Lesson Plan for Elementary Education and Special Education (1-6)

(No more than 4 pages for each lesson)

Teacher Candidate: (All phases) : Megan Riemann

Lesson Title: (All phases ) Introduction to Graphing Inequalities

Grade Level: (All phases): 7th grade

Primary Subject Area: (All phases) Mathematics

Interdisciplinary Connections: (Phase 2 and 3): Comparison

Lesson Duration: (All phases) : 42 minutes

Language Function: (Bloom’s Taxonomy) (Phase 2 and 3) Apply

Syntax and Discourse Students will apply what their knowledge of writing inequalities from the previous
lesson to create visual representations of the inequality on the number line.

KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS

Relevance/Rationale This lesson will build upon students’ prior knowledge by providing them with a
visual that is associated with the inequality. Furthermore, this lesson will visually demonstrate that
the value of x can be any number greater than or less than the value in the inequality. Students will
benefit long term from this lesson because this concept will appear in many other math classes in
their educational career.

Class Information: Students in this class need information displayed in a slow and consistent manner.
Specifically, students need vocabulary emphasized frequently throughout the lesson. Many of the
students in the class learn best from auditory instruction, therefore their IEP states that they must
have instructions read to them. Since this class is co-taught, students with disabilities will be able to
receive individualized instruction. In addition, many of the students with IEPs in the class require a
study guide for tests, a calculator and to take the test in a separate room. The class also consists of
students with behavioral issues, therefore some students may need to be frequently redirected and
have preferential seating. Students in this class have a wide variety of ability, therefore the lesson
needs to be presented in a way that meets basic needs as well as challenges some students.

Connect and Build This lesson builds upon students’ prior knowledge by incorporating their
understanding of inequalities from the previous lesson. Specifically, students will use their knowledge
of inequalities and inequality sentences to create a visual representation on the number line. This
lesson will help students with subsequent lessons by allowing them to master the skill before building
upon it. In addition, this will provide them with an answer to the essential question.

SETTING INSTRUCTIONAL OUTCOMES/ACADEMIC LANGUAGE

Central Focus/Purpose Statement: (Phase 2 and 3) The central focus of this lesson is for students to
apply their knowledge of inequalities and inequality statements to create a visual representation on the
number line. Additionally, students will analyze the relationship between inequalities, inequality
statements and visual representations.
NYS Next Generation Learning Standards: (All phases) NY-6.EE.8 → NY-7.EE.4b Solve word problems
leading to inequalities of the form px + q > r, px + q ≥ r, px + q ≤ r, or
px + q < r, where p, q, and r are rational numbers. Graph the solution set of the inequality on
the number line and interpret it in the context of the problem.
Objective(s): (All phases) Students will be able to apply their knowledge of inequalities and inequality
statements to create visual representations on the number line. Students will analyze the relationship
between inequalities, inequality statements and visual representations.
Academic Language: (exposed in phase 1) (Included in phase 2 and 3) Graph of an inequality, solution,
open circle, closed circle, less than, greater than, less than or equal to, greater than or equal to, number
line, inequality, inequality sentence.

MATERIALS/RESOURCES

Technologies and Other Materials/Resources: (All phases) Interactive white board, computer, worksheets

CONTENT AND PEDAGOGY

Anticipatory Set/Hook: Elicit Prior Knowledge (exposed in stage 1) (Included in stage 2 and 3) This lesson
will contribute to the essential question by demonstrating one way that mathematicians can represent values
that bigger or smaller than each other. Students will complete a do now as they enter the classroom. This
activity will encourage them to recall knowledge from the previous lesson as well as prepare them for the new
material. The Do Now will state, “What do you think the sentence “a number x is less than 14” means in
relation to the number line? Can you draw a picture?” After completing the Do Now independently, the
teacher will ask various student volunteers to draw their picture on the board. The class will analyze the
similarities and differences of their peer’s responses. The teacher will incorporate various higher order
thinking questions to prepare students for the new material. These questions will include, “Do you think the
statement given is equivalent to the pictures drawn on the board?”, “Based on what we learned about the
relationship of inequalities and inequality statements, do we think these pictures are appropriate?” and “Do
you think the type of symbol used impacts the visual representation?”
Procedures (Overview of lesson): (All stages)

Time Instructional Strategies/Learning Tasks

# minutes
3 minutes 1. The students will enter the classroom and independently complete the Do Now that is
displayed on the board. The Do Now will state, “What do you think the sentence “a
number x is less than 14” means in relation to the number line? Can you draw a
picture?”. The teacher will walk around the room and monitor student progress.
3 minutes 2. The teacher will ask student volunteers to draw their answers on the board. The teacher
will lead a class discussion. The discussion will include the following higher order thinking
questions, “Do you think the statement given is equivalent to the pictures drawn on the
board?”, “Based on what we learned about the relationship of inequalities and
inequality statements, do we think these pictures are appropriate?” and “Do you think
the type of symbol used impacts the visual representation?”.
5 minutes 3. The teacher will display the next slide. This slide includes, “The
______________________________ shows all the solutions of the inequality on a
number line”. The teacher will encourage students to provide ideas as to what the
vocabulary word is. Next the teacher will thoroughly explain the chart displayed on the
board. This chart includes, “open circle”, “used when a number is not a solution”, “<,>”,
“closed circle”, “Used when a number is a solution”, “≤,≥” as well as images of closed and
open circles and correlating number lines. The teacher will ask the students how the
 information on this chart relates to the do now.
4. teacher will explain and model example 1. This example asks students to display x < 8 on
the number line. The class will then work together to model this technique to complete
4 minutes
example 2. This question asks students to write x ≥ 6 on the number line.
5. The students will independently complete examples 3 and 4. These examples ask
students to display x > 15 on the number line and x ≤ 11 on the number line. The teacher
3 minutes will walk around to monitor student progress, answer questions and prompt struggling
students.
6. The teacher will ask student volunteers to display their answers on the board as well as
explain how they got that answer. The teacher will then ask the class to give a thumbs up
2 minutes or thumbs down to indicate if they agree with the answers on the board.
7. The teacher will now prepare the students to combine their skills from the previous
lesson with their new skills. The teacher will demonstrate the relationship between
3 minutes inequalities, inequality sentences and graphs. The first example asks students to express
x > 7 as an inequality sentence as well as a graph. As the teacher completes the example,
she will ask students to contribute suggestions based on their prior knowledge.
8. The students will independently work on example 2. This example asks students to write
z ≥ 13 as an inequality sentence and as a graph. A student volunteer will be chosen to
share their answer with the class. The teacher will then ask the class to use thumbs
2 minutes up/thumbs down to express if they agree with this answer.
9. The teacher will model example 3 and prompt students to provide suggestions as to how
to complete this example. This example asks students to express “a number m is less
than 4” as an inequality and a graph.
2 minutes 10. Students will independently work on examples 4, 5 and 6 as the teacher walks around
the room to monitor progress, answer questions and prompt struggling students. These
examples include, asking students to express “a number x is greater than or equal to 16”
7 minutes as an inequality sentence and a graph and to express two graphs as separate inequalities
and inequality sentences.
11. The teacher will select student volunteers to display their answers on the board. After a
student has written their answer, the teacher will ask the class to provide a thumbs up or
thumbs down to indicate if they agree with this answer. The teacher will select a student
that displays the correct thumbs up or thumbs down to explain why their fellow
5 minutes
classmates answer is correct or incorrect.
12. The teacher will end the lesson by giving students an exit ticket. This exit ticket will ask
students to express the statement “a number x is less than or equal to 18” as an
inequality and on a number line

3 minutes Include higher order questions throughout your lesson

Etc.

Differentiation : (Stage 2 and 3): This lesson will be differentiated by providing students the guided notes in
various forms, such as a digital copy or enlarged font. The guided notes sheet will be translated into different
languages for English Language Learner Students and the PowerPoint will include vocabulary from that
language. For example, the new vocabulary definition will be translated to say “El
______________________________ muestra todas las soluciones de la desigualdad en una recta numérica.”
Students that are visual and kinesthetic learners will be given the option of using manipulative during the
lesson. Specifically, students will have the opportunity to use number line sliders when graphing the
inequality. Some of the students in the class have IEPs that require them to have all test instructions read
aloud to them or take the test in another room. These students will have the opportunity to complete the exit
ticket in another room if they would like. In order to meet the needs of these students without singling them
out, I will read the directions for the exit ticket out loud to the entire class.
Closure: (All phases) The teacher will ask the students to complete an exit ticket. This assignment will ask
students to express the statement “a number x is less than or equal to 18” as an inequality and on a number
line. Additionally, the teacher will ask the students to answer the essential question, “What are the various
ways mathematicians can represent values that are bigger/smaller”

STUDENT ASSESSMENT

Before the lesson: (Phase 2 and 3) Students prior understanding will be assessed during the do now
as the teacher walks around the classroom. Specifically, the teacher will be looking to see if students
drew a number line and if they demonstrated that the values of x are less than 14. This assessment
will allow the teacher to understand if students conceptually understanding the meaning of
inequalities. The teacher will then use this information to pace the class.
During the lesson: (Phase 2 and 3)
Informal Formative Assessment: As students are independently working on the example problems in
the guided notes sheet, the teacher will be monitoring student progress. Specifically, the teacher will
be looking to see if students are understanding the relationship between inequalities, inequality
sentences and inequalities on a number line as well as if their understanding of each concept
individually.
Formal Formative Assessment: At the end of the lesson the teacher will ask students to complete an
exit ticket. This exit ticket will ask students to express the statement “a number x is less than or equal
to 18” as an inequality and on a number line. This assessment will provide the teacher with
information about student understanding about each individual concept as well as the concepts as a
whole. Additionally, the teacher will ask the students to answer the essential question, “What are the
various ways mathematicians can represent values that are bigger/smaller”. By doing this the teacher
will allow students to understand how this lesson contributes to a larger idea.
At the end of the lesson (All phases)
The exit ticket will allow the teacher to understand how effective the lesson was as well as overall
student understanding.