Math in Focus Lesson Plan: Chapter 5, Lesson 6:

Making Patterns with Solid Shapes

Teacher: Richelle Colucci-Nunn
I.

II.

III.

Content and Standards:

CCSS SMP.1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

CCSS SMP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

CCSS SMP.4 Model with mathematics

Prerequisites:

Understanding of names and attributes of solid shapes

Familiarity with different types of pattern changes (size, color, shape)

Familiarity with making patterns with plane shapes

Experience with partner and group collaborative activities/role-sharing

Instructional Objectives:

Essential Questions:

Patterns are all around us in the world.

Students will know:

How does recognizing patterns help us?

Students will understand that:

How to name patterns: AB, AAB, etc.

Students will be able to:

IV.

Grade Level: First

Identify, extend, and create patterns, given geometric solids and pictorial

representations of solid shapes.

Instructional Procedures:
Before (10 minutes)
1. Activate prior knowledge.

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Ask students to recall different patterns we have been identifying this week: visual
(plane shapes, colors, and size), numbers (odds and evens), sound, and movement.
2. Provoke sense of inquiry into topic.
Create AB pattern with students (boy/girl) and ask a volunteer to extend it.
Repeat for AAB pattern.
3. Set purpose for learning.
Share instructional objectives with students.
Share real-life application. With patterns we can:

Learn to predict the future (weather patterns)

Discover new things (patterns like spirals are strong and take up little space
in some seashells and spiral staircases) Show shell.

Better understand the world around us (poison ivy vs. Virginia Creeper
Leaves of 3, let it be. Leaves of 5, let it thrive).

During (40 minutes)

4. Model (15 minutes)
Model repeating patterns with geometric solids (as shown on p. 132)
Ask students to identify how the pattern is made (using size, color, shape). Guide
students to see what attribute remains the same in each pattern.
5. Concrete (20 minutes)
Guided Practice: Create patterns as shown on p. 133 and ask volunteers to complete
the patterns
Higher Order Thinking: Create non-patterns and ask volunteers to remove 1 shape to
make it a pattern.

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Movement break!
Collaborative Practice: Students work with shoulder partners, taking turns being
pattern maker and pattern completer (making different repeating patterns with
geometric solids and identifying which solids come next in the pattern).
6. Pictorial (5 minutes)
Show p. 134 on SMART board and ask volunteers to complete patterns.

Potential misconception/problems:

Students may be distracted by all colors and shapes on the page.

Suggest they draw a line between each problem to better isolate the
pattern.

After (10 minutes)

7. Students respond to the following prompt in their blue content journal: if you were going to
write a story or design a video game/board/playground game around patterns, how would
you do it? What patterns would you use?
8. Students share their responses with their 3:00 appointment partner.
V. Materials and Equipment:
SMART board
Conch shell to demonstrate patterns
Geometric solids teacher set to make patterns shown on p. 132 and 133
Geometric solids one set per partner group
Math in Focus online teachers manual
Math in Focus workbooks for each student

VI.

Blue content journals for each student

Assessment/Evaluation:

VII.

Formative:

Observation of response to teacher questions/prompts

Observation of partner work/discussions

Completion of workbook pages 123-126

Summative: chapter test

Accommodations or Modifications needed for students with disabilities or ESOL:

Students will be paired and grouped heterogeneously to allow students to support each
other in their learning.
Students who would not be sufficiently supported in a heterogeneous pair/group and
students who are still struggling after the lessons activities (based on worksheet
assessment of pictorial understanding) will be provided with teacher support using geometric
solid manipulatives (concrete) either one-on-one or in small group (Math Club during ICE
room time).
For students with visualization difficulties, provide modified worksheets (lines separating
problem sets).
Students who cannot write a journal entry can illustrate or verbalize their understanding.
For advanced learners, have them work in homogeneous pairs to create challenge patterns
for each other or complete pattern matching activity on

VIII.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/algebra/pattern-match-shapes.html
Technology:

SMART board to project images of solid shapes (bringing concrete understanding to

pictorial)

IX.

Self-Assessment
Were students engaged in lesson?
Were students able to identify and extend patterns created by their partner and create their

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own patterns?
Were students able to articulate their understanding verbally and/or in their journal entry?