Lesson Reflections and
Adaptations
Mean, Median, & Mode
By Cathy D. Denton
Introduction:
No changes
Standards:
The reason I selected these standards was because mean, median, and mode are usually not covered very well in most math text books. I felt there was a need to develop or find additional materials and activities to assist students in mastering these mathematical concepts. Unfortunately, there is almost nothing available on the internet that is appropriate for 5th grade students. The only item I had found while I was developing this unit was a Math Dictionary on-line. But, before I was able to implement my lesson, that was no longer available. After the students had completed the unit, I found an activity (from England) that students could do on-line. Because of this lack of material, I would select a different set of standards next time so that students could use more technology than just calculators and Accelerated Math. (Accelerated Math is a computerized math program. Individualized student worksheets are printed out, then students write their answers on scan-tron cards. Students feed their own cards, get their results, and the next assignment. Although this program is computer driven, all actual math work is done off-line.)
Instructional Objectives:
No changes
Introductory Activities:
I would still start the lesson with the Measures of Central Tendency page to be added to their Math Binder. Instead of giving each student a copy of their math grades to average and find the median and mode, I would take a classroom poll to generate one set of data that all students could work together with. This would make it easier to explain the difference between the three measures without as much confusion.
Enabling Activities:
No changes
Culminating Activity:
No changes
Pre and Post Test Assessments:
No changes
Web Resources:
I would continue to seek activities and games on the internet that would be appropriate for 5th grade.
Technology Applications:
With additional on-line activities, students could do some activities on-line. This would increase interest! I would still allow students to do some of the worksheets with calculators.
Follow-up:
Students do not typically master the concepts of mean, median, and mode in one or two weeks. I find that once students seem to have figured out what these terms mean and how to compute them, they need to continue to do these skills at least 2-3 times a week or they forget them very quickly. As a result, I have added sets of numbers to our "Daily Bites" exercise every morning that asks students to figure the mean, median, mode and range.
Mrs. C. Denton
cdenton721@yahoo.com
Hedrick Elementary School
550 S. Waterman Ave.
El Centro, CA 92243