Lesson Objective: Students will be able to explain the importance of checking your work.
Lesson OpeningThe children have a very important test coming up. They have all the skills to do extremely well on the test, but they keep making silly, small mistakes. This lesson, as I will be explain, is to give them strategies to check their work and avoid stupid mistakes.
Guided PracticeI will go back to the idea that to do any math problem, all you need to know how to do is some simple math operations. There is nothing difficult about the math, but they have to keep paying attention. One way to become a better student is to practice focusing in class. If they can’t watch me and learn from me for 45 minutes without losing focus, then they have no hope on the test. I will have the class do a long addition problem that I write on the board. Then I will go through it. I will ask them to mark on their paper where they made a careless mistake. Next, I will explain the importance of estimating. How can 143 x 5 = 87? How can 100 + 560 = 1200? They will learn how to judge an answer without computing it.
Independent PracticeNow I will give them a diagnostic test very similar to the one that they took yesterday. The answers will be on the back for them to check. I want them to get used to checking their tests and using all the time that is available.
ClosingThere is a new homework policy. Homework will not be simply new material. Each day they will have a test similar to the diagnostic test they are supposed to take.