Beacon Lesson Plan Library

Divisions of Generosity

Amy Hayes

Description

This lesson uses THE DOORBELL RANG, by Pat Hutchins to teach the concepts of generosity and fairness. Students apply the concept of generosity and fairness to a lesson on division.

Objectives

The student writes number sentences for given situations involving the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers.

Materials

-THE DOORBELL RANG, by Pat Hutchins, 1989, Mulberry Books, ISBN 0688092349
- Chocolate chips (The story refers to chocolate chip cookies, however, any small candy can be substituted, i.e. M&Ms or Skittles)
- Reclosable plastic bags
- Paper
- Pencils
- Dry erase/chalk board or overhead

Preparations

1. Prepare bags with pre-counted candy of choice.
2. Read THE DOORBELL RANG to become familiar with the text.
3. Gather materials

Procedures

NOTE: This lesson only deals with division.
1. Discuss with the class what the terms generosity, fairness, and sharing mean to them in terms of resolving conflicts.

2. Read aloud THE DOORBELL RANG, by Pat Hutchins.

3. Discuss the story and point out how generous everyone was to share his or her cookies. Discuss what might have happened had they not shared their cookies (i.e. someone might have gotten their feelings hurt and a fight may have occurred.)

4. Explain to students how the generosity of the children applies to the concept of division. The children shared their cookies with their friends equally. When you divide you are arranging items into equal groups.

5. Arrange students into cooperative groups and provide each group with a reclosable plastic bag of candy, paper, and pencils.

6. As a whole class, walk the students through the story. The students act out the division problems with their candy and write the division number sentence that represents the problem. Help the children check their number sentences by writing the correct answer on the board after they have had enough time to acquire the answers on their own.

7. After the problems from the book have been completed, challenge the students to create their own division problems. Students work together and use the candy to help them come up with correct answers to the division problems they create. The students must create 8 number sentences using division, and two division word problems. The word problems should reflect the idea of sharing and generosity in real life situations.

8. Allow students to equally divide the candy in their bags and eat the pieces when finished.

Assessments

NOTE: Students are only assessed on division.
Students write division number sentences with 80% accuracy for each problem in the book, THE DOORBELL RANG.
Students will then create and answer with 80% accuracy 10 division problems (8 division number sentences and 2 division word problems) on sharing.
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