S T U D E N T G U I D E

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Fencing a Playground

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How much fencing is needed to enclose the playground?

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Photo credit: iStock/Getty Images

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Table of Contents

Vocabulary Building

• Map a Word

Direct Instruction Guide

• Cornell Notes: Analyzing Math Sentences

STEP 1: Connect

• Finding Your Purpose for Learning
• Think-Pair-Share

STEP 2: Read

• Pause and Reflect
• Test Prep Strategy: Error Analysis (Optional)

STEP 3: Analyze

• Highlight and Annotate

STEP 4: Summarize

• Write a Summary

STEP 5: Build

• Collaborate: Share your argument builder

STEP 6: Create your CERCA

• Peer Editing Activity
• Writing Reflection

Throughout the guide, look for the laptop icon to find steps to complete online!

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Optional Extensions

• Research: City Grids
• Inquiry to Research: Asking Questions of the Texts
• Roundtable Discussion: Sharing Additional Research Findings, Learnings, and Experiences

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SYNONYM (SIMILAR OR LIKE WORD)

ANTONYM (OPPOSITE WORD)

PICTURE OF VOCABULARY WORD

SENTENCE USING VOCABULARY WORD

VOCABULARY WORD

PART OF SPEECH

V O C A B U L A R Y B U I L D I N G

Map a Word

Choose a word from the vocabulary list that is linked in the lesson. Write the word in the box below. Then fill in the other boxes on this page.

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Completing this process will help the word "stick" in your memory!

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D I R E C T I N S T R U C T I O N G U I D E

Cornell Notes: Analyzing Math Sentences

Take notes on the lesson using the organizer below:

Watch the Direct Instruction lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com

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D I R E C T I N S T R U C T I O N G U I D E

Cornell Notes: Analyzing Math Sentences (continued)

Summarize and Reflect

In your own words and in complete sentences, write a 3–4 sentence summary of this skills lesson. An accurate summary will cover the lesson's central ideas and include important details to support those ideas.

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Record your summary here:

S T E P 1 : C O N N E C T

Finding Your Purpose for Learning

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Everyday—in schools, in homes, and at work—people use math to solve problems. Geometry, or the study of lines, points, shapes, and their features, guides architects, engineers, and city planners in their work.

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Read the “Overview” provided at thinkcerca.com to learn more about one town’s plan to enclose its playground with a fence.

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What more would you like to learn about everyday uses of math? What more would you like to know about the concept of scale? What do you want to find out about how to create and use a map?

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Read the Topic Overview provided at learn.thinkcerca.com

S T E P 1 : C O N N E C T

Think-Pair-Share

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1. Think: On your own, think about your experiences related to the topic.

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• Pair & Share: With a partner, group, or a trusted listener, share the parts of your response that you feel comfortable sharing.

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• Reflect: If time permits, reflect on your experience. What ideas did others share that you hadn't considered? How were your ideas alike?

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Complete the writing activity in Step 1 Connect at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S T E P 2 : R E A D

Pause and Reflect

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When you’ve finished reading, go back and find the questions in the text marked “Pause and Reflect.” These questions will help you connect the text to yourself, to other texts, or to the world around you.

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Use the space on the left below to answer the reflection questions. Then, discuss your answers, noting how they were similar or different.

Record “Pause and Reflect” answers here:

Record discussion reflections here:

Read the text for this lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S T E P 2 : R E A D

Test Prep Strategy: Error Analysis

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Reflect on the patterns of your errors, so when you encounter questions like these on future assessments, you will pay extra attention to the blindspots.

Refer to the reading and multiple choice questions for this lesson at learn.thinkcerca.com.

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S T E P 3 : A N A L Y Z E

Highlight and Annotate

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In this step, you will analyze the text closely, then discuss your findings to begin developing reasoning for your argument.

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1. Read the text again, highlighting and annotating important details. Follow the prompts provided.

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The highlighting prompts will help you with the final writing task. You will find evidence to support your own argument or informational piece, as well as models of excellence that will help you better understand a writer’s craft in narratives. The evidence you highlight will be available when you begin building your draft in the next step.

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2. If time permits, pair and share your highlights and annotations with a classmate. Pay close attention to this conversation! Your thinking is important reasoning you may include in your final draft.

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Return to learn.thinkcerca.com to complete Step 3: Analyze.

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S T E P 4 : S U M M A R I Z E

Write a Summary

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Summaries help you process your thinking about a text and are often a great way to start off an argumentative or informational essay. A good summary shows you have knowledge about a topic.

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Practicing summarizing also helps you prepare for the main idea questions posed on many standardized assessments. In addition, summarizing is a helpful skill for working with others, such as when you need to confirm your understanding of what someone else has said. That's a useful skill for all parts of life.

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1. ��Use the sentence stems provided to summarize the text.

Your summary should:

• Be brief
• Include the main idea and key details
• Represent these ideas fairly and accurately �
• If time permits, pair and share with a classmate. Read each other’s summary, and discuss how they are similar or different. What did you say were the main idea and key details? Were your summaries fair and accurate? Why?

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Return to learn.thinkcerca.com to Complete Step 4: Summarize.

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S T E P 5 : B U I L D

Collaborate: Share your Argument Builder

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When you’ve completed the argument building step, share your results with others, and listen to how they responded to the same question. Ask questions and give feedback to help strengthen your partners’ reasons and evidence.

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Complete Step 5 to begin building your argument at learn.thinkcerca.com

S T E P 6 : C R E A T E Y O U R C E R C A

Peer Editing Activity

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1. Do a self-assessment of your CERCA. Use the online Rubric for the lesson on learn.thinkcerca.com, checking each box where you find evidence that you have achieved the criteria.�
2. Next, collaborate with a peer or peers to read each other’s drafts. Again, use the Rubric to evaluate each other’s work.�
3. Share insights into what might make your pieces stronger. Find two positive attributes and one area of growth for each draft you review.�
4. Revise your piece using what you learned from your self-assessment and the feedback from your peers.

Complete Step 6 to create your CERCA at learn.thinkcerca.com

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S T E P 6 : C R E A T E Y O U R C E R C A

Writing Reflection

Before you submit your final CERCA, write a brief reflection describing your experience.

An area for growth for me on this piece or in my writing in general is…

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The strongest areas of this piece of writing are…

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Through self-assessment and/or peer editing, I learned…

Optional Extensions

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The following activities can be used as optional extensions to this lesson.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : R E S E A R C H

City Grids

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Background

Some cities in America were built before city planners considered repeating the same grid pattern, with streets running in both vertical and horizontal directions to make rectangular shapes. Some urban areas have a grid pattern in one part, but not in another. A few US cities, however, use the same grid with four quadrants throughout. This makes navigating very simple. In Chicago, Miami, and Washington DC, designers used an x,y coordinate plane to lay out streets. In each city, different labels help identify locations by their directional addresses.

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Research

Use online resources and maps in your school library and to research a US city that uses a grid system throughout. Questions you may want to ask include:

• What does the grid look like in the city you chose? What street is the x-axis? What street is the y-axis?
• How are addresses written in the city you chose? Can you tell which quadrant the location is in based on the address? What else can you find out from it?
• How are major streets on the grid spaced out? Is there a pattern to how far each parallel major street is from the next?
• How can you find the distance between two locations in your city, using only the addresses? Offer two examples.

Create

Draw a map of a small area of the city of your choice, labeling the gridded streets and any diagonals that don’t match the rest of the pattern. Identify two locations on the map along with their addresses. Explain how you can get from one point to the other using the grid, and identify the distance between the two points.

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The ThinkCERCA community loves to decode secret messages! With permission from your teacher, share on social media with the hashtag #SparkCourageousThinking.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Asking Questions of the Texts

As you engage with texts in any subject, you can actively ask questions about the author’s purpose, intended audience, and occasion to understand the message. The table below provides examples.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : I N Q U I R Y T O R E S E A R C H

Asking Questions of the Texts (continued)

Use the table below to record questions about the text you read.

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : R O U N D T A B L E D I S C U S S I O N

Sharing Additional Research Findings, Learnings, and Experiences

Roundtable discussions offer you the opportunity to share what you’ve learned, as well as to ask questions and learn from others. Come to the discussion prepared to share your key findings. Use the organizer on the next page.

How the discussion works:

1. Choose a group leader who will help lead the roundtable discussion, and select a member of the group to go first.
2. Go around the group, allowing each participant to share a quick review of their their key findings.
3. When not presenting, take notes, summarizing key findings of your peers. Snap silently to show gratitude, appreciation, or interest!
4. After each presenter, take a moment for participants to ask questions or summarize what they just heard. Each participant should ask at least one question or summarize what someone else presented at least once during the discussion.
5. When complete, the presenter “passes the mic” to the next presenter.

Remember, it’s important to value dialogue and appreciate different perspectives. Learning from and understanding people who think differently or have different experiences is part of the process of growth! You don’t have to agree to learn from another perspective!

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O P T I O N A L E X T E N S I O N : R O U N D T A B L E D I S C U S S I O N

Discussion Notes

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