Lesson Plans for Use Your Math Power Books

I  have written lesson plans to help teachers use the UYMP books to engage students in  understanding and use the practices.  These lessons and the introduction are available here as pdfs.  The introduction is pasted below to give you more information about the lessons.  Here are the pdfs for the introduction and the lesson plans.

Teacher Guide Introduction UYMP bks

Teacher Guides Penguins on Parade,

Teacher Guides Monkeys for the Zoo,

Teacher Guides Hatching Butterflies

Use Your Math Power Books: A Model for Mathematical Practices and Opportunities for Student Reflection

 Goal: The following lessons guide the teacher in using the Use Your Math Power books to model mathematical practices and give students opportunities to reflect on how they can enhance their use of the practices, focusing on participation, perseverance, and communication.

Thinking behind the lessons:  By reading and reflecting on the Use Your Math Power books, math students can reflect on how they can use best practices and engage in a learning community. In the lessons, students focus on practices that help them succeed in math. The lessons can be used early in the year to set expectations, or during the year to reinforce best practices.

Though set in a primary classroom, these books provide a tool for students of various ages to think about mathematical practices, especially perseverance and communication. Older students listening to the books may find it easier to focus on the practices since the math content will be less challenging.   When used in first grade, teachers may wish to wait to use each books until the time of year when they are working on the math content in the book’s problem.

The Lessons:  There are 3 lessons for each book, a first reading, a lesson focusing on a common struggle in classroom participation, and one focusing on effective communication.

Hatching Butterflies   1. A First Reading, 2. Working with Partners,  3. Focusing on Communication

Monkeys for the Zoo  1. A First Reading,  2. Gaining Confidence to Share Your Ideas,  3. Focusing on Communication

Penguins on Parade  1. A First Reading,   2. Making Sense of Unfamiliar Problems,  3. Focusing on Communication