Planning the research lesson consumed the remainder of the day and all of the next.
The process began with one of the facilitators initiating a discussion on the mathematics
that would be the center of the research lesson, i.e., thinking models for addition
and subtraction word problems (join, separate, part/part/whole, and comparison),
by using a “tell me what you know” approach. The teachers brainstormed their understandings
of the eleven different forms the problems could take, discussing the
relative difficulty of each type. After the discussion, the teachers examined existing
EM curricula and materials, shared ideas from their own classrooms, looked at other
resources, and collaboratively worked on developing a lesson. This too was difficult.
The teacher participants had never formally shared pedagogical knowledge, negotiated
teaching strategies, and discussed student learning and outcomes with colleagues.
As teachers presented ideas that were not well received, group norms had to be revisited.
How will we deal with differing opinions? How will we decide which strategy to
use? Ultimately, the teachers agreed on a plan in which the students would solve one
problem for each type of thinking model ( join, separate, part/part/whole, and comparison).
Students would discuss similarities and differences across the problems.
The group wrote the following four problems: