Session+1

April 4, 2011 During our first session, we administered a pre-test to our 4th graders. The concepts included in this pre-test were area, perimeter, and drawing to scale. The students performed quite poorly on the pre-test. After the students finished the test, we asked them to raise their hands if they thought it was difficult. Everyone raised their hands. We graded the test out of 7 points. 13 students scored 0 points, 6 students scored 1 point, and 1 student scored 2 points. In general, problem #2 (the first scale problem) was the problem that the most students seemed to understand. Although none of the students got #1 (the area problem) correct, a few of them were thinking in the right direction by using multiplication. Also, some of them were thinking in the right direction with problem #4 by using addition. However, none of the students seemed to understand problem #3 (the cow problem); very few of them even attempted it. This link leads to our pre-test: [|mathpretest.doc] This link leads to a table that displays the data results from our pre-test: [|pretestresults.doc]

We also introduced the problem-solving project to the class. We handed out to them a sheet with a brief overview of the project and asked them to start brainstorming ideas. This link leads to our introduction sheet: [|mathsession1.doc]

The lesson plan used in Session One is below: [|mathsession1.doc]