Practicum- sharing a Lesson

During my practicum experience I have had the chance to teach a lesson on adding/subtracting decimals at the sixth grade level. We used a checkbook register to replicate a real life experience and gave students practical knowledge.

The objectives outlined for the class were:
1) Students will be able to add and subtract decimals and justify their steps.
2) Students will be able to use a checkbook register to add deposits and subtract purchases from their previous balance.

The strategy I used was an "I do, you do." Because of time there was no real "we do." I modeled how to use the register to add deposits to previous balances and how to subtract purchases, but then students were to get together with their elbow partner to add and subtract additional deposits and purchases.

For students that understood the concept really well, they were able to add and subtract without much further guidance, but those who really did not understand what a checkbook registrar was and what it was used for it was difficult. The two ELL students in the class really struggled with the concepts of money as decimals. I do not think that they use decimals to represent their money, so it was difficult for them to understand that is what we did. If I were to change the lesson, I would go back and give more of a history and what a registrar was used for. I think giving background knowledge would help with the whole process and lesson. I would also talk about how our money is broken up and that it is represented by decimals. I did not even think of this being an issue when I started the lesson. Next time I will be more aware.

To check for understanding I collected the registrars and looked through each of them to make sure the addition and subtraction was done accurately (this was possible because the class only had 12 students). I was able to see some common mistakes like .40 + .70 = .11 instead of 1.10. The next day I addressed some of the math fallacies and hopefully as we continue with adding and subtracting fractions students will overcome the fallacies and understand the logic properly.