Hi Alexa, and thanks for this thoughtful unit plan! I like all the online resources and worksheets you have connected here, and thanks for being thorough with these. I found the bannock page fascinating! Good integration of the Thinking Classroom ideas, of Indigenous cultural contexts, and of practical ideas that connect math with people's lives.
Here are a few ideas for strengthening your completed draft of the unit plan:
• Generally, the lessons plans could use a bit more detail. For example, when you say you will choose an introductory problem for each class -- you should choose them now and include the specific problem for starting each class! Sometimes the descriptions are a bit vague: for example, in the third lesson, you say that "● Teacher will complete skeleton handouts on the board and students will follow along. Teacher will question students throughout the lesson to help answer parts of the question or predict the next step. Teacher will ask students if they have any questions following each example." This makes it sound as though you will be completing the meal budgeting worksheet, with the class just watching -- and then what would they be doing for the next 40 minutes? You probably have something else in mind that you would be doing, but it's not clear what that would be.
So in general, please clarify the details of what the teacher (and sometimes the students) will be doing in each section of the lessons.
• I really wonder about giving Grade 9s a car buying exercise. They are still at least two years away from the earliest opportunity to work on their drivers' licences, so this may seem very distant to them -- and then there's the big question of whether everyone needs to own a car, especially under conditions of climate change mitigation! There have been lots of recent studies that show that the desire to have a car or even learn to drive has diminished quite a lot in recent years!
I did notice that you included electric cars, and that's great! But what about also budgeting for: - a bike or electric bike or electric scooter - a transit pass - a car sharing membership (Modo, Evo or others)
You could change the focus from car ownership to transportation planning, and some might choose to buy a car while others had different plans.
Or you could change the topic completely to some other kind of purchase or fees that Grade 9s might be more involved in. (There's even the possibility of polling the class for ideas, and then presenting the topic later in the unit?)
Thanks for your suggestions! I am in the IB program so the project I am using is one used every year in this grade so if possible I am going leave it as it?
Hi Alexa, and thanks for this thoughtful unit plan! I like all the online resources and worksheets you have connected here, and thanks for being thorough with these. I found the bannock page fascinating! Good integration of the Thinking Classroom ideas, of Indigenous cultural contexts, and of practical ideas that connect math with people's lives.
ReplyDeleteHere are a few ideas for strengthening your completed draft of the unit plan:
• Generally, the lessons plans could use a bit more detail. For example, when you say you will choose an introductory problem for each class -- you should choose them now and include the specific problem for starting each class! Sometimes the descriptions are a bit vague: for example, in the third lesson, you say that "● Teacher will complete skeleton handouts on the board and students will follow along. Teacher will question students throughout the lesson to help answer parts of the question or predict the next step. Teacher will ask students if they have any questions following each example." This makes it sound as though you will be completing the meal budgeting worksheet, with the class just watching -- and then what would they be doing for the next 40 minutes? You probably have something else in mind that you would be doing, but it's not clear what that would be.
So in general, please clarify the details of what the teacher (and sometimes the students) will be doing in each section of the lessons.
• I really wonder about giving Grade 9s a car buying exercise. They are still at least two years away from the earliest opportunity to work on their drivers' licences, so this may seem very distant to them -- and then there's the big question of whether everyone needs to own a car, especially under conditions of climate change mitigation! There have been lots of recent studies that show that the desire to have a car or even learn to drive has diminished quite a lot in recent years!
I did notice that you included electric cars, and that's great! But what about also budgeting for:
- a bike or electric bike or electric scooter
- a transit pass
- a car sharing membership (Modo, Evo or others)
You could change the focus from car ownership to transportation planning, and some might choose to buy a car while others had different plans.
Or you could change the topic completely to some other kind of purchase or fees that Grade 9s might be more involved in. (There's even the possibility of polling the class for ideas, and then presenting the topic later in the unit?)
Hope that's helpful!
Thanks for your suggestions! I am in the IB program so the project I am using is one used every year in this grade so if possible I am going leave it as it?
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