Lesson 1

The purpose of this Notice and Wonder is for students to discuss the coordinate grid. Students have used a grid in previous grades but this is the first time they have seen the horizontal and vertical axis highlighted and numbered. The expectation is that students will focus their attention on these numbers and their significance. 

• Groups of 2
• Display the image.
• “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
• 1 minute: quiet think time

• “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
• 1 minute: partner discussion
• Share and record responses.

• “What might we use this grid for?” (It looks like we could make a graph on it. We could draw shapes or points on it.)

The purpose of this activity is for students to use the structure of the coordinate grid to communicate and draw shapes. Students work with a partner to replicate given rectangles. One partner uses precise language and describes the rectangles and the other draws them based on their partner's verbal description. Students repeat this procedure 3 times with a different set of rectangles:

• first, the rectangles are shown without a grid.
• second, the same set of rectangles are shown on a grid.
• thirdly, the rectangles are shown on a coordinate grid.

As they go through each round, students notice that a grid can be used to locate and describe a rectangle more precisely. Gridlines with numbers allow for even more precise descriptions (MP6).

This activity uses MLR2 Collect and Display. Advances: Conversing, Reading, Writing.

• Create a set of cards from the blackline master for each group of 2.

• Groups of 2
• “We are going to play a drawing game.”
• “Decide who will be partner A and who will be partner B.”
• Consider playing one round of the game with a student for all to see.

MLR2 Collect and Display

• 5 minutes: each round
• Circulate, listen for, and collect the language students use to describe the location of each figure on the coordinate grid. Listen for students who:
  • use the grid to determine the side lengths or area of the rectangle.
  • describe the general location of the rectangle.
  • use the numbers on the axes as reference points when describing the rectangle.
• Record students’ words and phrases on a visual display and update it throughout the lesson.

If students do not use the details of the grid lines and numbers to describe the location of the shape, suggest the student listens to another student describe a shape and ask, “What words did you hear that helped you picture the location of the shape?”

• “Here are some of the words and phrases you used as you worked with your partners.”
• “We may add additional words or phrases that are important to include on our display as we continue to share and discuss the activity. You could use the language on the display to explain your thinking.”
• As students share responses, update the display, by adding (or replacing) language, diagrams, or annotations.
• Ask previously selected students to explain their thinking.
• “How did the gridlines help you?” (They helped us draw the shapes more accurately.)
• “How did the numbers help you?” (We could use them to describe where the shape was located.)
• Display the image from the warm-up: “This grid, with numbers labeling the gridlines, is called a coordinate grid. We are going to learn more about the coordinate grid in the next few lessons. How would you describe the coordinate grid?” (It has vertical lines with numbers on them and horizontal lines with numbers on them. It has squares on it. There are two of each number except 0. The horizontal and vertical lines intersect.)

The purpose of this activity is for students to use informal language and the structure of the coordinate grid to describe a given shape. Some questions may be about properties of the shape rather than its location. For example, “Is the rectangle wider than it is tall?” is a question that eliminates many shapes. As the number of shapes decreases, the location will become more important and the features of the coordinate grid will play a larger role. The synthesis gives students an opportunity to consider how the numbers in the coordinate grid can be useful to accurately describe the attributes, location, and orientation of a given shape (MP6).

• Groups of 2

• 5 minutes: partner work time
• Monitor for students who:
  • reference the structure of the grid in their questions
  • reference the numbers on the horizontal and vertical axes in their questions
  • use gestures to indicate horizontal or vertical gridlines
  • use the words horizontal or vertical

If students do not reference the grid lines or numbers when asking questions, refer to the display from the first activity and ask, “Which words can you use to help you figure out which shape your partner chose?”

• Ask previously identified students to share their reasoning.
• “How do the numbers help us locate shapes on the grid?” (I could use them to describe the lines and the points. I could also use numbers to describe the location of the shape: “Go up three. Go over 5.”)
• “The gridlines with numbers on them are called axes. The coordinate grid has a horizontal axis and a vertical axis.”