Form of Field Experience Report for EE 333

Date/Time: 1/14/15

Name: Catalina Dávila

1. Topic(s) that students learned (Brief description of the math class) and related Standards (CCSS-M)

The topic the first grade class was covering today was the concept of addition and subtraction through the use of a word

problem. The word problem was the following: there are 9 people in line for ice cream. John is the 4 th person in line. After

John, how many people are there? There are two CCSS that I was able to observe in the lesson.

- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.C.5: Relate counting to addition and subtraction

- CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.D.8Determine the unknown whole number in an addition or subtraction equation relating three whole numbers. For

example, determine the unknown number that makes the equation true in each of the equations 8 + ? = 11, 5 = _ - 3, 6 +

6 = _.

Upon entering the classroom the setup made me think that the students interacted in their mathematics lessons. There were

seven tables and each table had four chairs. On Wednesday there were 27 students present with two teachers.

2. Description of the students (Strengths and weakness of the students in the class regarding the topic they studied during the class)

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The whole classroom was composed of Hispanic children. The students were well behaved and one could see that they had

learned the daily routines. The students participated when they were at the rug dissecting the word problem. I was surprised

to see how well they were participating despite the twenty-something strangers around them simply observing. When the

students went back to their seats I was able to see their number sentences. One student had: 9 + 4 = 9 while the girl next to

him had 9 + 4 = 14. They had the correct visual representation with their flower counters but they did not see how the visual

representation transferred to the numerical representation. At the rug I saw how some students had understanding of the

word problems while others did not despite having similar problems the previous days. I was intrigued how through guiding

questions asked by the teachers students were able to explain their reasoning and others were able to see their error

3. Flow of the lesson (Minutes of the class)

TimeTeacher’s instruction (questions, comments, etc.)

Students’ learning activities (answers to the teacher, group work, individual work, etc.)

- The teacher instructions were clear. “ What do we already know from the

problem?”

“Go back to your seat and use the flower counters to figure help you figure out the problem.”

- The teachers would walk around looking a the students work and would ask question:

“Can you point to which one is John in the line?”

- The students were able to understand the word problem. “There are 9 people.” “John is the 4th.”

In silence the students got to work each one using their flower counters. There was no peer interaction.

The students would point to where they thought John was based on their understanding.

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- The after allowing individual work time the class regrouped at the rug.

“Can anyone show me the diagram they made with their flower counters?”

“With a thumb down or up, do you agree with the diagram.”

“Which one on the diagram is John?” “Can any one write their number

sentence?” “Does anyone know what the five

represents? Look back at the store.”

- The students raised their hands to volunteer to draw on the board their diagram.

“The whole thing is nine.” The majority of the class had a thumb up. “The red one is John.” Marco: 4 + 5 = 9 Marco had the wrong number

sentence in his math journal but with the diagram he was able to see his error.

4. Summary of the class observation

The routines established allowed for an easy and sooth flow of the mathematics lesson. I loved and enjoyed how at the

beginning of the lesson the students were asked to tell the teachers what they knew from the problem and what the problem

was asking them to do. To me this showed how students were to make connections. As the students worked I wondered how

the teachers reached those students who did not understand the concepts. I wanted to know how they retaught the concepts

to those who did not understand. The teachers used questions to guide the students to a better understand of what they were

looking for in the word problem. Students on the rug and through their peer explanation were able to reach some understand

as not all students understood though. The students have been doing similar problems and the teachers left the previous

examples on the board as an aid as they work through similar problems. This is helpful because they are able to form

connections.

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