We’re continuing our no-stress classroom observation tips series with tried and true math teacher observation lessons for your next evaluation. If you haven’t read the first post yet, you can find general classroom observation success tips to use all year long in this post. Now, we’re going to jump into math lessons to use during your classroom observations for the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. These are all lessons that I have personally used during my teacher observations/evaluations!

Math Teacher Observation Lesson Tips: Cover the Basics

To start, be sure you have some solid math routines set up ahead of time. That way you can immediately dig into the content and show off those amazing time management, pacing, and classroom management skills. My math lessons all year long, every single day, start with mental math tasks and math skill of the day. You can visit this blog post to learn more about the types of mental math task cards and activities I use.

These mental math task cards are very easy to prepare and can be used year after year with minimal effort! 

After our mental math warmup, I always include problem-solving practice. Continental Mathematics League is my choice for gifted and talented students. I use the released items from CML, and we complete 2-3 together each day, depending on time. This really allows students to show off their problem-solving strategies and think critically. It’s totally optional, but it’s a great bonus if you decide to participate in the meets three times per year!

Math Word Problem of the Day is perfect for your whole class. Each grade level set provides you with 25 unique single and multi-step word problems for every month of the year. That’s 300 word problems in all! Every day includes a heavy emphasis on problem-solving skills and giving students the opportunity to write about math.

You also need to make sure you have other basics covered for your math block– how will students rotate centers? What are the expectations for manipulatives? You can visit these posts to learn more about setting your students up for success!

• How to Plan Math Workshop
• Math Tips to Start the Year Strong

Math Teacher Observation Lessons: Beginning of the Year

If you’re being observed at the beginning of the year, my first choice is to teach a lesson on error analysis and precise math vocabulary. This combination is the perfect way to show students the importance of finding their math errors and how to explain the errors using appropriate math vocabulary.

First, I make sure to set expectations for using precise math vocabulary. This post has my Complete Guide to Teaching Math Vocabulary with several suggested lessons. If your observation is really early in the year, your principal might observe your initial lesson on formal vs. informal math talk.

After that, we really dig into error analysis, which we’ll use to deeply understand each math concept and standard we’ll cover all year long. If you’re new to using error analysis, read to this post for tips to increase your students’ understanding of math concepts through error analysis. 

Your first classroom observation might be teaching students how to complete error analysis tasks as a whole group. You can walk through the steps and discuss appropriate math vocabulary to use. I teach students the importance of walking through the problem step-by-step.  Students need to figure out the difference between basic computational mistakes or even bigger, more significant conceptual mistakes. Creating this error analysis anchor chart is a great lesson!

This FREE addition error analysis is a good place to start, no matter the grade level. I show them the process of walking through the problem and how best to complete an error analysis task.

If your principal is observing small groups, you can show how you differentiate using error analysis. For students who need extra support, we complete error analysis in small groups. We go through the concept step-by-step until students can identify what the error is. This helps students deeply understand their errors and helps prevent them from making the same error in the future. 

On-level students who need enrichment can complete the same tasks in a center or with a partner. For gifted and talented students, error analysis can be used as an assessment.

This error analysis bundle will provide you with an error analysis starter kit and all the practice sets you need through the year. 

Place Value

A place value lesson is another great choice for an observation lesson at the beginning of the year. This place value anchor chart is always a hit with its interactive sticky notes!

Then use pattern blocks for partner practice. You can download the free place value printable here.

Candy Rush is the perfect small-group place value activity because it’s a more abstract way to practice. Each student gets a bag of candy to find the value of their bag of candy (you can use actual candy or the included printable bags of candy). Students compile their information into a chart and answer questions about all of their candy values. This solidifies students’ understanding of the difference between PLACE and VALUE because they see that even though one student has 29 pieces of candy, they may have the lowest value because of the types of candy they had.

You can learn more about teaching place value in this post. 

Math Teacher Observation Lessons: Middle of the Year

Once you reach the middle of the year, you’ll likely display your mastery of the same procedures and routines your principal observed at the beginning of the year. Then, you’ll show how you have gone deeper into your math concepts. This time of year, we’re usually working on fractions, so here are two engaging fracton lessons that are always a hit.

Converting Fractions and Decimals

Converting fractions and decimals is a big task. We typically start with coins and then move into additional practice. I love using project-based learning whenever possible, so this If the Word Were a Village (Amazon affiliate link) book project is perfect! You can visit this post to get the complete lesson, differentiation options, and free printables you’ll need! I have used this same lesson THREE times with three different principals and received rave reviews each time!

Equivalent Fraction Project

This Recipe for Disaster project is another engaging math observation lesson with a sweet reward. We start with a debate about what it means to divide items into fractions (I got this idea from Meg over at The Teacher Studio).  Note: Due to the nature of debates, this lesson isn’t super predictable. HOWEVER, it shows inquiry, collaboration, and dialogue… all super important skills! I did it one year, and even though it made me a bit anxious to go TOTALLY off-script, it was AMAZING.

Then, we dive into the recipes. This project includes five REAL recipes with a twist… students use equivalent fractions to fix the recipes and decipher the instructions. It’s a GREAT way to provide authentic practice with equivalent fractions and showcase your students’ critical-thinking skills. 

We do all of the math during the first lesson while being observed. Then, students make the trail mix the next day.

Math Teacher Observation Lessons: End of the Year

The end of the year can be a tricky time for classroom observations, so it’s extra important to ramp up your engagement. This perimeter and area lesson will do just that! You’ll read aloud a funny book about a big spaghetti dinner with too many people and not enough chairs. The characters try several different arrangements in the hilarious story, and all along the way, we chart the seating arrangements and compare the area and perimeter. You can visit this post to learn more!

Volume Lesson

If you’re a fifth-grade teacher, these hands-on volume activities are always a hit! Teaching volume is one of my absolute favorite math units, but this standard comes later in the year when fatigue is starting to set in. That means the more hands-on, inquiry-based volume activities you can incorporate, the better! Head to this post for anchor chart inspiration and a variety of hands-on volume centers that are sure to be a hit for an end-of-the-year observation.

More Classroom Teacher Tips

I’ll share another classroom observation tips post in a few weeks, this time all about rocking your next literacy observation. Until then, you can read these posts for even more general classroom success tips!