Lead Student Lesson Plan
L05: Introductions to Exponents
Objectives
By the end of the gathering, students will be able to:
Practice speaking English. Getting better at the skills listed below will help all
students to be more readily understood when they speak English with others.
 Answer questions. There may be some in the class who are struggling and need
some help. Using some time to help them overcome the issues is great. However,
spending too much time on questions will take away from the activities that need
group participation at the end of the lesson. If questions take too long for the
gathering, be sure to remind everyone that tutoring is instantly available
at byui.edu/mathhelp, and that they can get a personal tutor to meet with them if
they would like.
 Review the Exam. Make sure everyone knows the retake policy and how to get help.
 Use Calculators! Make sure everyone knows that after Exam 1, calculators are
intended to be used in the course. Don’t spend long on doing a lot of work by
hand. Use the calculator for arithmetic so that students can focus time and energy
on the new concepts. Encourage everyone to have their calculators at every
gathering from now on.
 Complete the math exercises. Exponents are shortcuts for repeated multiplication.
Most of this assignment can be done by using multiplication over and over again,
but the purpose of these exercises, especially the latter ones is to demonstrate
how to use exponents to make quick work of the solutions.
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Student Preparation
Students were asked to prepare for gathering by completing specific activities and/or pondering
certain questions. Please refer to the gathering instructions in this week’s unit or lesson in the
course.
Lesson Outline
Below is a sample lesson plan. Feel free to adjust it to best fit the needs of your group. However,
try to make sure that the main things are still completed.
OPENING
Announcements,
Hymn, and Prayer
(10 minutes)
Announcements
Devotional
(5 minutes)
Lead Student
Opening Hymn: Chosen by the Missionaries
Opening Prayer: By Invitation
Here is a scripture you may choose to use in your devotional. You may also
choose one of your own.
Daniel 2:44-45
GROUP ACTIVITIES
English Math
Terminology
Practice
(5-7 minutes)
Pairs or Small Groups
As the lead student, you will pair up or divide the students into small
groups of no more than three people.
In this activity, the students will practice saying the following numbers with
their pairs or small groups.
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Vocabulary
Practice:
Prepare words and
definitions before
class.
Bring tape or pins.
(15-20 minutes)
5 3/4
20/5
1,984.25
$189.67
79
43
82
Whole Class
In this activity, students will match words with definitions and then create
sentences with those words.
Before class:
1. Print the vocabulary list before class.
2. Choose enough vocabulary words for half of the number of students in
the class.
3. Write each of the selected vocabulary words on different smaller pieces
of paper or on cards. Write the definitions of the words on separate pieces
of paper.
During class:
4. Tape a word or a definition to the front of each person in the room.
5. The students will go around the room and look for the person with their
matching word or definition.
6. When everyone has found their match, they must create a sentence
using that vocabulary word.
7. When all the students have completed their sentences, they will write
the sentences on the board for everyone to see.
8. Each pair will share their sentences with the rest of the class.
9. Students will help each other if anything should be changed in the
sentences to make sure they are correct.
Pronunciation
Practice
(5-7 minutes)
Pairs or Small Groups
In pairs or groups of no more than three, you will practice and help each
other with the “th” sounds present at the beginning, middle, and end of
words. Note that not all of these “th” sounds are the same. Some are
voiced and some are voiceless. When you place your fingers on your
throat, you will feel the vibrations of voiced “th” sounds, but you will not
feel the vibration for voiceless “th” sounds. For additional help with
pronunciation of these and other sounds, see the following page:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html
1.
With your partner or group, practice reading the following sentences:
Think about this thing, that thing, and those things.
There are thirteen thin women there.
These three teeth hurt in my mouth.
They went with their mother to the theater.
2. Each person should read the first sentence. When your partner is or
partners are reading, listen carefully to their pronunciation and give them
feedback on their pronunciation.
Exam and
Discussion
(10-12 minutes)
Whole Class
Discuss the math exam taken last week. Ask the students the following
questions:
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Were they happy with their scores?
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Math Exercise 2.1
part A
(5-10 minutes)
Has everyone been able to access the tutors
at www.byui.edu/mathhelp?
Does everyone know how to go about doing a retake if they want
to?

Do they want to have a group study session together for the next
exam?
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What do they feel they can do to improve their scores on the next
exam?
Whole Class
Review this week’s Math Exercise 2.1 Part A homework problems. If there
are questions about the assignments, work out a few of the most difficult
problems together as a whole group or in small groups of 3-4 people.
Either A: Ask for a volunteer who understands the difficult problems and
can explain how to complete the problem. (It may help to remind people
that being able to explain something to someone else is a great way to
reinforce one’s own learning. Try to include everyone.)
Or B: In small groups, work through one or two of each type of problem in
the homework, letting each group decide which problems they want to
work through together.
Math Exercise 2.1
Part B
(25-30 minutes)
Small Groups
Work through the problems in Math Exercise 2.1 Part B; rotate the
responsibility to explain how to do each problem through the group. If a
student doesn’t know how to do a problem when it is their turn, they
should explain as much as possible and then the rest of the group should
help finish the problem. Then, the student should explain how to solve the
problem back to the group.
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#1-13: should be quick with calculators. Zip right through them, but
make sure that everyone knows how to punch them in their
calculators.
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#14, 15: Notice that each question sets up the answer to be a
certain power of 2. Some students will do it the long way by
doubling, doubling, and doubling some more. Point out that
exponents are exactly the tool for doing this problem. #14 can be
obtained by 2 14, and #15 can be found by 2 30.
#16, 17: Calculator isn’t very helpful on these.
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#18-20: These should be set up by hand to make sure that you are
multiplying and dividing the right numbers, but use the calculators
to do the computations.
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#21-29: Zip through and have fun using the calculators.
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#30, 31: The tables are filled out by repeated multiplication by the
interest rate and then adding it on to the previous balance. Should
be quick with a calculator. Don’t worry if rounding causes a
difference of a cent or two from the given solutions after a couple
of rows.
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#32: Let them test it out that multiplying by 1.05 is the same as
multiplying by .05 and then adding it back on to the original
amount.
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#33-35: The grand finale of how cool exponents can be. Students
should get a little bored with filling out the whole table for the
previous two problems. Exponents are awesome. #33 can be found
by 100*(1.07)12 and #34 can be found by 100*(1.07)22. No big table
was needed. Make sure that everyone can then explain #35 with
that reasoning.
Encourage them to get with tutors if it is still unclear.
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CLOSING
Conclusion
Whole Class
(2 minutes)
As appropriate, bear your testimony as it pertains to this lesson, this
course, or your experiences with the math or personal finance concepts
you have learned.
Prayer
(2 minutes)
Closing Prayer: By Invitation
Note
Please download and print a copy of these instructions to use as a reference during Thursday's
Pathway Gathering.