The teaching cycle in mathematics also beneficial to be familiar with your students- what they

know, how they learn, etc.

Example: Teacher Gina thought it is best to apply

constructivist approach to help her students learn
techniques in multiplying whole numbers. She planned a
lesson that incorporates the problem solving strategy.

3. Implement Plan

This is the stage where you conduct the learning activities that
you have prepared during the planning stage. A word of advice:
even though you have carefully and delicately planned for the
lesson, you must be flexible with the possible changes that you
need to accommodate.

Example: The class went on smoothly. The activities that teacher

1. Identify objects Gina prepared were successfully done by her students.
What knowledge and/or skills do the students need to
learn? You must be guided by the a content standards,
performance standards, and the learning competencies 4. Check for understanding
that are found in the curriculum guide.
Teaching is a understandinghplementation of the lesson plan,
Example: Teacher Gina identified "multiplication of you must every now and then check whether the students have
whole numbers up to two digits" as the goal of her understood what you have covered so far. Facial reactions and
lesson. verbal cues help in assessing whether or not the students can
move on to another concept or skill. If not, you might need to
2. Plan Instruction give a more elaborate explanation, more examples, or whatever
What strategies must be implemented for the students to you think is needed based on the student's reaction.
achieve the objectives targeted in the previous stage? In
planning instruction, it is important that you have mastered
the content of the lesson that you are about to teach. It is Example: To make sure that her students understood the lesson
teacher Gina gave a three-item exercise as an exit pass.
 Example: Teacher Gina Teacher Gina later on gave a multiplication
quiz. Ninety percent of the students passed. She planned to give
5. Reflect on Teaching remedial exercises to those who failed.
You must evaluate every teaching period that you finished. Were
the objectives achieve? Were the implemented strategies
effective? How can the instructions be improved? Your answers
to the last questions will give you insights on how to improve
instruction the next time you teach the same lesson. However, if
your answer in the first question is no, i.e., the objectives were
not met, then you need to plan again. What do you need to do
differently in order to achieve the objectives?

Example: Based on the exit pass, Teacher Gina found out that
many students have difficulty multiplying numbers that involve
the digit 8. So, she decided to do a find- your-error activity the
next day for the students to realize their mistakes. She also
planned to give a short drill on skip counting by 8.

6. Assessing learning and reflect on the results

This stage gives you a complete measure of what the students have
learned. In math, this is usually through a paper and pencil
examination. However some authentic assessments may also be
implemented. Take note that this stage does not end in assessing
learning. You need to reflect on the results, what can you learn
about student learning and teaching practice based on the results?

After assessment and reflection, you will once again identify the
next learning goals and so the cycle continues.
Constructivist theory in teaching
mathematics in the primary grades
Constructivist Learning Theory
• States that learning is an active process of creating
meaning from different experiences. In other words,
students learn best by trying to make sense of
something on their own with a teacher as a guide.
What is constructivism?
• Is a learning model that teaches through hands-on
experiences rather than lectures.
• Was conceptualized by education theorist Jean Piaget.
He believes that “young children learn by doing,
constructing knowledge from experiences rather than
from adults telling them about their world.”
Things to Consider in Planning Instruction in 2. Objectives

Mathematics in the Primary Grades. Before you begin planning, you need to know what specific
knowledge and skills you want your students to develop during the
- In education, planning refers to the designing and lesson or unit. Teachers often focus too much on knowledge,
preparation of learning activities for students. In lesson forgetting about developing skills which in the long term are more
planning, the teachers thoughtfully contemplate about important than knowing mere facts. So, in planning your instruction,
the lesson objectives, the activities that will meet always consider both knowledge and skills.
these objectives, the sequence of those activities, the
materials needed, how long each activity might take,
how the class would be managed during those 3. Students
activities, and the evaluation method to assess how far
the objectives were met. This lesson enumerates the Get to know your students-where they came from, what their
things to consider in planning instruction in Interests are, what they already know, their learning style, attention
mathematics in the primary grades. span, special needs, etc. These will all help you determine your
students' needs. Remember that you need to prepare your lessons
with all your students in mind and that your main goal should be to
five important elements in lesson planning that you need to meet their needs and offer them enabling environments to learn
consider- content, objectives, students, learning environment, and their preferred way.
availability of resources.

1. Content
4. Learning environment
Research the subject matter that you will be teaching. You should
consult the curriculum and teaching guides published by DepEd. Aside from the physical environment where the learning takes place,
Aside from books, you can also visit websites which will give you it is also important to consider the social and emotional learning
information relevant to your subject area. You should master the environment of the class. You need to make sure that you promote a
contents of your lesson before you teach it. Remember, you cannot positive environment where students are motivated and are
give what you do not have. Moreover, you would not want to teach supportive of each other's growth. The students must feel safe to
wrong contents to the students. It is easier to learn than to unlearn; express their thinking, without fear of being embarrassed because
it is difficult to take back wrong contents that have already been of mistakes or different views. Most importantly, you must create an
taught. You have a big responsibility as a teacher- master your atmosphere where students are open to learning through the
content! activities you prepared and interactions with their classmates.
5. Availability of resources Discussion
Take into consideration the instructional materials that you will be The lesson proceeds with the processing of the activity. In this part,
needing before you write your lesson plan. Is a blackboard the students, as facilitated by the teacher, talks about their
available? If not, can you improvise? Are there specific experiences during the activity. Here, the questioning skills of the
manipulatives that you need? Where can you get them? Can you teacher is important because he/she must be able to direct the
make them instead? Do you need technology resources? Have you discussion toward the targeted lesson
checked whether your devices are compatible with what are
available in school? These are some of the questions that you can
reflect on. Input
In a traditional classroom, the input is where the teacher lectures.
However, in a constructivist classroom, this is the part where the
students would share the concepts that they learned based on the
activity and the dicussion. Nevertheless, no matter which learning
theory is applied in the lesson, this is the part where the concepts
Instructional planning models for are clearly established.
mathematics in primary Deepening
There are many instructional planning models that mathematics Here the teacher asks questions that will engage the students to
educators have constructed, but the two most widely used in the critical and creative thinking. Nonroutine mathematical problems or
Philippines are the ADIDAS and the Five Es models. ADIDAS stands real-life word problems may be given. The purpose is to give the
for Activity, Discussion, input, Deepening, Activity, and Summary students the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the
concepts that they have just learned

Activity Activity

The lesson begins with an activity that will later facilitate a In mathematics, this is the part where the students verify what they
meaningful discussion about the topic of the session, in other have just learned by solving mathematical problems. Depending on
words, the activity introduces the topic to the students. This activity the heed, the students may be engaged in guided practice and/or
must be motivating and engaging to catch the attention of the individual practice. Sometimes, the teacher facilitates games in this
students part of the lesson
 Here the students explain what they have experienced in Explore.
The role of the teacher is to facilitate the discussion that should lead
Synthesis to students seeing patterns that will help them to describe the new
The last part of the ADIDAS model is the Synthesis. Here the concept in their own words
students are given the opportunity to express what they have Elaborate
learned by verbally giving a summary of what transpired in class and
what they have learned. The students may also be given a short The Elaborate part of the lesson allows students to expand their
assessment to give the teacher feedback on what they have learned understanding of the concept by applying the concept that they
have learned in solving mathematical problems

Evaluate
Another commonly used instructional planning model in our country
is the Five Es. The Five Es are Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, The last part of the Five Es model, Evaluate, lets the teacher and the
and Evaluate students evaluate their learning. Though giving short exercises are
usually the mode of evaluation, the teacher can be creative by
implementing other evaluation activities
Engage
This part activates the students' prior knowledge and engages them
into new concepts by doing short activities. The aim of this part is to
arouse the students curiosity

Explore
In this part, the students are exposed to different experiences that
will facilitate the discovery of new concepts. Explore may involve
observation exercises. simulations, or manipulations of instructional
materials. The goal here is for the students to discover something INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR
new
MATHEMATICS IN THE PRIMARY GRADES

Explain
1. Direct Teaching: The teacher explains math concepts 8. Differentiated Instruction: Adapting lessons to fit
clearly, step by step, showing students how to solve students' needs. Some students may need easier tasks,
problems. This helps students understand the basics while others need more challenging work. This way,
before they try on their own. everyone can learn at their own pace.
2. Hands-On Activities (Manipulatives): Using objects 9. Frequent Check-Ins (Formative Assessment): The
like blocks, beads, or counters to help students see and teacher regularly checks how well students are
touch what they’re learning. This makes math more understanding the lessons through quizzes, questions,
concrete and easier to understand, especially for or class activities. This helps adjust teaching to focus on
younger kids. areas where students need more help.
3. Guided and Independent Practice: After teaching a 10. Math Journals: Students write about how they solved
concept, the teacher helps students practice solving a problem or explain what they learned. Writing helps
problems together. Then, students work independently them think about their process and understand the
to make sure they can do it on their own. math better.
4. Real-Life Problem Solving: Presenting problems that 11. Class Discussions (Math Talks): Students discuss math
relate to everyday situations, like shopping or problems together and explain their thinking. This
measuring ingredients. This helps students see why helps build their confidence and improves their
math is useful and makes learning more interesting. problem-solving skills.
5. Small Group Work (Cooperative Learning): Students 12. Inquiry-Based Learning: Instead of giving all the
work in pairs or small groups to solve problems. They answers, the teacher asks questions that make
can talk about their ideas, help each other, and learn to students think and explore math ideas on their own.
work together. This encourages curiosity and deeper understanding.
6. Math Centers: Setting up different stations in the
classroom where students can practice math skills
through games, puzzles, or hands-on activities. This
keeps learning fun and interactive
7. Technology Use: Using computers, tablets, or
interactive whiteboards with math games or apps.
These tools can make learning more engaging and give
students different ways to understand math concepts.