Future Lesson Plan Ideas

Grade Six Math

Core Knowledge Domains:
Ratio and Proportion
Percentage
Stage 1 Desired Results
Core Knowledge Standards: Alignment with Colorado State Standards:

Solve proportions, including word problems 6.RP.1 Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio
involving proportions with one unknown. language to describe a ratio relationship between two
quantities.
Understand the justification for solving proportions
by crossmultiplication. 6.RP.2 Understand the concept of a unit rate a/b
associated with a ratio a:b with b = 0, and use rate
Convert between fractions, decimals, and percents. language in the context of a ratio relationship.

Find the given percent of a number, and find what 6.RP.3 Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world
percent a given number is of another number. and mathematical problems.

Solve problems involving percent increase and 6.RP.3a. Make tables of equivalent ratios relating
decrease. quantities with whole- number measurements, find
missing values in the tables, and plot the pairs of values
Find an unknown number when a percent of the on the coordinate plane. Use tables to compare ratios.
number is known.
6.RP.3c. Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100
Use expressions with percents greater than 100% and (CCSI, 2016).
less than 1% (Core Knowledge Foundation, 2010)

Prior Knowledge and Skills: Future Knowledge and Skills:

Multiplication Algebraic expressions
Division Constant of proportionality
Fractions Factoring (CKF, 2010)
Lowest common denominator
Cross multiplication of fractions
Ratio and percent
Greatest common factor (CKF, 2010)
Understandings (big ideas): Essential Questions:

Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to How do ratios and rates affect how we view
solve problems (NCDPI, 2013). relationships between quantities of things?

Connect ratio and rate to whole number When and why should I express a ratio as a unit rate?
multiplication and division (NCDPI, 2013).
What can you reason about ratios from either looking
Understand relative comparisons. at a table or graphing equivalent ratios on a coordinate
plane?
Understand that some situations call for ratios to be
expressed as unit rates. How does percent help us understand how a thing or
substance is made up?
Students understand that you cannot compare
something to nothing.

Students understand that a proportional relationship

creates a straight line on a coordinate plane and that
equivalent ratios on tables are found by multiplying
or dividing by the same number.

Students understand that a percent can represent a

part of or a whole quantity.
Knowledge Objectives: Skills Objectives:

A ratio is the comparison of two quantities or Identify and describe any ratio relationship.
measures. The comparison can be part-to-whole
(ratio of guppies to all fish in an aquarium) or part- Describe ratio relationships in different forms, e.g. 2 to
to-part (ratio of guppies to goldfish) (NCDPI, 2013). 2
3, 2:3, or 3 (NCDPI, 2013)

A unit rate expresses a ratio as part-to-one,

Students are able to name the amount of either quantity
comparing a quantity in terms of one unit of another
in terms of the other quantity.
quantity. Common unit rates are cost per item or
distance per time (NCDPI, 2013)
Students should use reasoning to find these unit rates
instead of an algorithm or rule (NCDPI, 2013).
Ratios and rates can be used in ratio tables and
graphs to solve problems.
Students can use tables to identify proportional
relationships and scale ratios and rates.
Students use multiplicative reasoning to begin shift
to proportional reasoning and scale up or down using Students can plot ratio and rate relationships as ordered
multiplication (NCDPI, 2013). pairs (NCDPI, 2013).
Students use ratios to identify percents (NCDPI, Students use percentages to find the part when given
2013). the percent, by recognizing that the whole is being
 divided into 100 parts and then taking a part of them
(the percent).

Students determine the whole amount, given a part and

percent (NCDPI, 2013).

Domain vocabulary:
ratio, equivalent ratios, tape diagram, unit rate, part-to-part, part-to-whole, percent
Stage 2 Assessment Evidence
Final Performance Assessment Ideas:
Performance assessments measure a students ability to think critically and apply reasoning skills to solve real-
life problems. Performance assessments should parallel the skills taught in class (Darling-Hammond, L. &
Adamson, F, 2010). Assessments should include rubrics for consistency in scoring.
1. Fashion Designer (6.RP.1, 6.RP.2, 6.RP.3, 6.RP.3a)
As production managers for a New York based apparel company, students will develop a spec for a new
garment to be produced. The spec will include a table with exact quantities of fabric and findings needed for
their garment, lowest quantity of fabric and findings available to buy, vendor quantity discounts, total
manufacturing cost per garment, and scaled cost of production of 1000 and 10,000 garments. Students will also
include a drawing of their garment and an explanation of how they arrived at their costs.
2. Store Buyer (6.RP.3c)
As store buyers, students will buy the garment they produced for the previous unit. Students will prepare a
table showing percent mark-up, retail price and store profit at full price, plus store profit (or loss) at various
discounts (10% off, 20% off, 25% off, final markdown- 25% of 50% off original prices).

Other Evidence (assessments)

Quizzes covering specific skills and concepts at natural breakpoints (Pilcher, 2012). Quizzes should assess the
following:
Solve word problems involving scaling a candy recipe using both a table and graph to show proportional
relationships (6.RP.1, 6.RP.2) (Noyce Foundation, 2012).
Graph rates on a coordinate plane, extrapolating data from word problems (6.RP.3) (Noyce Foundation, 2012).
Use modeling, fractions, and decimals to find a percent of a quantity, and percent of the remainder of a number
(6.RP.3c) (Hong, et. al, 2003).

Instructional Strategies
Three critical aspects of math instruction include:
1. Teaching for conceptual understanding
2. Developing childrens procedural literacy.
3. Promoting strategic competence through problem-solving activities (The Effective Mathematics
Classroom, n.d.)

Use explicit instruction. Explicit instruction includes sets the stage, demonstrates, models, guides practice, then
provides independent practice (Pennsylvania Department of Education, n.d.). Teaching should transition
smoothly between demonstration, to modeling, to independent practice with the goal of being error-free
(NCTM, 2007). In addition, teachers should pay special attention to balancing skills and concepts and delaying
cross-multiplication until students have experience working with ratios and a solid understanding of
proportions (NCTM, 2007).

Daily instruction could resemble the following:

1. Warm-up (bellwork)
2. Open by setting the stage. This part of the lesson should include sharing the learning objective with students
(Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013).
3. Demonstrate the new concept.
4. Model the concept step-by-step while students take partial notes on prepared handouts (Cardetti,
Khamsemanan, & Orgnero, 2010).
5. Provide guided practice. Go through problems with the class while calling on students to provide the next
step. Make sure students provide the right answer (see right is right under feedback strategies). If a student does
not know how to proceed, use no opt out (Lemov, 2010). Call on another student to give the answer then call
on the original student again to recheck for understanding.
6. Provide time for independent practice. Time should be given for try-on-your-own (TOYO) problems with
enough time to go back over the problems and checking for understanding.

Other instructional strategies to consider:

Peer-to-peer learning (Zher, Hussein, & Saat, 2016). This strategy can be used after trading and grading
homework or during independent practice. Students work in teams of two to teach each other problems.

Math discussions (Kosko & Miyazaki, 2012). When calling on students for answers to problems, have students
talk through their reasoning and how they arrived at their answer.

Feedback Strategies
1. Check for understanding, gather data, respond to data (Lemov, 2010).

Cold call: Call on students regardless of whether they have raised their hands. By doing so, students will
come to expect that they may be called on and prepare for it. Cold call allows the teacher to distribute
work evenly around the classroom as well as check understanding for all students, not just those who
are quick to volunteer. Cold call can be used simultaneously with taking answers from students with
hands raised to reward those students ask to participate (Lemov, 2010).
 Thumbs-up, thumbs-down: During instruction, the teacher conducts an informal survey by asking
students to give a thumbs-up, thumbs-to-the-side, or thumbs-down if they understand the concept.
Instruction can be adjusted accordingly (Pilcher, 2012).

2. Provide effective, actionable feedback: Giving feedback on student work needs to be goal-oriented,
actionable, user-friendly, and transparent. Instead of just marking homework problems wrong, write comments
that give students clues as to where they will find their error (Wiggins, 2012). Feedback should also be linked
to the learning objective (Goodwin & Hubbell, 2013).

3. Right is right: Students should provide the right answer at the right time to demonstrate understanding of
both the concept and procedure behind the problem. Instead of just requiring the answer to the problem,
requiring students to talk through their strategy of finding the answer will reveal understanding or
misunderstanding (Lemov, 2010).

4. Choose your favorite no: Students are often afraid to take risks in math. Choose your favorite combines
practicing a growth mindset with peer-to-peer learning. For this activity, students choose one wrong answer
from a homework or in class activity and correct with a partner. Ideally each partner takes a turn teaching a
problem they understand and learning a problem they struggled with. Some students will be mostly on the
giving end and some on the receiving end, but in either case learning is deepened (Blad, 2015).

5. Teacher feedback: Responding to student feedback and adjusting instruction accordingly improves both the
teachers and the students performance (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). Give students a weekly or biweekly
survey on what they found most interesting, most boring, most helpful, and most confusing. Using an online
app such as Socrative can accomplish this task. The questions should reflect the learning goals for that week.
 References

Blad, E. (2015, September 9). Teachers nurture growth mindset in math. Education Week, 35(3),

1.

Cardetti, F., Khamsemanan, N., & Orgnero, M.C. (2010, January). Insights regarding the use of

partial notes in mathematics courses. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and

Learning, 10(1), 80-92.

Common Core States Standards Initiative. (2016). Grade 6: Ratios and proportional

relationships. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

(2013). Ratios, rates, and percents: Mathematics grade 6. Retrieved from

http://www.doe.mass.edu/CandI/model/files.aspx?id=A57389C5302682C80F506E86625

3A766093EA66E

Core Knowledge Foundation. (2010). Core knowledge sequence: Content and skill guidelines for

grades K-8. Retrieved from http://www.coreknowledge.org

The effective mathematics classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.andrews.edu/sed/leadership_dept/webinars/presentationdocuments/the_effec

tive_mathematics_classrroom.pdf

Goodwin, B., & Hubbell, E. (2013). The 12 touchstones of good teaching: A checklist for staying

focused every day. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Hong, K.T., Hoong, H. C. K., Hoon, L.H., Tann, L.E., Cheng, R. L., Wan, N.H., Peng, C.C.

(2003). Primary mathematics 6a. Singapore: Times Media Private.

Kosko, K. & Miyazaki, Y. (2012). The effect of student discussion frequency on fifth-grade

students mathematics achievement in US schools. The Journal of Experimental

Education, 80(2), 173-195.

Lemov, D. (2010). Teach like a champion: 49 techniques that put students on the path to college.

San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2007). What are features of effective instruction

of number with respect to skill and conceptual understanding? Retrieved from

http://www.nctm.org/Research-and-Advocacy/Research-Brief-and-Clips/Effective-

Instruction/

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. (2013, July). Instructional support tools for

achieving new standards. Retrieved from

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/curriculum/mathematics/scos/6.pdf

Noyce Foundation. (2012). Truffles. Retrieved from

http://www.insidemathematics.org/assets/common-core-math-tasks/truffles.pdf

Pennsylvania Department of Education. (n.d.). Secondary response to instruction and

intervention. Tier 1 core instruction. Retrieved from

http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/Sec-RtII-Tier1.pdf

Pilcher, J. (2012). Whos engaged? Climb the learning ladder to see (2nd ed). Pensacola, FL:

Studer Education

Zher, N.H., Hussein, R.M.R., Saat, R.M. (2016). Enhancing feedback via peer learning in large

classrooms. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Technology, 4(1), 1-16