Lesson Title: ______________________________________________ Course: ___________________________
Date: _____________ Teacher(s): ____________________
Start/end times: _________________________
Lesson Objective(s): What mathematical skill(s) and understanding(s) will be developed?
6.NS.8 Solve real-world and mathematical problems by graphing points in all four quadrants of the coordinate plane.
Include use of coordinates and absolute value to find distances between points with the same first coordinate or the
same second coordinate.
Lesson Launch Notes: Exactly how will you use the
first five minutes of the lesson?
As students enter the room, distribute the “Battleship”
cards to each student or place them on the student
desks. Ask the students to partner up. Inquire to see
which students have played the game “Battleship”
before, and ask students to discuss the mathematical
connection of the game. Review rules to “Battleship”
cards and how to play the game.
Lesson Closure Notes: Exactly what summary activity,
questions, and discussion will close the lesson and provide
a foreshadowing of tomorrow? List the questions.
A post-discussion of the activities from the lesson is
valuable. Have students discuss movement along the
coordinate grid, and how this movement corresponds with
each axis. Ask students how the origin relates to the
quadrants. Which quadrant is the origin in? Which
quadrant is an ordered pair in that lies on one of the axes?
Mathematical discourse should be encouraged! [UDL I:2]
Lesson Tasks, Problems, and Activities (attach resource sheets): What specific activities, investigations,
problems, questions, or tasks will students be working on during the lesson?
1. Lesson Launch- The “Battleship” game is a review of using the coordinate grid and identifying points in the first
quadrant.
2. Have students play “Battleship.” This activity is taken from Teaching Student Centered Mathematics Grades 58 (Van De Walle 2006). Explain the rules of the game: Players secretly put their initials on five intersections of
their own grid. Then, with the grids kept hidden from each other, the players take turns trying to “hit” the other
players’ targets by naming a point on the grid using coordinates. The other player indicates if the “shot” was a
hit or a miss. When a player scores a hit, he or she gets another turn. Each player keeps track of where he or she
has taken shots, recording an “X” for a hit and “O” for a miss. The game ends when one player has hit all of the
other player’s targets. [UDL I:3]
3. After playing “Battleship,” students can play Taxicab Geometry. The rules of the game are as follows: Students
find a partner to work with. You are allowed to only travel on grid lines as if you are traveling in a taxicab on
the streets of a city in grid form. Like Taxis, “Travel is always toward the destination. If moving toward the
upper right on a grid, the direction is either upward, or to the right. Distance between points is determined by
counting the intervals (city blocks) between intersections. If there are two points on a coordinate grid (point A &
point B), have students determine the fastest number of turns needed to get from point A to point B. The most?
Will the paths between two points always be the same length? Refer to p.216 in Teaching Student Centered
Mathematics Grades 5-8 (Van De Walle 2006) for more information. [UDL I:3]
4. After students have explored directional movement, show the students a blank coordinate grid and place a
number line (you can write this in) on the x-axis. Discuss movement along the number line, and note where 0 is
located. Take a vertical line, and place it on the y-axis. Discuss movement along the y-axis, and note where 0 is
placed. Define the origin of a coordinate grid. Review/Introduce location of Quadrants.
5. After the discussion, give students a coordinate grid with a city (Manhattan) and specific locations of restaurants
and/or stores. A taxicab begins at intersection (0, 0) and needs to get to “Frank’s Pizza” located in Quadrant III.
The taxicab can only make one turn. How will the taxicab travel, east to west, or west to east to begin its travel?
Where is Frank’s Pizza located? Where are the other restaurants, stores, and landmarks located? Focus the
attention to writing the location of each landmark, and identifying movement along the x-axis and y-axis.
[UDL:5]
HCPSS Secondary Mathematics Office (v2); adapted from: Leinwand, S. (2009). Accessible mathematics: 10 instructional shifts that raise student
achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Lesson Title: ______________________________________________ Course: ___________________________
Date: _____________ Teacher(s): ____________________
Start/end times: _________________________
Evidence of Success: What exactly do I expect students to be able to do by the end of the lesson, and how will I
measure student mastery? That is, deliberate consideration of what performances will convince you (and any outside
observer) that your students have developed a deepened (and conceptual) understanding.
Students will be able to move along a coordinate grid from one specific location to another, and describe their
movements.
Students will be able to locate ordered pairs on a coordinate grid.
Students will be able to create their own real-world problem connected to locating ordered pairs on a coordinate grid.
The teacher will assess student understanding through engaging students in class discussion and lesson closure.
Notes and Nuances: Vocabulary, connections, common mistakes, typical misconceptions, etc.
Common Mistake: Students often begin by counting along the y-axis first, and then along the x-axis when finding an
ordered pair. This can cause confusion, but it should be stressed that the movement needs to correspond with the
given axis; horizontal movement is along the x-axis, and vertical movement is along the y-axis. Students get
confused about whether or not to count the intervals between points, or each point on a coordinate grid when moving
from one point to another.
Resources: What materials or resources are essential
for students to successfully complete the lesson tasks or
activities?
Homework: Exactly what follow-up homework tasks,
problems, and/or exercises will be assigned upon the
completion of the lesson?
“Battleship Cards”- Coordinate grids with 0-4 on the xaxis and 0-4 on the y-axis.
Any homework assignment that incorporates finding
ordered pairs on a coordinate grid is appropriate.
Homework that has the students create their own map,
city, and locations, on a coordinate grid with ordered pairs
labeled is also appropriate. [UDL II:5]
Teaching Student Centered Mathematics Grades 5-8
(Van De Walle 2006)
Manhattan grid for class work. Any city map will work
as long as the city is laid out in a grid.
Graph Paper
Lesson Reflections: What questions, connected to the lesson objectives and evidence of success, will you use to
reflect on the effectiveness of this lesson?
Will the students be able to make the connection between moving along the x and y-axis, and how this movement
corresponds to the number represented in the ordered pairs?
How will the students remember that the x-axis is the horizontal axis and the y-axis is the vertical axis?
HCPSS Secondary Mathematics Office (v2); adapted from: Leinwand, S. (2009). Accessible mathematics: 10 instructional shifts that raise student
achievement. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.