Boston College Pre-Practicum Lesson Plan Template

Name: Claire Collura

School: Bigelow Middle School Grade: 8

OVERVIEW OF THE LESSON

MA Curriculum Frameworks incorporating the Common Core Standards: With regard to how this lesson
fits into the “big picture” of the students’ long-term learning, which MA framework does the lesson most
clearly address? Select 2 to 3 focal standards that will be key to your instruction and assessment.

Addressing 8.EE.B.6: Use similar triangles to explain why the slope m is the same between any two
distinct points on a non-vertical line in the coordinate plane; derive the equation y=mx for a line
intercepting the vertical axis b.

Building on 8.G.A.4: Understand that a two-dimensional figure is similar to another if the second can be
obtained from the first by a sequence of rotations, reflections, translations, and dilations; given two
similar two-dimensional figures, describe a sequence that exhibits the similarity between them.

Instructional Objective: By the end of the lesson, (1) what concept, information, skill, or strategy will the
student(s) learn and (2) how will they demonstrate that knowledge?
- We will be able to show that all “slope triangles” on one line are similar, so all give the same
slope.
- Additionally, we will be able to find the slope of a line in a plane on a grid (without coordinate
axes).

Assessment: What specific, tangible evidence will show that each student has met this objective?
- Students will be able to find the slope of a line on a grid.
- Students will be able to draw a line on a grid with a given slope.

Academic Language Objective: By the end of the lesson, (1) what language, relating to the lesson and
lesson content, will the student(s) know or learn, and (2) how will they demonstrate that knowledge?
Refer to WIDA and Three Tiers of Vocabulary Beck, Kucan, and McKeown (2002) as cited by Thaashida L.
Hutton in Three Tiers of Vocabulary and Education.
- We will be able to use terms such as slope, vertical line, horizontal line, slope triangle, and
quotient of corresponding lines.
- We will be able to understand these terms embedded within problems and utilize them when
sharing our thoughts and analysis

Assessment: What specific, tangible evidence will show that each student has met this objective?
- Students will successfully be able to work through and solve a given problem
- EX: The students may be asked to “Draw the line with slope 3.”

Content: What are the specific details of the lesson’s content knowledge?
- Know that a slope triangle is a triangle whose long side is on the line and whose other sides are
horizontal and vertical.
 - How to use a slope triangle to find slope of a line → Divide the length of the vertical side by the
length of the horizontal side
- Understand that two slope triangles are similar because they are right triangles whose other
angles are corresponding angles for a transverse meeting parallel grid lines.

PROCEDURES FOR THE LESSON

In this section, provide specific directions, explanations, rationales, questions, potential
vignettes/scenarios, strategies/methods, as well as step-by-step details that could allow someone else to
effectively teach the lesson and meet the lesson objectives.

Opening (5 minutes): How will you introduce the instructional objective to the students, “activate”
learners, pre-teach/ preview vocabulary, and prepare them to engage with the lesson content?
- I will introduce the topic by making a real-world connection. I will activate their prior knowledge
by talking about ski slopes, ramps, why they were designed and the purpose of them to
introduce slope.
- Asking students if they have ever gone skiing, snowboarding, or skateboarding.
- The line that the mountain or ramp forms mimics the longest line of a triangle. We will
learn to call this slope.
- In the previous lesson they also learned how to calculate slope by dividing the side
lengths of a triangle. But they did not label this concept as “slope”.
- Go over vertical and horizontal lines.

During Lesson (__ minutes): How will you direct, guide, and/or facilitate the learning process to support
the students in working toward meeting the instructional objectives?
- First, I will display this website on the board for all the students to see.
- I will tell them that the goal is to make one triangle match up with the other triangle and
demonstrate how the controls work.
- I will then invite the students to describe how I can manipulate the controls to make the
triangles match up. I will remind them to use words like translate and scale factor.
- Then, I will give each table a handout. Some tables will be assigned triangle ABC and CDE and
the other tables ABC and FGH. They will be given 5 minutes to talk amongst themselves and
construct an argument for why the two triangles are similar. They will also be completing the
table in problem 2.
- I will remind them to explain why they think something is true. (i.e. “Angle FGH and
angle CDE are both right angles so they are congruent to each other.”)
- I will ask them to share their reasoning with the rest of the class for why their triangles
are similar. I will be walking around while they are doing this and engaging with each
group.
- Afterwards, I will relate the work in the second problem (the table) to the previous
lesson where they found the ratios of corresponding sides of similar triangles.
 - I will explain that whenever we have a non-vertical and non-horizontal line, we
can construct these triangles where one side is vertical and the other is
horizontal, and the quotient of the length of the vertical side and the horizontal
side will always be the same for all the triangles. This number is called the slope
of the line.
- I will make it clear that slope is the vertical length ÷ horizontal length and not the other
way around. I will present this diagram when saying this.

- Lastly, in the next activity the students will practice graphing lines with a given slope. They will
be doing in groups of 5 at the 5 white boards around the classroom.
- They will observe that…
- Lines with the same slope are parallel
- As the slope of a line increases so does its steepness (from left to right)
- I will observe that the students use slope triangles to construct their lines. But others
may have counted horizontal and vertical displacement (without triangles).
Closing (__ minutes): How will you bring closure to the lesson and, by doing so, review and determine
what students have learned?
- Cool-Down/Exit Ticket: I will ask the students to independently identify lines with different
slopes and then draw a line with specified slope. They can use what they know about the
meaning of slope, drawing appropriate slope triangles. They can also use the fact that a steeper
line has a larger slope.
- The exit ticket will also include a section for them to leave any questions or areas of
confusion.
- Lastly, I will collect the exit tickets.
 SUPPORTING ALL LEARNERS
As you think about supporting all learners, think about the Principles of Universal Design for Learning
(UDL) and utilize resources at the following links:

UDL at a glance: http://www.udlcenter.org/resource_library/videos/udlcenter/udl#video0

Guidelines:http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/toolkits/tk_procedures.cfm?tk_id=21
Lesson planning: http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/toolkits/tk_lessons.cfm?tk_id=21

Learner Factors: What will you do to ensure success from all students? Especially consider the needs of
students on Individual Education Plans (IEP), English language learners (at a variety of English language
levels), and students who may need an extended challenge. Highlight all that apply.

Grouping Factors Content Materials Student Response

Adjust grouping format Give additional Write homework list Alternate response
examples format (verbal/written)
Seat students Graphic organizers
strategically near one Provide alternate Give daily progress
another, you or the reading or the same Use Braille or large report
focus of instruction text at varying reading print
levels Extend time
Pair students Use manipulatives
Provide on-level Use assistive devices
reading
Technology
Give verbal cues to Use interpreter
emphasize main ideas Give students copy of
directions Give more breaks
Increase number of
review activities Allow use of computer
Hand out copies of
notes

Re-read directions

Use page markers

Specific Examples: P1s choose 2 levels of support to explain in detail the differentiation, P2s, P3s and
Grad P1s choose 3 levels of support to explain in detail the differentiation.

Support #1: Adjust Group Format

I will be grouping the students for the whiteboard part of the lesson where they will be drawing lines of
a given slope. They will be able to work with each other and engage with the material hands-on. This
allows for students to challenge each other's thoughts by working collaboratively to come to an answer.

Support #2: Technology

I will be projecting my presentation that mimics the different parts of the lesson. This will be useful to
guide the students through the lesson and for going over problems.

Support #3: Hand out copies of notes

I will be handing out worksheets/notes that they will be able to work on and keep after the lesson is
over. There will be a place for them to handwrite definitions so they have it for future reference.
 FINAL DETAILS OF THE LESSON
Classroom Management: If teaching a small group or whole class, how will you use classroom routines,
reinforce appropriate behavior, and/or handle behavioral issues? Give one example.

- After asking the students to work in their groups at the white boards, I will then bring them
together and ask them to share their thought process and how they arrived at their answer. All
students will be able to look at each other's work, and I will ask what they think about each
other's work and if they would do it differently.
- While the students are working I will be circulating around the classroom, making myself available
for questions and to overall support the students throughout the entire lesson.

Technology: How did you incorporate technology into the lesson?

- In the opening, I will be demonstrating similar triangles on the website geogebra.
- I will also have helpful websites linked for further reference.
- I will have my presentation of the lesson projected onto the board for students to follow.

Materials: What are the materials that you will need to organize, prepare, and/or try-out before teaching
the lesson?
- I will need to create handouts for some of the activities and a worksheet that includes notes on
the topic and practice problems. Also, I will be creating a presentation that mimics the handouts
and worksheet. Additionally, the students will be provided with rulers, colored-pencils, and
expo-markers in order to complete the activities.

Follow-up: How will you and/or your Supervising Practitioner reinforce the learning at a later time so that
the students continue to work toward the lesson’s overarching goal (i.e., the MA Curriculum Framework
incorporating the Common Core State Standards)?
- Understanding slope is a vital math skill that will aid the students in future math courses and
possibly beyond. Knowing how to find slope will be crucial to writing equations of a line which
they will explore in the next lesson.

7
Updated: Date (2023)
Cass/Malley/Hagen (2015)
Venkatesh/Akoury/Malley