Date:
Year level:
Lesson duration (minutes)
6/9/10
Grade 1
60 minutes
Title of lesson:
“Smarties”- Chance and Data
Learning Outcome/s and Specific Purpose:
At the end of this lesson students will:
 Start to be familiar with graphs
 Start to use date to make assumptions
 Be able to read and draw graphs
 Know what graphs are used for
 Students can use data to create pictographs
Links to VELS:
Strand: Discipline-Based Learn
Domain: Mathematics
Dimension: Measurement, Chance and Data
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At Level 2, Students collect simple categorical and numerical data (count of frequency)
and present this data using pictographs and simple bar graphs.
Prerequisite knowledge/concepts/skills/vocabulary are required?
How does this link to previous lessons?
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The ability to count up to 50
Familiarity of graphs
Attachments: ( Items attached)
 “Smartie circle” worksheet
Grouping/s and Physical Space:
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Whole group (Working out favorite smartie colours, creating class graph)
Independently working (Drawing graph in books and creating own smarty box)
Whole group (Sharing work)
Equipment/ Resources required:
 Pencils, textas etc…
 Smarties
 “smartie circle sheet”
 Rulers
Lesson Introduction:
Learning activity/ies, key questions and teacher explanations:
Tuning in:
 Get children to sit around in a circle, show them the smartie box, look at all the different
colours on the box?
 Hand each child a blank circle, explain they need to quietly go back to their chairs
without talking and color there circle in their favourite smartie color. They need to write
their names on the back.
 “Their doesn’t need to be any talking”.
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Early finishers need to help others and sit back in a circle on the floor
I will then ask “who likes red smarties?” the children will place their smarties in a pile. We
will go through every color until there are about seven piles in the centre of the circle.
Then ask “is it easy to tell which pile has the most smarties?
Let’s spread them out into lines so it is easy to see.
“This is called a graph”
“Ok now I’m going to draw this on the board. I show the children that their needs to be a
vertical line and a horizontal line.
Each line must have a label. The horizontal line will read “number of smarties”
The vertical line will read “smartie colours”
Use ruler to make lines straight on graph
I will then draw the number of smarties, writing the color underneath the vertical axis.
I will then ask the children for suggestions for a title for my graph
The children’s task is to then draw the graph in their math’s books, coloring in the
different smarties.
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Early finishers need to draw a smartie box and using the information from the graph the
children need to create a smartie box for the class. The smartie box will have “” smarties.
They need to write how many of each color will go in their box. For example 3 red
smarties, 4 blue smarties etc….
Early finishers can finish their jigsaw, unfinished work; word search, extra literacy
worksheets then computers or read a book at their table.
Explain to the children we will be sharing our graphs and our own smartie boxes at the
end of the lesson.
Explain at the end of the lesson we will open the smartie box to see which colours there
were most of etc…..
Main Component of Lesson:
Session:
 The children must draw the graph in their books, coloring in the smarties
 Early finishers draw their own smarty packet and write a list of how many of each
colored smarty will be in there packet and why
Lesson Conclusion:
 20 minutes prior to the conclusion of the lesson the children will share their work
 Ask children how many more children liked red then blue etc… which is the most popular
smartie color?
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I will then ask the class questions about the new smarty box, do you think it will be the
same as the class’s favourite smarty colours? What colored smarty do you think there
will be most of, least of etc….
I then open the smarty box and we see what colours their were?
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What conclusions can the children make about this activity? Do you think if I opened
another smartie box it would be the same? Why are they all different? Does the opened
smarty box support the classes’ graphs data? Are there any similarities?
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Would this smartie box be appropriate for our class? Why/ Why not?
What would you change?
FOCUS POINTS
 Ask if there are any questions; solve all problems or issues on the floor.
 Explain to the children they need to work quietly and if they need help to put their hand
up, not to be moving around the room
 Move children if they are disruptive
 Clap regularly to refocus children and gain control
Monitoring of student learning:
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I will be analyzing the children’s conclusions about the new smartie box? Have they
used the data from the graph to create a smarty box for the class or have they just
chosen their favourite smarties to be the ones that there are most of.
Have the children drawn their graphs appropriately, what parts are they finding difficult.
Were the children engaged?
Do the children recognize that each smarty box will be different; can they propose why
that may be?
Have they grasped the concept, or is further time needed to reinforce the topic?
Majority of the children participated in the group discussions and enjoyed counting the
smarties and answering questions about the graph.
Although the children were extremely engaged, they became very competitive when it
came to counting the favorite smarty colors.
The children have definitely begun to grasp the learning intentions, further extension
lessons would be required to ensure knowledge is concreted and can be transferred to
various data sets.
Further lessons are required on the dimensions of the graph; some children struggled
with the layout and dimensions when drawing their own graphs.
Self Evaluation of Lesson
Things to think of:
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Did the students know the prerequisites well enough?
How was my lesson timing, did I give students sufficient amount of time to complete
tasks?
Did I explain the outcomes or learning goals effectively to the children?
Were my explanations and questions clear?
Was this task challenging without being too difficult for the children to successfully
finish?
Were all children able to complete the task, why? Why not?
This was the children’s first introduction to graphing; I was very impressed at how quickly they
understood the main concepts. Some of my previous lessons had been too long and have been
carried over numerous sessions. I was much more aware of time management during the
session, and as a result we completed the lesson within the designated time frame. My
explanations were clear and the children were able to reiterate my instructions. Although the
children seemed to understand the graph when we worked on the floor, they struggled to draw
their own graphs. With more lessons and work on graphs I can develop the children’s skills at
drawing graphs and applying their knowledge to paper. Many children found the task
challenging, however they persevered and the majority of the children were able to complete the
task.
Supervisor Evaluation
Deb (my mentor teacher) provided me with critical feedback after the lesson. She said it was a
great lesson because the children were engaged. That many of the children participated and
raised their hands to answer the questions.
She encouraged me to ‘reel’ the children in tighter, even stop the lesson completely until each
child is listening. Behaviour Management is an area I have been targeting throughout my
placement and I will continue to improve my confidence and skills. She told me that control
comes practice and experience, but it is my role to ensure that the children know that they can’t
get away with anything just because I am not there “real teacher”.
Notes for next lesson:
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Continue encouraging the children to raise any questions to ensure they
understand the information and activity
Continue monitoring time management
Ensure that children understand why we use graphs
Class Management; firmer
Ensure children are listening
Reflection:
Things to reflect upon:
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How might the experience gained in this lesson inform your future planning and
teaching?
How might this lesson inform your future assessment practices?
What aspects of your students’ behaviors or actions gave you the greatest insight?
Are there any other important implications for you as a teacher?
Overall I felt this lesson was extremely successful because the children were engaged and
interested in the activity. They were eager to find out how many of each colored smarty there
would be. It was easier because I demonstrated the task (graph) on the board prior to the
activity. The children could ask their questions on the floor which meant fewer children were out
of their seats during the session. The children were able to refer the board for clarification. Next
time I would give them a piece of paper to draw their graphs on instead of their books so I can
reflect on their work after the lesson. I felt like I had more control because they children were
engaged. However I will still continue to improve upon my Classroom Management.