The Middle of Volume

Shannon invited a team of teachers into her Grade 7 class to participate in a lesson study around volume.  Her class had been learning about how to estimate, measure and record the volume of different objects.  To get an idea of how well they have synthesized everything, Shannon decided to use one of the sample problems from the curriculum document as a way to not only see how well her students were doing, but also to see if there was anything else she needed to do to help them meet the overall curriculum expectation.

Here is a summary of the lesson:

Minds on:  The students were asked to use 3 of the following numbers (3, 4, 5, 6, 7) and substitute it for the length, width, and height of a package, and find the volume of that package.  They then had to sketch what they thought the package looked like.  After they were done, they shared how they found the volume, and some important information was recorded on chart paper to help them with the action (e.g., what the formula of a rectangular prism is, to remember that you are multiplying to get volume so your answer needs to end in xx3)

Action:  They did the problem from the curriculum document for Grade 7 about "The Neumann Company." They did the problem on chart paper in mixed ability groupings.

Consolidation:  As the groups presented, a highlights sheet was created with some of the important things that they needed to include when they were trying to find the dimensions of a shape when they were given the volume, but were un-aware of the length, the width and the height.  Here is a chart of what they came up with:

Afterwards, the teachers  debriefed in another room where the group helped Shannon give some written descriptive feedback to her students.  Here are some examples of the work, and what feedback Shannon gave them:

The whole experience was a great way for teachers to see a lesson in action, debrief the lesson, talk about possible changes that could be made to improve the lesson, and then give great descriptive feedback to the students that will help them improve.  Thank you so much for opening your doors to us Shannon.