by five).
c. Strategy: Mentally counts by tens.
d. Strategy: Multiplies, particularly for 10 x 4.
e. Strategy: Draws four 10-sticks and adds each 10-stick together to get 40.
f. Strategy: Uses manipulatives (Base-10 tools, connecting cubes, counters, etc.) to model
the total number of 10s.
g. Strategy: Counts own 10 fingers four times in a row to calculate the number of fingers in
the small group.
h. Error: Adds 10 and 2 for 10 fingers on two hands. With 12 as the answer, the student adds
12 + 12 + 12 + 12 (for the four people in the group) and gets 48 as the answer.
i. Error: Multiplies 10 x 2 for just one person’s hands, then adds 20 + 20 + 20 + 20 to get 80
as the answer.
j. Error: Loses track counting and begins to count ten fingers for some people and five
fingers for others.
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1-D. For English language learners, the task could prove challenging if they or the entire group
have to recite the sequence of tens out loud. In English, words such as eleven and twelve and
twenty, thirty, forty, and fifty, in particular, do not lend themselves readily to obvious
interpretation in the context of the Base-10 system, in which the numbers 0 to 9 are used in
various ways to represent the ones, tens, hundredth, and thousandth place, and so on (Ebby,
Hulbert, and Broadhead, 2020). The authors also noted that certain spoken numerical words
“make it hard to see this grouping and regrouping in numbers below 100, especially in the
decades and teen numbers, and most children need to memorize the number words up to 12.”
The Base-10 system is made clearer with spoken words such as twenty-two, in which the word is
broken up into its tens-place (twenty) and ones-place (two). However, in the context of this
counting fingers task in which the students are encouraged and expected to try to unitize, English
language learners who might simultaneously be practicing their unitizing skills, Base-10 fluency,
and language acquisition may strain to juggle all these cognitive demands at once. They might
also be puzzled by the instruction to “show how you know.” Students for whom English is their
first language may already know that the direction means to explain their strategy in one of
multiple ways, and those ways could include visual and/or auditory explanations. However, for
students for whom English is not their first language, the direction could present as overly
abstract and unspecific.

A rudimentary but fundamental strategy to alleviate language confusion is to phrase questions

with intentionality. Instead of wording a question as, “Show me your thinking” or “Show how
you know,” the question could instead be presented more simply as, “How did you get your
answer of ___?” Other strategies include giving English language learners extra time to solve the
problem, asking each student in the small group to read the problem out loud, and writing the
problem and placing it somewhere so the entire group can see it throughout the lesson. Other
suggested supports are to monitor the work dynamic to determine if a student needs assistance
with math manipulatives, clarify with the entire group what certain words and phrases mean, and
check in to ask probing questions and assess whether language confusion is hindering a student
from solving the problem. While these strategies could ostensibly provide support to an English
language learner, they also have the potential to be applicable and accessible for all students if
executed effectively and judiciously.

Finally, an extra strategy to help guide students to solve the second part of the task (How many
fingers are in the whole class?) would be to further contextualize the problem. In the classroom,
there are six tables, and four students sit at each of those tables. I could ask the students in the
small group to think about one of those tables and how many fingers there are at just one table.
When they conclude that there are forty fingers, I could then ask if they could use that
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information to then determine how they could figure out how many fingers there are at the
remaining five tables.

Part II: The “How”

2-A. Goals and Objectives: SWBAT apply their knowledge of 10 and the sequence of counting
by 10 IOT determine how many fingers are in their small group of four students and in their class
of 24 students.

2-B. Standards:

2.1.3.A. Count using whole numbers (to 10,000) and by 2's, 3's, 5's, 10's, 25's and 100's.
2.1.3.I. Apply place-value concepts and numeration to counting, ordering and grouping.

2-C. Materials:

Student: Various math manipulatives (Base-10 blocks, counters, etc.), paper, pencil, and
eraser.

Teacher: Paper, pencil, and computer to record notes of student progress throughout the
lesson.

2-D. Accommodations: Take a few minutes before the lesson to pull students who struggle to
comprehend spoken instructions and explain the norms of the small group and the general
directions of the task to come. If necessary, provide extra time for students to solve the problem,
as well as extra or separate table space if they are particularly sensitive to noise from other
students.

2-E. Evidence of Student Thinking: Use paper, pencil, and technology to take shorthand notes
of student thinking, ways they explain their strategies out loud to the group, and how they
rephrase the thinking of their peers and/or explain how a peer used a model to demonstrate how
they solved the problem.

2-F. Opener:

Start Time: 12:10 p.m.

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Duration: 5 Minutes

Once students are seated in a quiet working area outside the classroom and each student has a
pencil, blank sheet of paper, and easy access to manipulatives (should they need them), slowly
and clearly read the problem out loud. Read it again if necessary, then ask a student to volunteer
to read the problem out loud to the group. Ask the group what the question is asking and if they
see any significant numbers to which they should devote particular attention. After this process,
set norms. Those norms include taking time to think about the problem, showing their work, and
considering how they can explain their strategy so others can understand it, not being afraid to
make mistakes and be experimental, and actively listening to their peers. Show students the math
manipulatives and explain that they are there to assist in understanding, but that it is not required
that students use them. Explain that I will begin to call on students to share their answer and
strategy once I see that everyone is done. Students who used the same strategy or otherwise
agree with what a peer says in general should use the hand sign for “same,” which can encourage
confidence and the feeling of being validated. This is particularly important for students who
tend to speak up less or are less sure of themselves during math lessons.

2-G. Body:

Start Time: 12:15 p.m.

Duration: 30 Minutes

Instruct students to begin to work quietly and solve the problem using a strategy that makes
sense to them. For about two minutes, silently observe how each student approaches the
problem. If a student appears to have difficulty starting the problem, ask them to explain the
problem in their own words to check that they fundamentally understand what the task is. Next,
ask the student to underline or circle what they believe are key words, phrases, and numbers, and
have them explain why. If at this point it appears that they began to think or use of a strategy but
doubted it was the right one, ask why they think it will not work, and if they can think of another
method that could work. Next, if it looks like that the student is not yet ready to show their
thinking on paper, offer manipulatives and ask if they can model their strategy.

Some of these strategies could also be applied for students who have begun to show their work
but are having trouble during the process and are unsure of how to proceed. Ask the student to
specifically point to where in their work they became unsure of their strategy. If they are solving
the problem on paper and pencil (and if their strategy involves only using an equation), ask
whether incorporating a direct model or a paper-based visual representation (such as a number
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line) would be helpful. If the student appears to grow frustrated to the point that they are no
longer engaging in productive struggle, allow them to take a couple minutes to step away from
the table and decompress.

On the other hand, if there is a student who has successfully solved the problem before their
peers, expand the problem to get them to reuse, improve, or seek additional strategies. For
example, if the student now knows how many fingers there are in both the small group and class
at-large, ask how the numbers would change if they had to factor in the number of toes. Other
problem extensions include:

a. We now know there are 40 fingers in our small group. How many hands would we need
to have 100 fingers?

b. There are 240 fingers in our class and 230 fingers in Ms. Brown’s grade 2nd class. You
do not yet know how many fingers there are in Mr. Green’s class, but you do know there
are a total of 720 fingers in all of second grade. How many students are in Mr. Green’s
class? What is the total number of hands in Mr. Green’s class?

c. There were 250 fingers in our class at the beginning of the year. One student moved out
of Philadelphia in October. Two more students moved away in December, and then two
new students joined our class in February. How many fingers do we now have in our
class?

✳ Students are solving the problem under the assumption that each of the students in the word problems have 10
fingers.

Once all the students have solved the problem, have each student begin to share their answer and
strategy (or strategies). Consider first asking if anyone solved the problem by starting with 10,
since they have ten fingers, and then individually counted everyone else’s fingers. If a student
used this strategy, or a very similar one, bring the entire small group into the discussion. Ask how
many fingers there would be in total if it was just them and one other person in the small group.
Then build on the group’s answer (20) by asking how many fingers there would then be if
another person joined the group. When a student answers the question first and explains their
problem-solving method, ask another student to explain what the first student said. The purpose
of this low-floor, potentially high-ceiling exercise is to encourage students to count by tens.

If the student(s) who used this strategy of mostly counting by ones struggled to figure out how
many fingers there were in the whole class, have the small group count out loud by tens all
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together and record the growing number of fingers and people to show the correlation and
numerical growth that is happening in steady intervals.

Students who rely heavily on one-by-one counting and have not yet mastered skip-counting
could feel intellectually excluded. Emphasize their contributions to the group by praising their
strengths, which could include the ability to work thoroughly and meticulously and finding a
strategy that works for them, even if it is not the most effective one at the moment.

Subsequent strategies could become more abstract and/or time-effective.

Those strategies could be:

a. Using manipulatives to make four groups of ten, then counting the total by twos, fives, or
tens.
i. After the student shares their answer and strategy, build on their response by
pointing to one group of ten and asking all the students what the group represents.
The goal is to get the students to verbalize that though there are 10 individual
manipulatives in one group, they can see the group as one unit. If not all students
are able to grasp unitizing in this context, ask a student who does understand to
explain it another way, perhaps by using a common real-life example so students
can envision it.

b. Writes on paper an equation such as 10 + 10 + 10 + 10 = 40.

i. While students are required to show their work, a follow-up question for the
group is to ask whether they can write the equation a different way but still
achieve 40 as the answer. Then, follow up by asking how an alternative equation
(or equations) could be represented with a physical model. This follow-up
question is designed with the intention of centering students who are more
comfortable with using models instead of equations and may have difficulty
absorbing the more abstract nature of an equation.

c. Thinks of the classroom and how there are six tables, with four students at each table.
The student in the small group figures out there are 40 fingers at each table, and that 40 +
40 + 40 + 40 + 40 + 40 equals 240.
i. Expand on this problem by asking all the students in the small group how many
total fingers would be in the class if one student got up from each table and left
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the room. Once the students figure out that the answer is 180, ask how they know.
How did they solve the problem?

Throughout this entire process, operate with an asset-centered mindset. Highlight students’
strengths, even if they are unable to solve the problem. Praise their strategies and attempts to
approach the problem in their own way. Bring additional positive attention to students who are
actively listening to their peers and rephrasing what they said in an accurate and concise way.

2-H. Closer:

Start Time: 12:45 p.m.

Duration: 5 Minutes

Begin to end the lesson by asking this question: Why did we complete this activity today? Give
student about 30 seconds of quiet think time, then ask for a student to volunteer their answer
first.

Anticipated student answers could include:

a. To get us to add a lot of numbers.

b. To make us count by 10 (or fives, or twos.)
c. To see how high we can count.

Ask why students should be able to count by tens, as well as fives and twos. Why is 10
important? Have each student share their reason(s) why.

Part III: Review for Equity and Access

The nature of this task is to foster in students and the instructor an inquiry- and equity-based
mindset that is inclusive of students who may solve math problems very quickly as well as
students who tend to take more time to comprehend the math that is being asked of them. The
nature of the small group makes it easier to provide extra attention to each student and probe
their thinking for further detail. A critical part of centering equity and access in the small group is
to envelop the entire group in the conversation rather than a rigid conversation between the
instructor and student.
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Another critical component to laying the groundwork for an effective small group is to set clear
and consistent norms. It is much more difficult to foster access for all students when not all
students are sure of what is expected of them. Norms that are rooted in an asset-based mindset
and encouraging of mistakes and experimentation allows greater room for students to feel that
their strategies, even simpler strategies such as counting one by one, are valid. However, while a
goal of the small group is to be inclusive of all forms of thinking, the ultimate objective is to
further student thinking and encourage students to consistently think of more effective ways to
solve math problems and apply math concepts from one theme to another. The format of this
counting fingers task is fundamentally a low-floor task that also provides nearly endless room to
build on student knowledge and develop Base-10, unitizing, and skip-counting reasoning.