Growing Dots (adapted from AFT Thinking Math 6-8: Journey

to Algebra)
Goals
Content
Area(s):
Time Required:
Academic
Standard(s):

Math

Author:

1 week, consisting of five 42minute periods

Grade Level/Audience:

Melissa Jacobs and

AFT Resources
7

Major Cluster: Ratios And Proportional Relationships

Analyze Proportional Relationships And Use Them To Solve Real-World And
Mathematical Problems.
7.RP.A.2
Recognize and represent proportional relationships between quantities.
7.RP.A.2.a
Decide whether two quantities are in a proportional relationship, e.g., by testing for
equivalent ratios in a table or graphing on a coordinate plane and observing whether the
graph is a straight line through the origin.
7.RP.A.2.b
Identify the constant of proportionality (unit rate) in tables, graphs, equations, diagrams, and
verbal descriptions of proportional relationships.
7.RP.A.2.c
Represent proportional relationships by equations. For example, if total cost t is proportional
to the number n of items purchased at a constant price p, the relationship between the total
cost and the number of items can be expressed as t = pn.
7.RP.A.2.d
Explain what a point (x, y) on the graph of a proportional relationship means in terms of the
ETPT 6/8150 Designing Instruction for Diverse Learners (Summer)
University of Toledo, Dr. Judy Lambert

situation, with special attention to the points (0, 0) and (1, r) where r is the unit rate.
Learning
Objectives:

Big Ideas or Key Concepts

Students will be able to

recognize and represent

proportional relationships
between quantities in a
situation.
Students will relate
proportional growth to
linear relationships.

Knowledge and Skills

Students will decide if a relationship
is proportional (linear).
Students will identify proportional
growth patterns using color-coding.
Students will identify the constant
rate of change.
Students will write expressions to
represent proportional growth
patterns.
Students will generalize patterns
using variables.
Students will represent relationships
verbally, graphically, pictorially, in a
table, and as an equation (function).

Dispositions or Attitudes
Students will feel
comfortable with multiple
representations of
proportional relationships.
Students will be confident in
using any entry point (table,
graph, picture, words,
function) to solve a problem
and create the other
representations.

Analyze Status
Analyze
learners (List
at least 3
different kinds
of learners)

18 Grade-level Learners
3 Below-grade-level Learners (inclusion with In-class Support Teacher)
1 Blind Student (at grade level)
2 At Risk (multiple suspensions/absences)
2 Migrant Students (ELL; support teacher visits once per week)

PreAssessment
(How will you
determine what
learners know
before lesson?)

The Common Core Grade-Required Fluencies:

K Add/subtract within 5 (mentally)
1 Add/subtract within 10 (mentally)
2 Add/subtract within 20 (mentally)
2 Add/subtract within 100 (pencil and paper)
These foundational fluencies are significant for this lesson, as it will be built on prior

ETPT 6/8150 Designing Instruction for Diverse Learners (Summer)

University of Toledo, Dr. Judy Lambert

What will you

differentiate?
(Content,
Process, or
Product)

knowledge (giving all students an entry point). Kindergarten teachers start building these
fluencies by introducing students to five-frames. This extends into the use of ten frames
throughout grades 1 and 2. Students learn to create organized groups so they can subitize.
Subitizing is instantly seeing how many without having to count.
To pre-asses the Growing Patterns lesson, I will do a dot-flash in front of the class on
PowerPoint slides. I will start with five dots, organized as if on a die. Students will be able to
tell me there are five dots because it is a familiar pattern. I will continue to flash dot
patterns while asking the same key questions:
How many dots did you see?
How do you know? (students will describe how they saw the dots)
How did you count them? (again, students will describe how they saw the dots)
Eventually, I will begin to flash dots that are not in organized groups. This will cause
students problems in counting efficiently.
How many dots? (varied answers)
Why do we have so many different answers? (there are too many dots/the dots are not
grouped/the dots are not in an organized pattern)
Differentiation in the Pre-Assessment:
The pre-assessment activity will be fine, as-is, for my grade-level learners, below-grade-level
learners, and my at-risk students. For my blind student, I will make tactile cards for him to
feel as I go through the dot-flash. These tactile cards will be identical to what the students
see on the slides. I will give instructions in Spanish for my migrant students. Prior to the
lesson, I will consult with the ESL teacher to be sure I am giving the correct instructions.
Both students speak English fairly well, so as long as I am clear on my language/instructions,
they will be able to participate in the dot-flash.
Content: Growing patterns will be on PowerPoint and on paper, but linking cubes and
counting chips will be available for students to build the patterns at their tables. My blind
student will have patterns brailed for him. The ESL teacher will do a similar lesson with the
ELL students prior to my lesson so they feel acclimated to the situation and can participate
with their peers. Mathwire has many growing pattern sites for students to practice. Any
student that wants to access these experiences on the Chromebook may do so.

ETPT 6/8150 Designing Instruction for Diverse Learners (Summer)

University of Toledo, Dr. Judy Lambert

Process: While students are working through the problems, they will have access to
manipulatives to build concrete models of growing patterns. I will also provide a multiplerepresentations graphic organizer. Students can start wherever they feel most comfortable.
Students will also have access to the Desmos to assist in creating and analyzing graphs. My
blind student will have card stock and wax to build patterns and graphs, as well as his braille
machine. He will engage verbally with his peers and me throughout the lesson. Anything
documented on the braille machine will be translated by the vision teacher the next day.
The graphic organizer will be in Spanish and English for my ELL students. If my At-Risk
students missed the dot-flash activity, I will go through it with them or allow them to
independently work through the slides. They will be allowed to work in peer groups, keeping
them engaged. Any student who needs more practice can access the growing pattern
activities on Mathwire with the Chromebook.

How will you

differentiate?
(Readiness,
Interest,
Learning Profile)

Product: The students will be expected to apply their interpretation of growing pattern as a
table, graph, function, and verbal description (the pattern is the picture). The students are
not limited in how they see the patternas long as they color code. They can start with any
representation (table, graph, function, verbal description). Students will have access to
manipulatives to assist in analyzing a pattern. If students dont want to physically draw a
graph or table, they can use Desmos to create these representations. Again, my blind
student will have access to tools to build a concrete model and his braille machine. He has a
special computer program that he will use at home if he chooses to use his computer to
create any of the representations. If any student is having a hard time creating a growing
pattern on their own, they can spend time working on one of the growing pattern resources
on Mathwire for more experience/inspiration. When appropriate, I will allow a student to
choose one of the growing patterns from Mathwire.
Readiness:I will take students through the dot-flash pre-assessment activity so they can
identify that they have a knowledge bank of familiar patters, but that they can also choose
organized groups to count efficiently.
Interest:Students will have choice in how they create and code organized groups. This
choice will empower them, maintaining their interest.
Learning Profile:Based on a beginning-of-the-year survey, students will be allowed to work
in groups or alone. Students also have the option to work at a table or on the floor. Students
ETPT 6/8150 Designing Instruction for Diverse Learners (Summer)
University of Toledo, Dr. Judy Lambert

will have access to physical manipulatives, digital media, and tools (colored pencils, graph
paper, etc.) to create their representations of a growing pattern.

Apply Status
Representation (Content)
(Give learners options for
acquiring information)

Identify UDL
Methods and
Materials

Students will have access

to the dot-flash slides on
their Chromebooks if they
want to go through the
patterns on their own.
Students will also have
manipulatives to create
physical models of the
growing patterns.

Engagement (Process)
(Tap into learner interest, need
for challenge, and motivation)

Students will be allowed to

identify patterns in the diamond
dot however they see them.
They will be allowed to code
these patterns with any colors
they choose. If students want to
use manipulatives to build a
pattern, blocks and chips will be
available. Students will also have
access to Desmos to explore
patterns in tables and graphs on
the Chromebook.

Action & Expression

(Product)
(Give learners options for
demonstrating what they
know)
Students can code a
pattern however they see
it, with the colors they
choose. They can
physically build a model or
represent it on Desmos.
They can choose their
entry-point into the
problem, starting with any
of the representations
(verbal, graph, table,
function, picture).

Teach UDL Lesson

Procedures
(Describe steps
of lesson
including
instructional
methods and
learner

Day 1
Begin with pre-assessment dot-flash on PowerPoint. Strategic questioning leads students to
focus on organized groups for efficient counting (building on prior knowledge from grades K2).
Project large diamond of dots on board (PowerPoint). Have students color code with dry
erase. Model describing the organized groups [example: 5 groups of 4 and 4 groups of 3
5(4) + 4(3)]. After doing a few on the board
ETPT 6/8150 Designing Instruction for Diverse Learners (Summer)
University of Toledo, Dr. Judy Lambert

activities)

Students will color-code diamond dots into organized patterns. Students will describe their
patterns with numbers.
Day 2
Using the document camera, students will share out the different ways they saw patterns in
the large diamond of dots. As student work is projected, teacher will guide students on
generalizing their patterns with variables. This will be modeled first, then facilitated by the
teacher. Students will have time to generalize their own patterns using variables. Next,
slides are projected that portray empty diamond dots with a given expression. Students
have to try to shade the dots to match the expression (the reverse of Day 1). Students will
share-out solutions on the document camera.
Day 3
Students are introduced to a series of dots (a growing pattern).
Can you represent this growing pattern with an equation?
After letting students brainstorm for a moment, the teacher asks the familiar questions from
the diamond dots:
How many dots do you see?
How did you count them?
Students are facilitated into organized counting through the use of color coding. The entire
process is scaffolded by teacher modeling/questioning through the first growing pattern. The
information is organized into a three-column table (stage/thinking/total dots). The
information in the table is graphed. Students describe the changes verbally. A
function/equation to represent the situation is written.
A new growing pattern is provided. Students have the rest of the time to work through this
on their own or in groups. They can explore the pattern with their choice of tools
(Chromebook, manipulatives, colored pencils, etc.).
Day 4
Begin with new growing pattern from Day 3. Students share-out what they have discovered.
If students have generalized the pattern and created all representations (based on the
picture), they will provide all the information. If pieces are missing, use questioning to guide
them to discovering what they are missing. Next
Provide a table that represents a linear/proportional relationship. Allow students to work
alone or in groups to produce the other representations. Students are required to use colorcoding to link all five representations. Facilitate student work with questioning. Students will
ETPT 6/8150 Designing Instruction for Diverse Learners (Summer)
University of Toledo, Dr. Judy Lambert

PostAssessment
(How will you
evaluate
learners and
success of
lesson?)

Websites Used
in this
Lesson/Unit

share-out other representations before the end of the period with the document camera or
Desmos.
Day 5
In class, students will create a growing pattern and produce the graph, table, function, and
verbal description that accompany it. They can build their model with manipulatives or on
paper. They can produce the table and graph by hand or with Desmos.
When students can successfully
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Identify a pattern;
Generalize the pattern with variables;
Represent the pattern in a table, as a graph, and as a function;
Describe the pattern with words; and
Justify the relationship in all five representations with color,

They will have met the objectives of the lesson.

This post-assessment will continue beyond Day 5 of this unit as we continue to use colorcoding as a strategy.
www.achievethecore.org
www.udlcenter.org
www.corestandards.org
www.desmos.com
www.mathwire.com/algebra/growingpatterns.html

ETPT 6/8150 Designing Instruction for Diverse Learners (Summer)

University of Toledo, Dr. Judy Lambert