EDU70010: Mathematics in Primary School
Assignment 3: Folio B - Unit of work
Word limit: 1750 (+/- 10%)
Weighting: 40%
Due date: 5pm AEDT Monday 5 February 2018 (Week 12)
Assignment overview
This second folio task is designed to allow you to consolidate your learning across all aspects of mathematics in primary school as you generate and analyse a unit of work using the structure and content of the Australian Curriculum. This task will enable you to further develop your skills in designing mathematics teaching and assessment strategies that take an inclusive, integrated and ICT-enabled approach while also meeting the Australian Curriculum.
Related learning outcomes
This assignment assesses the following unit learning outcomes:
Demonstrate and communicate an understanding of the teaching of key mathematical concepts.
Analyse pedagogical approaches in teaching and learning of mathematics in the Primary classroom.
Generate plans of lessons/units of work that reflect relevant current curriculum documentation and contemporary pedagogical approaches including ICT.
Analyse a range of assessment strategies and record-keeping instruments within Mathematics in terms of their purpose, benefits, limitations and implementation constraints.
Folio outline
Your folio will include:
a unit of work (over 3-5 lessons) for either an F-2 class, 3-4 class or a 5-6 class. Your unit of work should provide an opportunity for students to explore key concepts of each of the three content strands within the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics across a series of related lessons, and also to generate evidence of your capacity to plan and assess units and lessons based on sound pedagogical principles
a reflection in which you will compare and evaluate strategies and resources designed for mathematics teaching.
Folio topic/theme
In determining a focus for your unit of work, you should choose a topic, theme, or pretext which connects the three content strands. You should also look for ways to incorporate inclusive, integrated and/or holistic approaches into your teaching and assessment design.
Unit of work (1250 words)
Your unit of work will include the following items:
Unit overview
The overview should demonstrate how the lessons fit together as a whole. It should contribute to a student's knowledge of the chosen topic and how they will meet the overall objectives. It should include:
· the theme or topic
· the objectives and aims of the unit
· pedagogical approaches
· the background context - including year level and prior knowledge of students
· the strands and elements from the Australian Curriculum that you are addressing
· a plan noting the lessons and topic breakdowns (e.g. timeline overview of the unit).
Resource list
Provide a specific list of resources (including stimuli, texts, tools, ICT). All references should be appropriately cited using APA style. You can include this either as part of your lesson plans, your unit plan, or as a separate document, as long as this is captured and referenced correctly. For example, you may refer to these in your lesson plans for context, but direct to a separate list that is more specific with references.
Lesson outlines
Your unit plan must include a basic outline of each lesson in the unit that describes what activities students will be undertaking and how their skills and knowledge will be built over each lesson. These lesson outlines must include:
· key aims, activities and resources for the lesson
· any strategies you could use to cater for diversity or inclusive approaches
· any strategies to enhance the use of ICT.
· Note: These are not full lesson plans, but rather brief outlines for each lesson.
Assignment plan
You must provide an overview of your strategy for assessing students during or at the end of the unit. This should align with the unit objectives you have stated in the unit overview. Your assessment plan should also outline how you can transition the class to the next unit of work/mathematical theme. You may include assessment documents (e.g. a rubric or marking criteria) to support your plan as needed.
Reflection (500 words maximum)
In addition to your unit of work, your folio must provide a concise reflection on your development of the unit plan. This should include:
1. an analysis of the pedagogy that underpins your lesson, for example:
2. Why did you choose the particular pedagogy?
3. How does the pedagogy support the activities in your unit of work?
4. What are the features of the pedagogy that make it appropriate for your unit of work?
5. What are the strengths and benefits of the pedagogy?
6. How were your choices influenced by the three teachers in the learning materials?
7. an explanation about how you incorporated strategies for diversity and inclusion, and the usage of ICT within your unit of work
8. an analysis of the assessment strategy, for example:
9. Why did you choose the particular assessment strategy?
10. What are the features of the assessment strategy that make it appropriate for your unit of work?
11. What are the strengths and benefits of the assessment strategy?
Writing style and referencing
As this is a unit plan designed to highlight lesson planning and the way you would design and teach a unit of work in practice, the writing style does not need to be formal and can include dot points and other concise text. However, it must be clear enough to be a practical and useful set of documents that another teacher could utilise.
Supporting resources and other relevant work by others also needs to be cited according to APA standard. All resources referred to in your folio must be included in a separate reference list document, appropriately formatted in
APA
style. This reference list will not be included within the word count for the assignment. Your reflection must use full sentences.
Preparing your folio for submission
You will prepare your folio as a Microsoft Word document.
This assignment requires you to incorporate curriculum content covered across all three themes in the unit. Active engagement in all activities will help you to engage more deeply with the relevant content and also to develop and practice the key writing skills required to complete your folio.
Take particular note of the essential reading in Week 9, which describes the process of planning units of work for maths. In Week 11, you will find a range of templates and other web resources to support unit planning.
You should revisit the essential reading from Week 5 (diversity and inclusion) and Week 7 (use of ICT) as both of these elements must be incorporated into your folio.
If you have any questions relating to this assignment, please post them in the Assignment 3 Q&A forum in your group discussion area.