CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1.A Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
⏰LESSON TIME
45 minutes
📲TECHNOLOGY REQUIRED
A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet
📃Summary
This is the second in a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother. Students organize a letter responding to the grandmother. The lesson ends with playing the words sections of Making Camp Premium.
📚Lesson Plan
1. Introduce the Lesson
This Google slides presentation introduces the unit. Students are given a letter to their grandmother read and correct. The link to the letter is in the slides presentation, so you can open the presentation, read it to your students and then assign it on Google classroom. The presentation includes links to sound files to read the slides and letter to students to accommodate individual students. This presentation can be used in the classroom, in a web meeting or done individually by students at home.
This Common Core-aligned English/ Language Arts unit, combines ELA and indigenous history as your students follow in the footsteps of the grandchild on their visit to grandmother’s house.
In this first lesson, students receive a letter from grandmother.
📖Standard
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6 Describe how a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view influences how events are described.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.2 Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet
📃Summary
Students will be introduced to a 10-unit English/ Language Arts unit centered around a visit to their grandmother. In this first lesson, students receive and correct the grammar and spelling in their grandmother’s letter. The lesson ends with playing misspelled words and grammar sections of Making Camp Premium.
📚Lesson Plan
1. Introduce the Unit
This Google slides presentation introduces the unit. Students are given a letter to read and correct. The link to the letter is in the slides presentation, so you can open the presentation, read it to your students and then assign it on Google classroom. The presentation includes links to sound files to read the slides and letter to students to accommodate individual students. This presentation can be used in the classroom, in a web meeting or done individually by students at home.
Go to Making Camp Premium. Select WORDS and then go to the third screen.
Bottom left is misspelled words. Top right is grammar.
Play the game on the bottom left to practice spelling. The box on the top right will practice grammar. An example is shown below of a response after the student has answered correctly.
A device with a web-browser – PC, Mac or Chromebook – or phone or tablet
📃SUMMARY
This lesson plan helps students recognize and understand idioms and what they are through different examples. Students will be able to understand the meaning of common idioms through an instructive video, idiom book activity, and Making Camp Premium gameplay.
📚Lesson Plan
1. VIDEO:Idioms
Start your lesson with this video that covers the meaning of idioms and understanding common idioms through different examples.
You can go about this in different ways. You can have students pick their favorite idioms. You can assign different idioms to different students. You can assign all students the same idiom. Or you can make it more like a game and random by having students draw out idioms.
Once students have their idioms, have them write the idiom and what it actually means (this reinforces the memorization of the idiom’s meaning). Then have kids draw pictures as to what the idiom suggests. Students can then share their drawings with the class and see what fun ensues as they share their drawing and explain their idiom.
3. GAME: Making Camp Premium
Have students play Making Camp Premium for 20 minutes. Students should focus on the WORDS section of Making Camp Premium and especially the idioms activity (the first box in the Words section) in order to reinforce the understanding of idioms. You can access Making Camp Premium on Mac, Windows, Chromebook, and iPad on the Games page of the Growing Math site.
Arizona (AZ), New Mexico (NM), North Dakota (ND), South Dakota (SD), Minnesota (MN) and Oregon (OR) have all adopted the English Language Arts standards covered in the Common Core Standards.
________________________
List of Idioms & Meaning
Idiom
Meaning
Cool as a cucumber.
To be calm and relaxed.
Going bananas!
To go crazy; to get very excited or angry.
It costs an arm and a leg.
To be very expensive.
Bite your tongue.
To not say something that you want to say.
On thin ice.
Being in a risky situation, usually one where you might upset someone.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NF.B.3.A Understand addition and subtraction of fractions as joining and separating parts referring to the same whole.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NF.B.3.D Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions referring to the same whole and having like denominators, e.g., by using visual fraction models and equations to represent the problem.
This lesson plan will explore how students can add fractions with like denominators to determine the sum of fractions. It incorporates two instructional videos, an editable presentation and educational game that can be used to practice/reinforce the concept with assessment data.
📲 Technology Required
The teacher (or student, if learning at home) will need a computer, phone or tablet with an Internet connection to play the video. For students at home without Internet access, the teacher can print out the attached PDF or PowerPoint for students to study. The game required plays on Windows or Mac computers and on iPad. A Chromebook version will be available by April.
📚 Lesson Plan
1. VIDEO:Adding Like Fractions
Start your lesson with this one-minute video on adding fractions with like denominators.
Alternate format : POWERPOINT:Adding Fractions with Like Denominators
This presentation provides the information in the video viewed at the beginning of the lesson as a PowerPoint or PDF.
Have students play Fish Lake for 30 minutes. This lesson is most effective when introduced towards the beginning of Fish Lake gameplay since the math ties into the math in Level 3. Students who master this standard will be able to advance within the game. Students who have trouble with this standard will receive individual instruction within the game to teach and reinforce this concept.
3. Reinforce with another video
Common denominators can help you determine what’s fair
This two-minute video gives examples of how fractions with like denominators can be used to see if everyone is doing their fair share of the work or eating a fair share of the pizza.
You can view your students’ progress on mastering these standards by viewing your Fish Lake Teacher Reports. You can access the Fish Lake reports here.
STATE STANDARDS
Arizona (AZ), New Mexico (NM), North Dakota (ND), South Dakota (SD), and Oregon (OR) have all adopted the math standards covered in the Common Core Standards.
Minnesota (MN) Math Standard
4. Number and Operation
Represent and compare fractions and decimals in real-world and mathematical situations; use place value to understand how decimals represent quantities.4.1.2.3 – Use fraction models to add and subtract fractions with like denominators in real-world and mathematical situations. Develop a rule for addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators.
This lesson plan will explore how students can take what they already know about adding fractions with like denominators in order to grasp multiplying fractions with like denominators. It incorporates an instructional video, an editable presentation and an educational game that can be used to practice/reinforce the concept with assessment data.
📲 Technology required
The game Fish Lake can be played on iPad, Mac or Windows computers. Internet is required to log in to the game with username and password. If Internet access drops, students can continue playing and their progress will be saved on the device and uploaded to the server whenever access is available. Fish Lake is available free to schools participating in the Growing Math project.
📚 Lesson Plan
1. VIDEO:Adding and Multiplying Fractions with Like Denominators
Start your lesson with this video on adding and multiplying fractions with like denominators.
Adding and multiplying fractions: Definitions and examples 3:33
This three-minute video begins with adding fractions with a common denominator. It explains that denominator is more than the number on the bottom, it is the number of parts the whole is divided into. Multiplying fractions with like denominators is shown, with examples, to be the same thing as adding the fraction multiple times.
Have students play Fish Lake for 30 minutes. This game can be played on Mac, Windows and iPad. You can find the link on our games page. This lesson is most effective when introduced towards the beginning of Fish Lake gameplay since the math ties into the math in Level 3. Students who master this standard will be able to advance within the game. Students who have trouble with this standard will receive individual instruction within the game to teach and reinforce this concept.
Arizona (AZ), New Mexico (NM), North Dakota (ND), South Dakota (SD), and Oregon (OR) have all adopted the math standards covered in the Common Core Standards.
Minnesota (MN) Math Standard
6. Number & Operation
Multiply and divide decimals, fractions and mixed numbers; solve real-world and mathematical problems using arithmetic with positive rational numbers.
6.1.3.1 – Multiply and divide decimals and fractions, using efficient and generalizable procedures, including standard algorithms.
CCSS.Math.Content.5.NF.A.2 Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of fractions referring to the same whole, including cases of unlike denominators, e.g., by using visual fraction models or equations to represent the problem. Use benchmark fractions and number sense of fractions to estimate mentally and assess the reasonableness of answers. For example, recognize an incorrect result 2/5 + 1/2 = 3/7, by observing that 3/7 < 1/2.
📃 Summary
After this lesson, students will know how to solve multi–step word problems using addition and subtraction of fractions with like (common) denominators. After watching the video, students will login to “Aztech: The Story Begins” on a device with the website or application. Students will be faced with a fractions problem in Level 1 which uses a calendar to find the fraction of days students did homework. The game character points out that 16/31 may not be “all the time” but it is still more than half. Throughout the game, students will be presented with AzTech history.
⏰ Time required
30 -45 minutes, including individual assessment
📲 Technology required
The game in this lesson plan can be played on the web on any Chromebook, Mac or Windows computer with reliable Internet access. If students do not have high-speed Internet at home, the game can be pre-loaded on to iPads and played offline with no Internet required.
📚 Lesson Plan
1. Video: Adding Like Fractions
Adding fractions with common denominators 1:10
“Like fractions” are those with the same denominator. This is also called a common denominator. How do you add like fractions? This quick video from the game Fish Lake has simple examples of comparing fractions and fraction addition.
2. Presentation or video: When is a fraction the same as 1 ?
Understanding that N/N = 1 for any number 3:32
If the numerator and denominator are the same, then this fraction equals 1. N/N = 1 How can you apply your knowledge of fractions to help you figure out how far you’ve gone on your trip and how much further you have to go? Teachers can either have students watch the video or use this 27-slide presentation in both Google slides format and PowerPoint. Both include examples of fractions of 8/8 , 3/3 and 4/4 all equaling one. Examples include distance, money and a bowl of stew.
It includes a calendar template and these instructions:
Use this template to show what you did most in the last month when you weren’t in school.
First, make a copy in your own Google Drive.
Second, put a 1 in the calendar for the first day of this month and continue until all days of the month are filled.
Third, make a picture or write what you did each day in each of the boxes.
Fourth, write your own fraction equation like this:
On 11/31 of the days, I played games on the computer.
On 7/31 of the days I worked planting my garden
On 13/31 of the days I was doing homework.
11/31 + 7/31 + 13/31 = 31/31
Of course, if there are 28 or 30 days in the month, your denominator will be different.
Group Assessment
Use the video below to solve the problem from Level 1 in AzTech: The Story Begins as a group. This video shows the problem from level 1 on finding the fraction of days Xitlali did homework and gives a hint on how to solve it. Ask the students why Xitlali said that 16/31 was more than half. How did she know? Introduce the concept of equivalent fractions.
Fraction problem using a calendar
State Standards
Minnesota State Standard 4.1.2.3 – Use fraction models to add and subtract fractions with like denominators in real-world and mathematical situations. Develop a rule for addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators.
CCSS.Math.Content.3.NF.A.1 Understand a fraction 1/b as the quantity formed by 1 part when a whole is partitioned into b equal parts
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.NF.B.3 Understand a fraction a/b with a > 1 as a sum of fractions 1/b.
📃 Summary
The student will learn the definition of fraction, parts of fractions and how fractions have been used in past and present. This lesson begins with a video example of how fractions could be used by Native Americans to keep track of time. Next, a presentation is used to give a definition of fraction, numerator and denominator. Both the presentation and the second video use one-half as an example of a fraction. Other videos and presentation in the lesson divide a whole into fourths. The entire lesson takes 30-40 minutes.
📚 Lesson Plan
1. Video: An example of how our ancestors used fractions
How Native Americans used fractions 1:21
This video explains how a whole area, such as a lake, could be broken into equal parts and how that knowledge could be applied to tell time, thereby avoiding the danger of going home in the dark.
2. Presentation: Definitions of fractions, numerator and denominator
This presentation, with 25 slides, defines a fraction and each of its parts. One-half is used as an example of a fraction. You can access this presentation as Google Slides or PowerPoint. We estimate it takes about 7 minutes, with pauses for student input.
3. Video: Is one-half fair?
When something is divided into two equal parts, that is one-half 1:22
How many times have you heard kids insist something wasn’t fair? This video uses fractions and the concept of one-half to determine if two people are doing the their fair share of the work, getting their fair share of a pile of blankets.
4. Video: What is half
What is one half? 1:40
In this example of meeting between two camps, students will learn the definition of one-half and how to apply this knowledge to determine if the distribution of effort is fair. The video provides both examples of one-half – a whole divided into two equal parts – and non-examples, when a whole is divided into two unequal parts.
5. Presentation: Using fractions
This presentation, with 13 slides, gives an example of dividing a trail into four equal parts, fourths, or quarters. Zoongey Giniw sets his snares at four spots, equal distances apart on the trail. The presentation is available in PowerPoint or Google Slides. We estimate it takes about 5 minutes.
6. Video: Why Snare Rabbits?
Why Turtle Mountain has a Jackrabbit Road :58
Why is Zoongey Giniw snaring rabbits? As Turtle Mountain elder, Deb Gourneau explains in this video, when the Ojibwe people on the Turtle Mountain reservation did not have deer to eat and could not leave the reservation, they escaped starvation by snaring rabbits.
Learn Fractions and statistics: Playable on Chromebook
If your students don’t have access to iPads, Mac or Windows computers and are using Chromebooks, they can play Forgotten Trail, which teaches this fraction standard, as well as standards for measurement and data. You can see the full list here. Recommended time: 15 minutes. Teachers in the Growing Math program receive licenses for Forgotten Trail for all of their students. If you need a license, please email info@7generationgames.com
9. Next lesson: Adding fractions with like denominators
Assessment is built into the presentation as students are asked how they would write Long Foot’s portion of the buffalo as a fraction. There is a test of all of the fractions standards taught in Fish Lake here. It can be used as a pre- and post-test to show growth or at the end of a unit on fractions.
State Standards
Minnesota Math Standard 3.1.3.2 – Understand that the size of a fractional part is relative to the size of the whole.
