Clinical Tasks
Video #1 and Follow Up Questions:
Number Talk: 4th Grade | Inside Mathematics
What were the objectives of the lesson?
Provide a very brief description of what happened during the lesson (e.g., students spent 10 minutes on DO NOW, students worked on a problem-solving task for 15 minutes, the whole class discussed the problem-solving task for 15 minutes, etc.).
Describe what you observed students doing during the lesson. Based on what you observed, how would you describe two students you observed in the video with regard to their conceptual understanding? Provide evidence.
Based on what you observed, how would you describe two students you observed in the video with regard to procedural fluency? Provide evidence.
Provide a succinct summary of what you learned from the video about students’ thinking in this class. In other words, what information would you give to the teacher that could guide her next steps in instruction for the focal students?
Make sure you provide details and evidence to the statements you make or the ideas you share.
Video #2 and Follow Up Questions:
For this assignment you will need to observe the following segments of the math classroom.
Numeric Pattern Introduction – Part A | Inside Mathematics
Numeric Pattern Introduction – Part B | Inside Mathematics
Numeric Pattern Introduction – Part C | Inside Mathematics
Numeric Pattern Problem 1 | Inside Mathematics
Numeric Pattern Problem 2 | Inside Mathematics
Closure – Numeric Pattern | Inside Mathematics
Pay particular attention to the tasks assigned by the teacher (these can include questions posed during a warm-up or “do now”) and .
Give at least three examples of tasks the teacher posed during the lesson and assess the level of cognitive demand required by each. (Refer to the reading by Stein and Smith (1998) for the levels of cognitive demand). For each task, provide a justification as to why you assessed the task at the given level of cognitive demand.
Describe how students generally responded to the tasks. Did it appear that most students successfully solved the task?
Did it appear that students learned mathematical content in doing the tasks? Explain.
Were there any instances in which a task initially requiring a high level of cognitive demand deteriorated into a task requiring a low level of demand? If so, describe how and why this occurred. Did the level of cognitive demand for tasks remain constant throughout the lesson? If so, describe how and why this occurred.
To what extent did the tasks, as a whole, promote conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and mathematical reasoning? If you were teaching this lesson with an eye to promoting a balance of conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and mathematical reasoning, how would you change the task selection?
Video #3 and Follow Up Questions:
(2472) True/False Equation, 4th Grade – YouTube
Are most of the questions open form or closed form? Provide specific examples.
Describe how the teachers’ questions provided direct evidence of students’ conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and mathematical reasoning.
To what extent did the teacher ask higher-order questions (analysis, synthesis, or evaluation)? Provide evidence.
Did the teachers’ questioning lead to funneling or focusing in the classroom interactions? Provide evidence.
Describe how the teacher elicited and built on students’ responses to promote conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and mathematical reasoning.
Identify any missed opportunities to promote student learning of the content. What might you have done differently? Why?
