LESSON STUDY GROUP INFORMATION

Name of your Lesson Study Team:

A. Who will teach the lesson: Kaitlin Benson
B. Who will be observing: Becky Flood and Courtney
Gough
TIME and PLACE of the Lesson Study
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.

Date lesson will be taught: November 20, 2015

Time lesson will begin: 10:16
School name: Ferndale High School
School address: 881 Pinecrest Dr, Ferndale, MI 48220
Collaborating Teacher Name: Dee Eberle
Classroom #: 202
School telephone #: (248) 586-8600

LESSON STUDY LESSON INFORMATION

Brief Description of the Lesson Study
A. Grade and Title of the study lesson:
Grade: 12
Title: Solving by Graphing
Prior Knowledge: Previously, the students were taught how to go
about finding the distance and midpoint formula in the plane. We did this
algebraically and graphically. Although this section does not seem like it builds
from the previous one, the main idea of "Solving by Graphing" is the bonding
agent between the two topics. The rationale for this idea is that we want to remind
students that everything does not need to be done algebraically and that we can
have other representations of the same material. Students will have just learned
about how to graphically solve two equations and verify algebraically
(substituting the solution into the equations and making sure they are true). This
graphical representation can be done by hand (choosing points to create a table of
values) or by using the graphing calculator. Outside of our class, the students were
taught how to solve systems graphically in Algebra 2. More specifically, students
have had some experience will with all of the different types of functions
presented in this Lesson Study. Students have had experience with quadratics,
linear lines, and absolute value functions. This experience includes but is not
limited to working with the graphs of all of these functions and making
connections between their tables, equations, and shapes. Students have worked

efficiently on fluently switching between these different models. In addition, they

have worked with using these various models to find specific characteristics of
each of the functions. For instance, students have used a linear equation to find
the y-intercept and slope and have used this knowledge to graph. They have also
worked with quadratics in terms of finding zeros and the max/min in order to help
graph the function. We expect that this prior knowledge will serve them very well
and aid them in efficiently communicating aspects of the different functions
together as well as solving the actual task. Furthermore, we expect that this prior
knowledge will serve as a good base for students to check their work and make
more connections between these varying functions and how we look at them
differently based on their differing aspects.
Learning Goal(s) of the study lesson:
A. Students will be able to:
Algebraically prove if two equations
have shared solutions, as well as explain why this process works.
Graphically demonstrate whether or
not two equations intersect and describe what this intersection
means in terms of the equations.
Make connections between the
algebraic, graphical, and table representation of functions and how
to find their intersection in all three of these models.
Construct a graph using given
equations (lines, quadratics, absolute value) using a table, graphing
calculator, or by identifying different key points on the graph ( yintercept, slope, max/min., x-intercepts, etc.).
Articulate their thoughts and
processes on the paper as well as productively communicate with
their groups.

Lesson Study Research Questions (Your Teacher Learning Goals):

A. How does Let the Chalk Do the Talk enable all students to
express their thinking and methods in the group even though students are
not talking?
B. How does assigning group roles within the task relate to level of
mathematical thinking that was produced? Was it increased/ decreased, or
did it cause more frustration among groups? Was there any relation?

Data Collection and Debriefing Plan

A. Data Collection:

 We will use the same observation

technique used in Lesson Study 1. Courtney will be monitoring
from one position (making note of facial expressions, body
language, and student interactions) and Becky will be walking
around and monitoring students progress on the task and how
much they are communicating on the paper to get a closer
perspective.
B. During the Discussion:
We will have students compare and
contrast their solution paths and try to display multiple strategies to
get the solution so students can make the connection that all of
their strategies are correct.
We will also sequence in a way that
shows misconceptions as well as showcasing the most common to
least common way of answering the questions for the task . We
will start with the misconceptions first and progress to the
complete solution path and its alternatives. If none of the students
are able to complete the task, the sequence of the discussion will
still be valid though in this case we could build into answering
each question.
The discussion will be student led
through presentations of their work. For the presentation the
Reporter in the group will have to share out their group's work.
a. Debriefing
Immediately following the lesson,
we will go next door and discuss what we saw during the lesson. It
will begin by Kaitlin discussing her thoughts on the lesson. This
included what she thought went well, went bad, and what could
have been done differently. After, Courtney and Becky will share
their thoughts on the lesson as well as what needs to be revise.
They will be followed by Joanne or Laura. Mrs. Eberle may or
may not be in attendance for debrief due to her Algebra 2 class. If
she is not able to attend, Kaitlin will ask her for her thoughts
during lunch or their prep period. During this time, we will discuss
further benefits and drawbacks of using Let the Chalk do the
Talk. We will want to see if applying group roles was beneficial to
this lesson study and if it prompted students to participate in the
task. We will also see if the addition of group roles led to students
not getting off track as others took authority in the group. This will

be measured through the discussion of the math content as well as

the connections/ clarifications that are made on the chart paper.
With this lesson study and the previous lesson study in mind, we
will discuss how we can alter our plan for Lesson Study 3 to better
encourage participation and mathematical discussions on paper. In
addition, we will want revisit how much we were able to glimpse
into the thought processes of the students throughout the activity. If
students still do not provide us with a lot on HOW they were
thinking about the problem we will want to think of a way in
which to make this happen next time around.
With this lesson study and the
previous lesson study in mind, we will discuss how we can alter our
plan for Lesson Study 3 to better encourage participation and
mathematical discussions on paper. In addition, we will want revisit
the degree at which this activity provides us with a look inside of
what students were thinking about how to solve a problem. If
students still do not provide us with a lot on HOW they were
thinking about the problem we will want to think of a way in which
to make this happen next time around.
GROUP MEMBERS
Project Manager :
A. Organizes the lesson study team so that all aspects of the project
are clear, timeline, deadlines are met, and everyone has a role to play and
contributes to the intellectual work and success of the project Has
everyone read the project description? What is clear, not clear? Who is
submitting the project draft?
Research Plan Facilitator
A. Reminds the team about the research component of the project.
Takes the lead drafting the research plan and making adjustments based on
group feedback.
B. Makes sure the research plan represents the groups vision of the
research goal and plan. What is our research goal? Lets get clear on our
research plan! What data will we be collecting?
Lesson Plan Facilitator:
A. Reminds the team about the lesson planning component of the
project.
B. Makes sure the lesson plan represents the groups vision for the
lesson. What is our learning goal? Is this activity consistent with our

learning goal? How are these questions going to advance / extend

students thinking?
Lesson Study Debrief Facilitator:
A. Helps the team organize and facilitate the lesson study debrief.
B. Helps the team keep an eye on the big picture and the point of the
lesson study project What are we learning about learning to teach?
About mathematics? about students? about lesson study? Etc.
Lesson Study Recorder:
A. Helps the team record all information. They make
sure everyone in the group has easy access to the important information
and decisions the group has recorded as well as making sure that the data
collected gets distributed and shared among group members.
Group Role

Name

E-Mail

Cell Number

Project Manager:

Kaitlin Benson

[email protected]

(313)505-3599

Research Plan Facilitator:

Courtney Gough

[email protected]

(586)713-0762

Lesson Plan Facilitator:

Becky Flood

[email protected]

(516)216-7672

Debrief Facilitator:

Kaitlin Benson

[email protected]

(313) 505-3599

Lesson Study Recorder:

Courtney Gough

[email protected]

(586)713-0762