Exploring Integer Addition Lesson Plan

For the entire lesson on "Exploring Integer Addition," including the podcasts, screencast, digital assessment, and rationales, follow the link below!

Digital Media Lesson Plan

Lesson 2 Notes

Exploring Integer Addition Exit Slip

Lesson: Exploring Integer Addition Exit Slip

Intended Audience: 7^th Grade Students

Type of Assessment: Digital Exit Slip using Google Forms/Quiz

Objectives: After completing this exit slip, students will be able to solve problems involving addition of integers on a vertical and horizontal number line. Students will also be able to create real-world scenarios related to integers, solve problems related to real-world integer scenarios, and solve multi-step integer addition problems. (7.NS.A.1)

Rationale: The purpose of this assessment is to see how well students understood the notes, podcasts, and screencast related to exploring integer addition. The exit slip is composed of 10 questions with question types including multiple choice, short answer, and true/false. This is to help ensure the validity and reliability of the assessment. The question types are not only recall questions, but also application of knowledge questions to help promote higher-order learning. For example, there are some questions where students need to solve an integer addition problem like (-2) + 5, but there is also a question that has students using a number line to set up a multi-step equation involving integers using what they learned from the lesson. Each question also gives feedback at the end of the assessment. The corrective feedback for each question helps students progress towards their goal of whether they’ve mastered the content or not, and it provides them with the skills they may need to go back and revisit.

Exploring Integer Addition Exit Slip

Formative Assessment in the Digital Age

Link to Article: Formative Assessment in the Digital Age

          Incorporating digital assessments into the classroom is becoming more the norm among teachers, especially at the elementary school level. As part of the continuously shifting digital landscape that has redefined the way we communicate, technology can easily be integrated into the assessment process. One example of using technology to assess students is online book clubs. Instead of assigning students a specific time to discuss their books in class, third grade teacher Ms. Whitmore decided to have her students post their thinking and communicate about the text anytime from anywhere within a blog. This helped her not only manage the groups more effectively, but the blogs provided her with a record of discussions and allowed her to monitor and scaffold student learning with groups and individuals. Ms. Whitmore also used this as an opportunity to connect with a wider audience by partnering with a nearby university. Two or three pre-service teachers were assigned to blog with each book club, not only giving the students blogging buddies, but the pre-service teachers an authentic opportunity to interact with elementary-aged students as well.

          Ms. Whitmore also used the blog as a way of assessing student comprehension. Using a rubric, she gauged students’ comprehension based on their blog posts. First, she provided each student with a digital and hard copy of the rubric prior to beginning the blogging experience. She then used the rubric to guide her in providing feedback to her students. The use of the blog as an assessment tool allowed Ms. Whitmore to respond to students’ conversations from home or school without having to be physically present, comment on students’ posts to probe their thinking through questioning to foster deeper comprehension, make informed data-driven decisions to help tailor instruction to meet students’ needs, and it provided her with valuable information about individual learners to help differentiate instruction.

          While I do think digital assessments have their many benefits, I feel they would be difficult to incorporate into a middle school math classroom like my own. So much of math these days is being able to show your work. As much as my students despise me for it, I am always, always making them show their steps and work. I do this because if they happen to get the answer wrong, I want to be able to look back at their work and see where they made their mistake. Was it just a simple math error with their adding, or does the student completely not understand the concept? I do however think digital assessments would be beneficial in the math classroom if students could write out or explain their thinking through some type of audio or written assessment tool.

Resources:

Stover, K., Yearta, L., & Harris, C. (2016). Formative Assessment in the Digital Age. The Reading Teacher, 69. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.library.aurora.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=9a6a8ff3-5faa-4bc1-97e9-9caf3ab931c6%40sessionmgr102

Exploring Integer Addition Screencast

Lesson: Exploring Integer Addition Screencast

Intended Audience: 7^th Grade Students

Objectives: After completing this lesson, students will be able to represent addition expressions of real-world integer scenarios. Students will also be able to create their own real-world scenarios given an addition expression including integers. (7.NS.A.1)

Rationale: Before getting into strategies for adding integers, it's important for students to understand the key words or phrases that give away whether a number is positive or negative. For example, words such as "won, increased, gained, and earned" represent positive numbers or positive integers. On the other hand, words such as "decreased, lost, and owed" represent negative integers. Integers are a vital standard and skill all 7^th graders need to master because we constantly refer back to and use them throughout the remainder of the school year. This lesson is just a brief introduction to two methods students can use to add integers. Instead of just giving students the basic rules for adding integers, in this lesson they can explore numerous ways of getting the correct answer. Once students have learned all of the strategies for adding integers, they can then choose whichever one works best for them. The podcast is split into 2 parts: part 1 covers adding integers with number lines and then gives students time to practice on their own and with a partner. Part 2 then covers using plus and minus signs for adding integers with again time for students to work independently and reflect on their answers with a partner.

Link to Screencast: Exploring Integer Addition

Cast from the Past

Link to Article: Cast from the Past: Using Screencasting in the Social Studies Classroom

          A lot of teachers today often think they need to trade in student-centered teaching and learning and revert back to direct instruction. This is because many of the tests both students and teachers are measured by nowadays are based on knowledge and comprehension, not important citizenship skills such as cooperation, collaboration, and critical thinking. That is until, David Besozzi, a high school social studies teacher in New York, decided to create a series of screencasts and infuse more technology into his classroom to increase student engagement, meet the learning needs of a wider range of students, and “flip” his classroom to increase inquiry and student-centered learning opportunities. A “flipped classroom” is one in which students listen to teacher lectures at home at their own pace, typically through instructional videos that are posted online or podcasts that they can download easily.

          Besozzi’s solution to invert the learning model was using screencasts. After receiving a grant for the funding, Besozzi created screencasts for all units in his ninth grade curriculum, with each unit consisting of about 7-10 screencasts. The goal was for students to listen to the 8-12 minute long casts for homework about twice a week and take notes guided by graphic organizers. When they returned to class the next day, Besozzi would start by reviewing the students’ notes followed by activities that allowed students to apply what they learned in the screencast to a social studies topic. All in all, Besozzi discovered that the screencasts met his initial goal of increased differentiation of teaching methods, increased student engagement through the use of a novel learning tool, and students recognized that the Internet could be used as a tool for learning, not just entertainment.  

          The more I read and learn about using podcasts and screencasts to complement my teaching style, the more intrigued I become. I love the idea of students being able to listen or watch something at home that I created to help them understand concepts better or just for extra practice. Students need to be able to work at a pace that works for them, so if they struggle with a specific skill in class, they should be able to go home and review/practice on their own for better understanding. As much work as I know this will take, I plan on hopefully integrating these technological tools into my 7^th grade math classroom in the coming years. I hope to somehow be able to go over practice problems for students on their daily homework through screencasts where they can pause, go back, or fast forward as needed.

Resources:

Snyder, C., Paska, L., & Besozzi, D. (2014). Cast from the Past: Using Screencasting in the Social Studies Classroom. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.library.aurora.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=69e97e25-be99-4ec8-b82a-fcd8cadb2818%40sessionmgr103

Exploring Integer Addition Podcast

Lesson: Exploring Integer Addition

Intended Audience: 7^th Grade Students

Objectives: After completing this lesson, students will be able to show addition of integers on a vertical and horizontal number line. Students will also be able to show addition of quantities by showing positive or negative direction from one quantity to the other. (7.NS.A.1)

Rationale: The 7^th grade math curriculum begins each year with integers. Integers are a vital standard and skill all 7^th graders need to master because we constantly refer back to and use them throughout the school year. For example, we incorporate integers into equations, inequalities, ratios and proportions, geometry, etc. This lesson is just a brief introduction to two methods students can use to add integers. Instead of just giving students the basic rules for adding integers, in this lesson they can explore numerous ways of getting the correct answer. Once students have learned all of the strategies for adding integers, they can then choose whichever one works best for them. The podcast is split into 2 parts: part 1 covers adding integers with number lines and then gives students time to practice on their own and with a partner. Part 2 then covers using plus and minus signs for adding integers with again time for students to work independently and reflect on their answers with a partner. Both of these lessons can be differentiated to meet the needs of all learners. In part 1 students can be given number lines they can draw on with dry erase markers, and in part 2 students can be given chips with plus and minus signs on them. 

Exploring Integer Addition Part 1

Exploring Integer Addition Part 2

Lesson 2 Notes

The Power of Podcasting

Link to Article: The Power of Podcasting

          There are countless benefits of using interactive, educational podcasting between teachers and students in the classroom. Although podcasts are not necessarily considered as “new” technology, all of the benefits it offers when integrated into learning and the classroom are still being discovered. The use of podcasts in the classroom has great potential because they help differentiate learning, provide additional support to students with specific learning needs, and they help foster a sense of inclusivity and belonging to the learning community. The best and most effective way to incorporate podcasts into the classroom is by “chunking” the delivered material into five or six single casts, rather than just recording an entire lecture in one. This is most effective in the classroom because if the podcasts are supplemented with related examples and activities, the students are more likely to remain engaged and motivated in the lesson.

          Other benefits of podcasting related to students include the ability to access podcasts at home or on the go, the ability to engage with the content by taking written notes, the opportunity to repeat podcasts to retrieve information, clarify issues, and/or highlight knowledge gaps, and they give students the opportunity to help manage their own learning by encouraging student autonomy. All in all, although podcasting is innovative and technologically advanced, and its future in the educational setting is immensely strong, the main focus and final result must be on the potential to positively impact and effect the student experience and enhance student learning.

          Although I have never personally used podcasts to enhance my teaching in the classroom, after reading this article I can definitely see its benefits. While I’m not sure if I would completely alter my teaching style and revert to the “flipped classroom” teaching method per say, I really like how the article mentioned the ability of using podcasts for delivering feedback to students. The article reported that students are 10 times more likely to open audio files when compared to written feedback. I thought this was very intriguing because I’m only used to giving my students written or verbal/face-to-face feedback in the classroom. However, I can now see the benefits of using a combination of feedback avenues – both written and audio and want to consider how to positively incorporate this into my classroom in the coming years.

 Resources:

Maher Palenque, S. (2016). The Power of Podcasting: Perspectives on Pedagogy. Journal of Instructional Research, 5. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1127626.pdf.