Lesson Study: Fractions

Today I thought I'd share about Lesson Studies. I had my first experience with a Lesson Study only recently. My colleagues and I decided to create a lesson around Fractions, in particular plotting fractions on a number line. We decided upon this topic as our data showed that our students needed more work in this area.

What is Lesson Study? A small team of teachers working together in a systematic cycle of planning, teaching, observing, refining and reviewing specific lessons in order to examine their practice and improve their impact on student learning.

This information and more can be found HERE.

We followed the process of Collaborative Planning > Teaching & Observing > Refining > Teaching & Observing > Reviewing

The process was quite interesting, however, we thought collectively that it would have been nice to complete this process over several days so we had more time to refine in-between (due to time constraints and funding we had to complete this whole process in a day).

We began by meeting prior to our Lesson Study and creating a lesson plan. We worked collaboratively and shared ideas. We then met again to fine tune the program prior to teaching. Jobs were split up so that the workload was relatively fair. One teacher created the Notebook file, another created the differentiated worksheets and the third created an extension activity.

You can download a copy of the program HERE.

On the Lesson Study day, our team split into pairs. Person One taught the lesson to their class while Person Two observed and took notes. Person Two then went away and thought of ways to refine the lesson before teaching it later in the day.

Here are some photos from my lesson:

Setting up the lesson before hand.

Three levels of differentiated worksheets (for independent activity).

If you are interested in downloading a copy of the worksheets, you can download a copy of the LOW, MIDDLE and HIGH worksheets by clicking on the hyperlinked words.

I really enjoyed collaboratively planning the lesson with my colleagues. I never would have thought of linking the jug/container of liquid with a number line. However, the use of the tape down the side of the container provided a great visual for students when it was pulled off and stuck to the board to the side (pictured above). Kudos to my colleague Kim, for that fantastic idea!

Anyway… I would love to hear about your experiences with Lesson Studies. 

Did you like them? Were they helpful? What lessons did you teach?

Comment below!