Your blueprint to planning K-2 math lessons for maximum impact and understanding Not sure of tomorrow morning's lesson plan? Or maybe you feel it isn't tailored enough for your students' needs. What do you do? For that and more, help is here. The Mathematics Lesson-Planning Handbook: Your Blueprint for Building Cohesive Lessons guides teachers step-by-step through the decision-making process of planning K-2 math lessons that are purposeful, rigorous, and coherent. Instructional experts Beth McCord Kobett, Ruth Harbin Miles, and Lois Williams, streamline and deepen the lesson planning process by assessing the complex needs of students, clarifying learning intentions, and selecting the formats and tasks that will best lead to student understanding of mathematical concepts and skills. Along the way, teachers create an individualized blueprint for planning K-2 math lessons for maximum student learning. The lesson-planning process guides teachers to:
- Identify the mathematical content, language, and social learning intentions for a lesson or unit and connect goals to success criteria.
- Determine the purpose of a math lesson you're planning by distinguishing between conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and transfer.
- Select worthwhile tasks and materials that make the best use of representations, manipulatives, and other instructional tools and resources.
- Choose the format of your lesson using reasoning and number routines, games, whole class discussion, and pair or small group work.
- Anticipate student misconceptions and evaluate understanding using a variety of formative assessment techniques.
- Decide how you'll launch your lesson, facilitate questioning, encourage productive struggle, and close.
Included is a lesson-planning template and examples from Kindergarten, first, and second grade classrooms. Chapter by chapter, the decision-making strategies empower teachers to plan math lessons strategically, to teach with intention and confidence, and to build an exceptional foundation in math for all students.
Industry Reviews
"This book brings together the best of Visible Learning and the teaching of mathematics. The chapters on learning intentions, success criteria, misconceptions, formative evaluation, and knowing thy impact are stunning. Rich in exemplars, grounded in research about practice, and with the right balance about the surface and deep learning in math. A great go-to book for all who teach mathematics." -- John Hattie, Laureate Professor, Deputy Dean of MGSE, Director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute "This handbook supports teachers in moving from pacing to planning instruction by providing the tools needed to ensure that mathematics lessons work for every student. More important, it will engage teachers in the critical process of continual improvement. It is a must-have for teachers, leaders, and mathematics educators alike!" -- Matt Larson, President "Often teachers entering the classroom have had little opportunity for extensive lesson planning in their preparation programs. Throughout the book, definitions and explanations are clear so that readers share a common understanding of the language. As a teacher reads, the vignettes encourage the reader to reflect on similar situations in their own classrooms. The well-written questions included in the text will help guide teachers to personal insights that ultimate lead to increased student learning." -- Connie S. Schrock "We all know that good instruction is well-planned instruction. We also know that effective lesson planning is a complicated decision-making process. This incredibly practical book -filled with delightful vignettes and clarifying examples-provides powerful ideas and structures for simplifying the complexities of planning great K-2 mathematics lessons. This book is a wonderful resource for teachers, coaches, administrators and teacher educators." -- Steve Leinwand "Finally! The Mathematics Lesson-Planning Handbook offers that necessary blueprint for serious analysis of the planning process. Planning to teach mathematics is serious business, and this book goes way beyond thinking about the mathematics standard/objective for the next day's lesson, or jotting notes for a planning book. The Handbook will truly engage teachers and communities of learning in a carefully choreographed grade-level designated thread of mathematics tasks, which serve as anchors for developing understanding and use of each aspect of the planning process. This book is a treasure, and will be read, re-read, and referenced daily!" -- Francis (Skip) Fennell, Professor of Education, Past-President "Your Blueprint for Building Cohesive Lessons is a comprehensive and practical guide for coaches and teachers of mathematics in grades K-2. It provides the background that teachers need before they even begin to write a lesson plan! It then incorporates the research on what teachers need to think about as they begin to lay out a plan for instruction that will meet the needs of all K-2 students and moves on to effective facilitation. This guide provides a roadmap to planning effective lessons that will provide the essential foundation to ensure that all primary level students begin their mathematics journey with high quality teaching and learning. This book is a must for every K-2 teacher, coach or school's professional library! -- Linda M. Gojak, Past President "One of the hallmarks of accomplished K-2 teachers of mathematics is the guidance they provide to help students own how to learn. In The Mathematics Lesson-Planning Handbook: Your Blueprint for Building Cohesive Lessons, authors Kobett, Miles and Williams provide a clear, engaging, and masterful roadmap for helping each and every teacher own the lessons they design and use each and every day. The authors reveal the purposes, the success criteria, and the nature of the mathematical tasks and materials to be chosen. They describe in detail the student engagement necessary to design daily mathematics lessons that will significantly impact student learning. Reading, listening to, and using their wisdom and advice will result in an empowering impact on each and every teacher and teacher leader of K-2 mathematics." -- Timothy Kanold, Educator, Author "This is what we've been waiting for: a go-to resource for planning and facilitating mathematics lessons in K-2! Teachers must consider the needs of their students, relevant mathematical content, and appropriate pedagogy when designing and implementing effective learning opportunities. Through authentic vignettes and examples, connections to relevant research, and guiding reflection questions, this Handbook guides readers through the process from beginning to end." -- Susie Katt, K-2 Mathematics Coordinator "Planning is so much more than identifying materials, making copies, or filling out a form. Many of us were not trained to identify purpose, think about our students, look for quality instructional tasks, consider representations, or anticipate what our students will do. Finally, this handbook is here! We have our blueprint. This tool is a must-have for anyone new to teaching mathematics or anyone else who supports those who teach mathematics." -- John SanGiovanni, Coordinator "Planning is one of the most important instructional activities that teachers undertake. But how many teachers know how to plan lessons that are purposeful, coherent, and rigorous that also take into account the rich perspectives of diverse classroom of students? This teacher resource makes explicit what it takes to plan lessons that truly support student learning while also speaking to principals, coaches, and preservice educators who support teacher learning. I will certainly be using this valuable resource in my own work with teachers." -- Linda Ruiz Davenport, Director of K-12 Mathematics "This book is a must read for anyone who wants to challenge themselves to reexamine their math instruction. The interesting examples and challenging reflection questions make this book perfect for individual or group reading." -- Janel Frazier, Classroom Teacher "This must-have book has well thought-out lesson plans that combine rich tasks with high quality questions. I am confident that every teacher, administrator, specialist, and math supervisor needs to have a copy of this book." -- Kathleen Williams Londeree, Math Specialist/Coach "The book is a step-by-step guide for building a cohesive lesson. It is research-based and relevant to what teachers are being asked to do." -- Ann Thomas Lewis, Content Coach "In the continuing quest for congruence between the written, taught, and assessed curricula, the weakest link is often the taught curriculum. The Mathematics Lesson-Planning Handbook will help all teachers strengthen the instructed curricula by developing lesson plans with coherence, purpose and rigor throughout. The Handbook is a must for teachers of all levels of experience." -- Deborah Kiger Bliss, K-12 Mathematics Coordinator, Retired "The Mathematics-Lesson Planning Handbook will make planning for any mathematics class more meaningful. Reading this book will truly enable any teacher to develop organized and well prepared plan and move from the written objective to quality instructional delivery. The many grade level examples and templates are a must-have for any classroom teacher. I highly recommend this user - friendly resource for ALL mathematical teachers and is greatly needed as education meets the many educational challenges ahead." -- Debbie Anderson, Retired Administrator "At a time when open educational resources are flooding our classrooms, The Mathematics Lesson-Planning Handbook helps brings focus and intentionality as to why we should choose one task over another. It thoughtfully lays out the smaller nuances that are most commonly overlooked and it helps bring clarity to the art of building coherence." -- Graham Fletcher, Math Specialist
