Course Guide - USAID Teacher Education Project

Unit 3 GeometryWeek 1, Session 1: Unit Pre-assessment1. What are the important concepts?This first day of the Geometry Unit is focused on assessment. It is an opportunity forthe instructor to discover what students know, think, and remember about geometry.It addresses (and pre-assesses) the vocabulary, concepts, and skills that students willstudy during the next five weeks:• Vocabulary and Terminology• Polygons and Circles• Angles• Cuboids and Cylinders• Area, Volume, and Surface Area• Right Triangles and the Pythagorean TheoremIt is important to take time to assess students' prior knowledge, since it is likely thatmost of them equate geometry with their high school coursework rather than thinkingof geometry as part of their every day lives: wrapping a package (surface area), takinga shorter diagonal route through a park (Pythagorean Theorem), or holding a soccerball (a sphere covered with pentagons and hexagons).Similarly, if students think of geometry as a high school subject dealing with proofsand formulas, they may not realize how accessible geometry is for young children.The questions suggested in the pre-assessment below are not meant to be "scored."Rather, they offer a window on student thinking that will be addressed in subsequentsessions over the next five weeks.2. What is essential to do in class?The following whole class discussion should be lively and engaging, with a focus on1) discerning what students already know and 2) stimulating student thinking byasking probing questions and providing clues rather than giving answers.As you pose the following types of questions, note the vocabulary and terminologythat students use when describing their thoughts. Is their terminology formal orinformal? Consider how the phrasing of your questions can model for students howto become more formal and precise in their geometric language.Geometry is visual mathematics. Thus, during the discussion ask students to come tothe board to draw what they are trying to communicate. Students should also bedrawing and labelling diagrams in their notebooks, and noting points of confusion thatcan be followed up in later sessions during the unit.Since this class meeting is a pre-assessment, try not to go in depth when dealing withindividuals' misconceptions. There will be ample time and opportunities to deal withstudent confusion during the remainder of the unit.