Instructional Design – Implementation Overview

3rd Grade Math – Model, Compare, Order Fractions

My Implementation Overview Video for this Math Course

CC Option – Closed Captioning Option for this Video

My Welcome Video for this Math Course

CC Option – Closed Captioning Option for this Video

The course that I am designing is centered around implementing a blended learning environment with a flex model approach using a Learning Management System, like Schoology, project based learning activities, and small group instruction. I will focus on creating an Introduction Module, as well as the First and Second Instructional Modules to my course design for 3rd Grade Math where we will model, compare, order fractions. Below is a breakdown of the implementation overview, into actionable steps that I will further explain in detail. Also, to help support both students and parents in Schoology, the modules will be published as the students finish their assignments under each folder on a daily basis, and then be prompted to do the next day of work, so that users will not feel overwhelmed with the platform, by seeing every folder, and all of the assignments at once.

Step 1: “Introduction” Module

This module will consist of the first things that my students and their parents will see when they access this course.

Overview to the Course – This is an introduction of the course, listing what students will learn:

Model Fractions – using manipulatives, and visuals
Compare Fractions – with denominators that are alike, and unlike
Order Fractions – from least to greatest, and greatest to least
Apply Fractions – relate to real-world scenarios, develop critical thinking skills, and problem solving abilities

Introduce Schoology, as our LMS or platform – This is where I explain to students that we will be accessing Hays Class Link to have access to Schoology, our learning management system that we will be using during the school year. This is where we access folders to our weekly work, use available resources, and submit assignments of what we are learning in this course unit. I further explain how this supports the blended learning environment with a flex model approach where students will be self-directed and have a more personalized learning structure where they work at their own time and pace in a collaborative group setting.

Welcome Video – This video will be a short introduction to explain the course structure, goals, and expectations.

Essential Documents – These are provided documents that will outline the structure of the entire course.

Course Syllabus
Course Expectations
Communication Guidelines
Frequently Asked Questions

Engagement Activity – Icebreaker is included here to help students get to know each other, feel welcomed, and be connected. An example is having a discussion post of “Tell us about yourself” where students can share a response and introduce themselves.

In the next two modules, I will create student driven, engaging, and interactive lessons for learners to experience a significant learning environment using COVA, which allows them to have choice, ownership, voice, and authentic learning opportunities. Therefore, the next two modules will consist of student driven parts, teacher directed elements, and team collaboration activities in this learning environment.

Step 2: First Instructional Model – focus on modeling fractions – Introduce modeling fractions using videos, anchor charts, and new vocabulary words in Schoology. Guided instruction in a small group setting, including manipulatives.

Clear Learning Objectives – Students will be able to do the following based off of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS:

3.3(A) represent fractions greater than zero and less than or equal to one with denominators of 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 using concrete objects and pictorial models, including strip diagrams and number lines
3.3(E) solve problems involving partitioning an object or a set of objects among two or more recipients using pictorial representations of fractions with denominators of 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8

Course Content – for the first week, or 5 days, the content will consists of manipulatives, videos, songs, read-alouds, presentations, digital assignments in Schoology, such as the following:

Monday –

Anchor Chart: What is a fraction?
Introduce new vocabulary words: Fraction, Part, Whole, Numerator, Denominator, Fraction Symbol = out of
Whole-y Cow Fractions Are Fun Video Read Aloud
Hook/Discussion – about sharing baked cookies
Foundation Builder – What fractions do you see?
Modeling Fractions – Facilitation Slides
Use Fraction Manipulatives and refer to fraction work mat (small group, as needed)

Tuesday –

Anchor Chart – Parts of a Whole
BrainPOP JR: Basic Parts of a Whole
Let’s Work Together (google slides with different scenario cards) or Parts of Whole Facilitation Slides
Scenario Cards/Stations
Fractions Assignment in Schoology
Exit Ticket – Formative Assessment. Teacher provides feedback to student understanding.
Let’s Discuss – When are fractions used in real life? (Respond in Schoology. Students respond to the prompt, and can comment on each other’s work. Teacher can also provide feedback here.)

Wednesday –

Anchor Chart – Parts of a Set
Parts of a Set Facilitation Slides
Station Cards/Scenarios – Students will justify their answers as partners/group.
Student Journal
Exit Ticket – Formative Assessment. Teacher provides feedback to student understanding. Students can reflect on what they are learning.

Thursday –

Partition Among Recipients Anchor Chart
Partition Among Recipients Facilitation Slides
With a partner, or in a group of 3 – project based activity, Build a Model of each Scenario, and draw the model out. Then, write a statement that describes what fraction of the total amount each student received
Exit Ticket – Formative Assessment. Teacher provides feedback to student understanding. Students reflect on what they are learning.
Let’s Discuss – What are some ways that fractions can be represented? (Respond in Schoology. Students respond to the prompt, and can comment on each other’s work. Teacher can also provide feedback here.)

Friday –

Anchor Chart – Fractions on a Number Line and Using Strip Diagrams
Fractions on a Number Line Song
Ways to Represent Fractions Review/Anchor Chart
Fractions on a Number Line and Strip Diagram Facilitation Slides
Let’s Work Together Part 1 and Part 2 (in small group, as needed)
Fractions on a Number Line Assignment (Completed in Schoology)
Let’s Discuss – Fraction word problem (Respond in Schoology. Students respond to the prompt, and can comment on each other’s work. Teacher can also provide feedback here.)
Mini quiz – quick check for understanding over modeling fractions. Formative Assessment. Identify misconceptions, and pull small groups, as needed.)

Student Centered Project/Activity – Project-based learning tasks, real world application to understand concepts, practice problem solving strategies, small group instruction, self-paced practice using online math apps, like Progress Learning Math to have further practice on TEKS – 3.3A and 3.3E.

Examples of the project based learning that students can work together on using COVA are:

Display images of whole common objects divided into parts, such as an apple, orange, pizza, pie, brownie. Guide students to discover the common theme of this exercise to be “a whole is divided into parts, or all the parts equal the whole thing”. By drawing on real-life objects that students are familiar with, students are better prepared to conceptually understand fractions.
Students are given a card containing an image of a fraction with the denominator 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8. They meet with a peer to verbally identify the fraction they have, and relate it to an item in real life that is similar. Then, working as partners, students use math terminology to prepare three sentences describing their fraction. For example, “This 3/6 of a candy bar or pizza. The whole has been partitioned into six equal parts. Three parts three are shaded, and three are not.” They present to a new partner.
Students create pages to represent the terms – halves, fourths, third, whole, equal shares, and relate this to items that they can split up in real life. Using paper, students will cut, glue, and label various examples of each. Students should reference frequently.
Vocab Go Fish- Students create decks of matching card pairs representing fractions with the numerator 1 and denominators 2, 3, 4, 6, 8. They play Go Fish with peers to gain verbal practice with fractions as well as fluency in identifying denominators and equal parts.

Assessment – Short Quiz – to check for student understanding

Collaboration – student centered projects, students can work on projects as a team, discuss responses and have peer review

Reflection – Let’s Discuss, Feedback, or student centered video to reflect on what they have learned.

Step 3: Second Instructional Model – focus on comparing fractions – Explore fraction comparisons, use interactive games, project based learning activity with real life examples, like creating a garden, or running a pizza parlor.

Clear Learning Objective – Students will be able to do the following based off of the TEKS:

3.3(H) compare two fractions having the same numerator or denominator in problems by reasoning about their sizes and justifying the conclusion using symbols, words, objects, and pictorial models

Course Content – for the second week, or next 5 days, the content will consists of manipulatives, videos, presentations, digital assignments in Schoology, such as the following:

Monday –

Introduce new vocabulary words – equivalent, not equivalent, congruent, not congruent
Comparing Fractions Anchor Chart
Are They Equivalent? Activity
Station Cards/Scenarios – Students will justify their answers as partners/group
Exit Ticket – The Role of the Whole and Equivalency – Formative Assessment. Teacher provides feedback to student understanding. Students reflect on what they are learning.

Tuesday –

Partitioning Congruent Figures – Anchor Chart
Modeling Equivalence with objects, pictures, and number lines
Station Cards – Students will show two different ways to partition each shape given.
Sharing Candy Bars Activity – Students will partition and shade the model to represent the amount each student will receive.
Exit Ticket – reflective of what they learned from the stations and activity. Teacher provides feedback to student understanding.

Wednesday –

Comparing Fractions with Equal Denominators Anchor Chart
Comparing Fractions Anchor Chart
Comparing Fractions Picture Vocabulary
Assessing Prior Knowledge – Fraction Question/Statement Cards
Comparing Fractions Video
Let’s Work Together – same denominator – Facilitation Slides
Comparing Fractions Assignment – same denominator (completed in Schoology)
Let’s Discuss – Comparing Fractions with <,>, or += (Student responds to prompt, and can comment on each other’s work. Teacher can also provide feedback here.)

Thursday –

Comparing Fractions with Equal Numerators Anchor Chart
Comparing Fractions Anchor Chart
Comparing Fractions Picture Vocabulary
Comparing Fractions Video
Let’s Work Together – same numerator – Facilitation Slides
Comparing Fractions #2 Assignment – same numerator (completed in Schoology)
Extra Practice/Schoology Assignment – Comparing Fractions – Same & Different Denominators
Let’s Discuss – Comparing Fractions with <,>, or = on a number line (Student responds to prompt, and can comment on each other’s work. Teacher can also provide feedback here.)

Friday – Extended Unit Check – Summative Assessment. Teacher gets results on how well students have learned the learning objectives. Teacher provides feedback, and pulls for small group instruction as needed. This helps the teacher identify any learning gaps, and prepares for future instruction based off of data from this unit check. This measures how well students have measured the learning objectives.

Student Centered Project/Activity – Project-based learning task, real world application to understand concepts, practice problem solving strategies, small group instruction, self-paced practice using online math app, like Progress Learning, and relating it to TEKS, such as 3.3H.

Examples of the project based learning that students can work together on using COVA are:

Using one of your favorite recipes, convert all of the information (including the ingredient list) into a picture only recipe. You cannot use any words.
Brainstorm all the possible fractions that can be used to describe yourself. For example: I am ¼ of my family. I am 1/22 of my homeroom class. Then use the fractions to write and illustrate a My Life in Fractions autobiography.
Use items found in your classroom to create 10 different models of fractions. For example, two unsharpened pencils out of seven total pencils in your desk. Try to work with denominators of 1-12. Take photos of each model and use them to make a digital fraction scrapbook/slideshow. Type a fraction scrapbook for each photo.
Imagine you are a sports broadcaster for ESPN. Write a sportcast that uses at least five fractions to describe the important sporting event of the day. Perform your sportscast for the class or record yourself reading it and play it for the class.
Develop a commercial that advertises a special item for sale. It should use equivalent fractions to try and trick the buyer into paying more for the same amount of product.

Assessment – Short Quiz – to check for student understanding

Collaboration – student centered projects, students can work on projects as a team, then have peer review

Reflection – Let’s Discuss, Feedback, Peer review, or student centered video to reflect on what they have learned.

Below is Feedback/Feed Forward from parents of students that I currently teach or have taught in the past:

From: Mrs. Megan Hamilton – This is great! I have been so impressed with how well planned out your lessons are. Ian knows exactly what he needs to do and where he needs to go to retrieve any information. It’s also very easy for me as a parent to help him because everything is so well outlined. I love the combination of digital and hands-on tools for learning. He definitely uses what he has learned or is learning in real life situations with us at home, which I encourage.

From: Mrs. Wella Olaes – I like how the expectations are laid out at the very start with the overview, and then broken down with explanations throughout the article. There’s only a couple of areas where there are abbreviations (like LMS, or TEKS) It would be good to spell it out on the first time mentioned, and then use abbreviations after that. In the first video, I like the way the course is explained and broken down per day and available to the students. It gives a way for students to catch up or review if they haven’t grasped the concept, and even for parents to reinforce and help their kids learn. In the 2nd video, the introduction was short enough for the students to be engaged, and the use of a colorful and fun background will get their attention.

From: Dr. Micaela Vargas – Jackie, This is excellent! You have created a very well thought out Instructional Modules to help facilitate not only learning but guidance to the students and parents.

You clearly pointed out each section and how it reinforces each TEK.

I’m not sure if we see this at elementary levels where each module is prompted to the next, where if a student finishes one module the LMS will open the next section. My only critique is if a parent isn’t as familiar with navigating the system and they see all the folders and sections, it may seem overwhelming. However, you clearly state these in the instructional videos. One way to help support both student and parent is making the modules appear when the students finish their assignments and then prompt them to the next.

I was also wondering, if you have a student that have accommodations, hearing or seeing are captions provided and ways to make sure these students are included?

Also, I forgot to mention, I appreciate seeing you include the FAQ’s page and survey! You’re including the students and making sure they too have input. I started doing this in my courses to engage and reinforce the topics that they’re learning.

Here is feedback from peers in my collaboration group:

From Joseph Perrone – Jackie, this looks really good. I was wondering if your video might be too long. I thought this one had to be 10 – 12 1/2 minutes.

References

Bittner, J. (2024). Literature review: Promoting student agency using a flex model of blended learning. Retrieved October 22, 2024, from https://jackiebittnerdesigner.com/literature-review/

Finks Taxonomy & 3 Column Table Resources https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gMqxX2SEtWmnQ37m4UxWUcWxy0w87rWj?usp=sharing

Harapnuik. D. (2021). Assessment Of/For/As learning. https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=8900

Harapnuik, D. (2018, July). COVA. https://www.harapnuik.org/?page_id=6991

Harapnuik, D. & Thibodeaux, T. (2023). COVA: Inspire Learning through Choice, Ownership, Voice, and Authentic Experiences. Amazon.com Services.

Harapnuik. D. (2020). Feedforward vs. Feedback. https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8273

Top 7 Instructional Design Models to Help You Create Effective Learning Material. (2021). https://creately.com/blog/diagrams/instructional-design-models-process/

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