5E Lesson Plan in Mathematics
5E approach to Constructivist Learning
The 5 E Approach
This approach was introduced by Roger Bybee, of The Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS). The 5 Es are Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate.
- Engage: This stage assess the previous knowledge of the learner and helps them become engaged in a new concept through the use of short activities that promote curiosity and elicit prior knowledge. The aim is to organize students’ thinking toward the learning outcomes of the current activities.
- Explore: Expose the students to a variety of experiences at this stage. These experiences may involve observations of events or objects, manipulations of materials, work with simulations, examinations of representations, viewing a short video, or reading. These experiences provide a common basis for all students that the teacher can use to assist them in identifying and developing concepts and skills.
- Explain:Here students are provided with opportunity to explain their understanding of their experiences from the explore phase. The questions and discussion lead students to patterns, regularities, and/or similarities and prompt them to describe concepts or skills in their own words.
- Elaborate:The next phase challenges students to extend their understandings or skills and/or to practice them. Through new experiences at this time, students develop deeper understanding, an extended conceptual framework, and improved skills. Some of the tasks, such as reading an article, may be done as homework and discussed during the following class period.
- Evaluate:
The final phase of the instructional model encourages students to assess their understanding and abilities and provides opportunity for the teacher to evaluate student progress toward achieving the learning objectives for the activity. The tasks may involve writing summaries, applying concepts and skills to novel situations, constructing a concept map, or taking a quiz.
Subject: Geometry Class: IX
Topic: Length of segment parallel to either X or Y axis.
Technique: 5 E Model
| ENGAGE | Show pieces of straws to the class and ask them how they can find the length of the same. Obviously they will want to use a measuring scale. Ask them for methods to find the length of a straw without using a measuring scale. Show them different types of paper as plain paper, graph paper, craft paper and see if the length of the straws can be measured. Apparently a graph paper comes in handy. That is because there is a relationship between the co-ordinates of points and the length of the segment determined by two such points. Here the teacher announces that the class is going to discover this relationship to find the length of a segment. |
| EXPLORE | Have points and their co-ordinates put up on the chalkboard as follows:
Group I: (i)A(3, 6) B(5,6) (ii)T(5, 8) V(1,8) Group II: (i)X(7, 14) Y(7,10) (ii)M(3,2) N(3,8) Is their any common characteristic of each group? Where would the pair D(8, 8) and E(8,4) go? Students are encouraged to plot one pair on their graph papers. All students of group I compare their segments and derive one common property. The same is done by Group II. Can the length of the segment be found out? Is there a relationship between the co-ordinates of the endpoints and the length of the segment? |
| EXPLAIN | The students are encouraged to explain this relationship in their own words. On basis of their work they devise a formula to find the length of the segment parallel to X axis. Similarly find the length of the segment parallel to y axis. |
| ELABORATE | Where will this formula be useful? Here the teacher can probe for an answer |
| EVALUATE | Give each student a card with co-ordinates of a point. Students pair up and try to find the length of the segment formed. Be sure that the co-ordinates are such that the segment formed must be parallel to one of the two axes. Pair up with a different student and now find the length of the new segment. |
The students devise the formula on their own. They get adequate practice through the game. The teacher only facilitates through use of appropriate questions.
