Bear Mini-Unit

Grade Level: Kindergarten
Teacher of Lesson: Rebekah Calhoun
Approximate Time: 40 minutes

Objectives:

1. Students will recall rules of patterning from previous experience.	Knowledge
2. Students will create a pattern using the rules of patterning and example patterns as guides.	Application
3. Students who have mastered simple patterning will create patterns which use more than two colors or more than two size.	Synthesis
4. Students will read patterns by recalling names of colors and sizes.	Knowledge

Materials:

1. Bear math manipulatives
2. Lesson Plan

Procedures:

1. Call students to the rug area.
2. Ask the children what we have made patterns with before and take answers.
3. Ask the children what the rules of making a pattern are. (There must be two different things, and the order must repeat.)
4. Tell the children that today we will be making patterns with bears.
5. Ask the children how we could make a pattern with the bear manipulatives. (The children may say by color or by size. They may also give an example pattern like red, green, red, green. In the second case, ask what kind of pattern that would be. When they mention the size pattern, we will discuss what to call each of the sizes.)
6. Create the pattern they mention with their help. Read the pattern aloud.
7. Ask for more pattern ideas and create them. Make sure they mention color patterns and size patterns. Ask them if size matters when making a color pattern and if color matters when making a size pattern. (No)
8. Tell the children that there are bears at their seats. Tell them that they need make a pattern and then show it to a teacher. Tell them to try color patterns and size patterns.
9. Tell the students that they must read their patterns. For example, "Red, Yellow, Red, Yellow, Red, Yellow."
10. Discuss sharing by asking children questions such as: "Will you pull all of the bears over to your own seat?" or "Will you get angry when someone else is using a bear you need?" Discuss the right things to do.
11. Release children by table numbers
12. Monitor pattern forming. After they form a pattern, let them form more. Challenge children who can make patterns easily by asking them what other ways they can make patterns.

Evaluation of student learning:

1. Were the students able to recall the rules of patterns?
2. Were the students able to create color or size patterns using the rules and the examples?
3. Did the students who have mastered simple patterning create more complicated patterns?
4. Were the students able to read their patterns using appropriate names for the colors and sizes?

References:

Bear Pattern Idea: My cooperating teacher suggested that I use her bear manipulatives to teach patterns in this lesson. Our class has made patterns with many other objects.