Perfect Patterns

At a Glance

Grades:	4
Subject:	Math
Topic:	Operations and Algebraic Thinking; Generate and Analyze Patterns
Lesson Length:	30 - 40 mins

Standards / Framework:

Brief Description

What will students learn in this activity?

Students will create and explain their own number patterns and rules.

Know Before You Start

What should students know before this activity?

Students should have experience identifying and following rules for patterns.

Hook

How can teachers introduce this lesson?

Read and discuss the sample comic.
- Do you notice a pattern?
- Can you determine the rule for the pattern?
- Discuss how you determined the rule.
- What would the next two numbers in the pattern be?

Activity

What will students do?

Have students choose a rule to follow when creating a number pattern.
Have students start with a number of their choice and follow their rule to generate the next five numbers in the pattern on a piece of scrap paper.
Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create their own five-panel comic introducing a pattern and a rule. The characters in the comic should explain how the rule works.

Closure

How can teachers wrap up the lesson?

Have students share their comics with a partner.
Partners will check each other’s work to make sure their rules were followed correctly.

Differentiation

How can teachers differentiate this activity?

Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
Provide a pattern rule for students as needed.
Provide sentence frames as needed.
Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.

Related Resources:

Comic to print or display: Comic.

Related Content:

Assign “Perfect Patterns”