April 21, 2010- Observation 5

During this visit to the school, I was able to teach the students my lesson on finding equivalent fractions. The lesson took about an hour to complete, although I only estimated it to be a 30-45 minute lesson. I was not bothered that the lesson took longer to complete (neither was the teacher) because this was a new concept for the students. They had worked on fractions the previous week but the concept of "equivalent" fractions had not yet been addressed. We discussed the mathematical vocabulary surrounding fractions and students responded to well to the new terms. We discussed the meaning of the word "equivalent." Students broke the word down and used "equi" as a clue that meant "equal." The class determined that "equivalent" must have something to do with things being equal because the two words sounded similar. As we worked through the activity, the students appeared to not only be learning the material, but having fun as well! This is why it did not bother me that the activity took longer than expected. I was so happy to see the students having fun with math and retaining new concepts.