Quadrilaterals (Singapore)
From APEC HRDWG Wiki
The lesson “Quadrilaterals” was captured on video for the APEC Education Network (EDNET) project called Classroom Innovations through Lesson Study. The lesson is an example of using the Lesson Study process of professional development in the teaching of Mathematics,
Lesson Overview
This lesson emphasizes clear communication of problem-solving strategies in the context of finding areas of trapeziums without knowledge of the formula.
The lesson begins with a warm-up activity, a memory game, which reviews properties of
quadrilaterals. Then, using tangram pieces, students make a trapezium using two pieces and find the area, using the small square as a unit. Students present solutions, and the teacher leads the class in considering what makes a solution clear. Then the students make other trapeziums using three or four tangram pieces. Again, two students present solutions, and the class discusses the clarity of these solutions.
Note for American viewers: in this video the term "trapezium" is used in its British sense of a
quadrilateral with one pair of sides parallel (i.e. trapezoid).
[High Performing Economy  ] [Demonstration Practice  ] (see Resource Types)
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Video Clips and Highlights from the Lesson
The video clips are selected from the full List of Episodes. The Full Lesson Video may be downloaded for further study.
The following video is an example of a research lesson used during the lesson study cycle. Wiki users may use this video to experience a part of the cycle and can hold a post-lesson discussion with their colleagues after watching this video to continue the lesson study process.
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The class plays a brief version of a memory game as a review of properties of quadrilaterals. | 1. Warm-Up Activity
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Student work on the first task, to form a trapezium from two tangram pieces and then determine its area, using the small square as the unit. |
2. Introducing and Solving the Problem
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A student explains his solution, and the teacher discusses the relative merits of his solution and a previous one. |
3. Sharing Solutions
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Students wok on forming a trapezium from three tangram pieces, then four, and determine the area of each. |
4. Solving a Related Problem
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A student shares her solution. The class discusses the clarity of her presented solution. |
5. Further Sharing of Solutions
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The teacher highlights key ideas from the lesson: the importance of clarity in diagrams and explanations, and the fact that one can find the area of trapeziums without knowing the formula. |
6. Conclusion
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