Ramp-Up Lesson – Day 1
Tuesday January 5, 2010
Materials
 Flash drive with Power-Point
 Overhead transparencies
 Overhead markers
 Overhead!
 Blank lined paper
 “Work Time Questions” hand outs
 Introduction to the class. Brief overview of the class expectations/rules using the powerpoint that was made for
day 1.
 Model the way the class will be run:
o Opening – teacher explains the task (2 minutes)
o Solo Time (“struggle time”) – students answer the “Work Time Questions” individually on a separate
sheet of paper. (5 minutes)
o Group Work Time – Student discuss their answers as a group and come up with a consensus. (5-10 min)
o Presentations – each group is assigned a problem or set of problems (there are 4 questions). The groups
will come up one at a time to present their problems and have a class discussion. (10 minutes)
 Establishing a community is very important in this class!!! Have students stand up one at a time and introduce
themselves and say what they did over break.
 Have students write a math autobiography, one page, that they will turn in (directions on the powerpoint)
 On the same sheet of paper, students given 15-20 “favorite things” questions that they must go around and ask
their classmates. One classmate per question! Must write down the name of the classmate and then the answer
to the question that they asked.
REFLECTIONS: This lesson went very well. At times I felt like I had too much time and not a lot to do, but it was
a great way to start creating that comfortable atmosphere. I really like that they had to talk about being engaged and
“respectful listening” all the while practicing the way the class is going to be laid out. We had a fairly good
discussion about the questions, so it helped them start to get the idea of what will be expected from them in the
class (participation, respect for others, etc.) The getting-to-know-you activities went really well also. They had to
introduce themselves to every single person in the class. This is good because they will all be working with them
together so much. It was good to get those introductions out of the way while they are doing an activity they were
comfortable with, rather than making them work on math (an uncomfortable subject) while they are getting to know
each other still.
Ramp-Up Lesson – Day 2
Thursday January 7, 2010
Materials
 Ramp-Up parent letters
 Getting-Started CD-Rom
 Unit 1 pre-test class copies
 Scantron sheets
 Ms. Shaw’s hall passes!
 Overhead materials
 Ramp-Up Expectations handout
 Butcher paper/markers
 Hand out the Ramp-Up Expectations hand-out. Read it over with them (skim) and explain to them that this is
how they will be graded everyday for the entire class period. Make sure they know to KEEP THESE in their
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folders so that they can refer back to them later. (If we don’t have folders yet – maybe collect them back after
the discussion is over and then hand them back already in the folders once we get them.)
Watch the Ramp-Up example classroom to show the students how the class will look almost every-single day.
Show then the Opening Proportionality, Solo Work, Assigning Groups, Student Group 1, Assigning Closing
Problems, both presentations, and then the start of the “preparing for closing as a group”.
o Any questions??
Hand out the Unit 1 Pre-Test and scantrons. Have them get out a blank sheet of paper to show their work. Ask
them not to open their booklet until I ask them to. Explain to them that this is a way for us to measure their
growth. Don’t panic if they don’t know how to do questions; they will take the exact same test at the end of the
unit to compare and show how much they learned. If they absolutely have no idea how to do a problem, leave it
blank!
Have the students make the posters that will be hung up around the classroom:
o First have them (in their groups) discuss what you could do if you get stuck on a problem. Give
them about 10 minutes and then have every group come up and share what they said (on the
overhead). Have all of the other students write down anything new on their own sheet of paper so
at the end everybody will have the same thing. At the end, share the ones that you (the teacher)
have that you want them to know
 Ask 3 then me
 Look at the notes from earlier that day
 Look at the notes from past days
 Look at the examples in the book
 Look at your concept book
 Model the problem
 Make a sketch/draw a diagram
 Write down questions to ask later
o Afterwards, assign each group a poster of different things you want hanging in the room. Ex:
Accountable Talk, How to Think Like a Mathematician, Discussion Rules, etc. EVERY person
in the group must contribute to the poster. Tell them that other classes will be doing them too, so
the other teacher and I will be picking the best posters to hang on the walls. Have the groups get
up and present their poster when it is done (just to make sure the rest of the class is exposed to it
before it gets hung up…so they know what is available to them).
FIRST HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT! Hand out the parent letters and tell them their parents must sign them.
They are due on Thursday January 14th.
REFLECTIONS: I think it is great that we are taking the time to make sure that the students completely
understand what is going to be expected of them in this class before jumping in. This class is structured much
different than other math classes that they’ve been in, so this avoids a struggle when they are surprised by how
much they will be accountable for their own work. (It also allows time for students to add/drop the class before we
really get into it.) Hopefully it will allow for more cooperation from the students when they know what’s expected
of them right up front w/o introducing the math aspect of it until later.
We didn’t have time for the students to “present” their posters, but I will make sure that I go over what all the
posters mean at the beginning of the next class so that they know what resources are available to them and what all
of the posters mean.
Ramp-Up Lesson – Day 3
Monday January 11, 2010 (50 min period only)
Unit 1: Foundations of Algebra
Lesson 1: Reasoning with Diagrams
Materials
 Class set of Student Edition Books
 New Materials (?)
 Composition Notebooks
 2-pocket folders
 Overhead Transparencies
 Overhead Markers
 One concept book on every table
 Write the Lesson Goal on the whiteboard
Lesson 1 Vocab: Diagram, Eqauation
 Entering the Classroom:
o Remind the students that they are responsible for writing in their math notebooks as I am taking roll:
the date, the lesson number, the lesson name, the lesson goal, and the corresponding concept book
pages
o HAVE THEM SKIP FOUR PAGES in the front of their math notebooks so that we can make a table of
contents (do this today if there is time later…or tomorrow if there is no time or no materials)
 Opening:
o Read the first part (the story) aloud. Either I will read aloud or I will call on a student/students to read
from their book
o On the overhead, sketch the diagrams in the book. Ask questions as I sketch (Tell the class to “Please
wait and answer the question when I call on you.” This way I can use wait time so that they all think
about the answers).
 On 2nd set of diagrams: “How many times do we add 4 + 6 + 7??
 “What is the difference between the diagrams?
 “What do the #’s in the diagrams represent? (3-# of boxes, 4-horses, 6-dogs, 7-cats)
o Point out where it says to look at the concept book if they get stuck!
o Work Time/Closing – Part 1 (only do this part if the lesson is done on a Monday. Add Part 2 if a reg. day)
o 5 min: Solo work (“struggle time’) - have them work on #1 – 4 only.
o 10 min: Work in partners (with the people sitting right next to them) to discuss #1 – 4.
o 10-15 min: Close/Present. Partners will present #s 1-4. I would especially like to see #2 presented with
multiple representations. The students will probably struggle with #2, so we can talk about the methods
they chose as a class and whether it is right or wrong. #1, 3, 4 don’t necessarily have to be presented if
all groups are approaching it the same way. However, if I see multiple representations, I will have those
groups present.
o No Homework
REFLECTIONS: Only were able to get through the opening of the lesson and I let them work on #1-4 for about
10-15 minutes. We’ll have to continue the majority of lesson 1 tomorrow. We will not be able to get through full
lessons on Mondays. Maybe we can start lessons on Mondays and then leave time for enrichment/homework in
class on Tuesdays and then assign homework every Thursday.
Ramp-Up Lesson – Day 4
Tuesday January 12, 2010
Finish Unit 1 Lesson 1: Reasoning with Diagrams
Lesson 1 Vocab: diagram, equation
 Entering the Classroom:
o Don’t have them write down any lesson numbers or names yet because they need to finish the first lesson.
They can write down the date. Later they will start lesson 2 and write down the name of it at that time.
o Today they will start their table of contents for their math notebooks.
 Opening – Finish Lesson 1
o Open by reviewing what we talked about the day before. Ask them to recall what the lesson goal was
and how it related to what they were doing yesterday.
o Talk a little bit about #2 since they struggled with that problem the most. Explain how the example was
done, then tell them to apply it to the new problem. (BUT make sure you are able to explain why you
chose the method you used.)
 Finish Work Time/Closing – Part 1 From Lesson 1
o Give them about 5 minutes to review what they did in each problem
o Walk around and look at the different approaches they took to working the problems.
o Go over #1, 3, 4 as a class. Call on students to explain it out loud as I write it on the overhead
o Have one or more groups present #2 on the board. Try and get multiple representations of the problem
so we can discuss it as a class. (Make sure to have them explain why they chose to draw the diagram the
way they did.)
 Work Time/Closing – Part 2 From Lesson 1
o No Solo Time
o 10 min: Partners discuss and work on #5-8. Make sure they are referring to the concept book and their
notes if it seems like they are getting stuck on a problem.
o 10-15 min: Close/Present.
 #5 – discuss as a class?
 #6 – Write down on the white board different definitions of a ‘diagram’ as students read them a
loud. Then decide what the best definition would be (based on all of their answers) and compare
it to the definition in the concept book
 #7 – Part (a) discuss as a class. Part (b) write the definitions down and discuss as a class as we
did for #6.
 #8 – Have groups present different representations of the problem
o 5-10 min: Have the students fill out two vocab boxes for ‘diagram’ and equation’. Tell them to use their
concept books for the actual definitions!
 Skill Practice/Review and Consolidation
o SOLO WORK TIME!!! The students must do this on their own
o Review the answers as a class when they are done
 1-0 problems wrong: Get into a group. Discuss how you could have done the problem differently
and work it the correct way in your math notebook. When finished, work on the homework
problems from lesson 1
 2-4 problems wrong: (I will work with this group) Get into a group. Discuss how you could
have done the problem differently and work it the correct way in your math notebook. When
finished, work on the homework problems from lesson 1
 Homework is used as an enrichment for the lesson.
 Extra Time: Open lesson 2. Have them write the lesson name, number, goal, and concept book pages in their
notebooks. Have them take notes as we talk about the next section. They will start the problems during the next
class period.
Exit Ticket: In your math journals, grade yourself based on today’s work. Give yourself a letter grade for
today’s participation and explain why you think you deserve that grade. What did you do well? What are some
things you could improve on for next class period?
REFLECTIONS: Didn’t get through all of the review/consolidation and homework. Perhaps need to give less time
for them to work on the problems?
Ramp-Up Lesson – Day 4
Thursday January 14, 2010
Unit 1 Lesson 2: Reasoning with Numbers
Materials/Set-Up
 Class set of Student Edition Books
 Put materials out on desk for students to pick up (Math books/folders)
 Overhead Transparencies
 Overhead Markers
 One concept book on every table
 One supplies bucket on every table
 Write the date and lesson number on the whiteboard
Lesson 1 Vocab: Even number, odd number, justification, counterexample
 Entering the Classroom:
o Remind the students that they are responsible for writing in their math notebooks as I am taking roll:
the date, the lesson number, the lesson name, the lesson goal, and the corresponding concept book
pages
o Remind them to add lesson 2 to their table of contents!
 Opening:
o Read with them the beginning of the lesson. Stop at all of the definitions and have them put it in their
vocab folders!
 Justification
 Even Numbers
 Odd Numbers
o Have them write the properties into their notes in their math notebook.
o Write out diagrams of even and odd numbers, but use different numbers than in the book (so that they
have multiple representations to look at.)
o Talking about Rosa’s justification:
 “When you have an even number, you can group into twos so that there is no remainder
(divisible by two). Does this group have a remainder? Does this group have a remainder?
Then when you put them together are they going to have any remainders?”
 “You will be asked to justify your own problems just like Rosa. Here are some things you
should think about:”
 Create a chart that breaks the process of a justification into smaller pieces.
1. Statement: write down the statement you are evaluating
2. Explore: explore whether you think the statement is true.
3. Decide: decide whether the statement is always true, sometimes true, or never true.
4. Justify: justify your opinion about the truth of the statement using the tools on page 9 of
your textbook (under tools for justifications).
 Work Time/Closing
o 5 min: Solo work (“struggle time’) - have them work on #1 – 5 only.
o 10 min: Work in tables to discuss #1 – 5.
o 5 min: Tell the students they have 5 minutes until we’ll start the closing. Announce that all of the groups
should be prepared to answer #1 and give and explanation for their answer.
o 10-15 min: Close/Present. Partners will present #s 1-3. We will discuss #1 as a class and have groups
present #2 and #3
 Ask students what definitions they used, how the definitions relate to their diagrams, what
properties they used, if any.
 Preparing for the Closing – Do as a class
o “When you say a statement is always true or never true you have to justify your reasoning. Why is
it not okay to just give one or two examples?”
o At this time review what a counterexample is. Have them put it in their vocab folder!! Give a couple of
examples for them.
o “When you say a statement is sometimes true you can use one example and one counterexample.
Why do you think that is okay in this situation?”
o Work on./discuss #4 and #5 together as a class.
 Skills – Solo Time!!
 Review and Consolidation
o Give them 15 minutes. They may work with the people at their table.
o After 15 minutes go over the answers and have them correct their own work with a
pen/highlighter/colored pencil, etc.
o Get into groups based on how many you got wrong. Correct your answers in a different color pen/pencil.
 Homework Page 11 #1-3
(?) Exit Ticket: Now that we’ve had one math lesson, describe how this class is different than other math
classes that you’ve had. Name at least one thing that you liked about today’s lesson and explain. Name at least
one thing that you disliked about today’s lesson and explain.
REFLECTIONS: