Construction Communications: Written and Math

LEARN – DAY 19
Construction Foundation Course

Week Four: Day 19 (Thursday)
Content for the day
• Hour 1: Communications in construction
• Hour 2: Construction math
• Hour 3: Safety/PPE
• Hour 4: Safety/PPE

Materials for the day - 1
• Memo chart paper - Purpose of your memo:
1. To state that your pay check was 2.5 hours short
2. To compliment a worker in the hardware store for his excellent
service and attention to detail
3. To recommend a certain brand of circular saw to an
acquaintance
• Memo/email format
• Sample persuasive memo
• Sample email
• Persuasive memo rubric
(continued on next slide)

Materials for the day - 2
(continued from previous slide)
• Email rubric
• Resource 5.26 - Name That PPT
• Hard hat for each student
• Safety glasses for each student
• 5 half mask respirators
• Resource 4.14 - Steps in Adding, Converting, and Simplifying
Fractions
• Resource 4.15 – Personal Protective Equipment
• Resource 4.19 - Fraction Circles

First and Second Hours (7:30 – 9:30) - 1
• Check-in: Shake hands. Remind students: binders, seating.
Start class.
• Review the day: Review the day’s activities from the list on the
board or chart paper.
• Binder check: This can be done at any time during the day.

Explain that, over the next several days, students will be
learning about professional communications—writing, speaking,
and listening. Today, the focus is on persuasive memos.
10 min. Introduction to memos: Explain that students will
periodically write memos in their construction careers; these
memos might explain a misunderstanding about a time card,
provide step-by-step directions, or analyze why something went
wrong. It’s essential that these communications be very clear.
Explain that you’ll first look at memo format. Pass out hard
copy of the memo and email format and sample memo. Cover
each part of the memo template (not the email) by explaining
what it does and then finding it on the sample. Have students
make out the vocabulary card for ―memo format.‖
Construction Communications: Written

20 min. Continue the discussion. Explain that there are many
different types of memos. The format for all is the same, but the
organization of the content will differ significantly. The format
for the sample is persuasive. For persuasive, we establish
exactly our position (the purpose) and then persuade the reader
to agree with us by citing valid reasons, facts, expert opinions,
or other data. Have students make out the vocabulary card for
―persuasive memo.‖
Tell students that, in the sample, the purpose is very clear. Have
them look through the sample memo and find it. Wait Time.
Call on a student. Answer: ―To request a 10-day vacation in the
first two weeks of June.‖

Ask, ―What are the 2 logical reasons Keith uses to persuade his
boss to grant his request?‖ Wait Time. Call on a student.
Answer: (1) his cousin’s graduation, and (2) his father’s 50th
birthday. Are these primarily rational or emotional reasons?
Wait Time. Call on a student. Emotional.
Explain that the logic you use to prove your point can be
rational, that is, fact- based or it can be emotional, as Keith’s
argument is by appealing to our sense of family. Tell students
they’re going to work on their logic—rational and emotional—to
support their purpose.
So here’s one purpose for a memo: to complain about a battery-
operated drill that you bought two weeks ago. In your Work
Teams, take 30 seconds to come up with 2 reasons why you are
unhappy with the drill.

After 30 seconds, call on a Team and write their responses on the
board. Ask if any other Team had something different. Keep asking
until you have all the different responses Teams came up with. Then go
through the list to cross out any that are not logical reasons why
someone might be complaining about a drill. For example, if your list
includes the following:
• The batteries take a full day to charge.
• The chuck won’t take two of the drills.
• This is not the best brand.
• The reverse switch doesn’t work.
You would cross out the 3rd item as illogical. You got the brand you
ordered; it doesn’t matter if it wasn’t the best brand.

Do a few more examples. Put up the memo chart paper: Purpose of
your memo:
1. To complain about the poor service you received in the hardware
store
2. To compliment a worker in the hardware store for his excellent
service and attention to detail
3. To recommend a certain brand of circular saw to an
acquaintance
Tell the students, ―Here are purposes for 3 different memos. Your Work
Team has 30 seconds to come up with 3 reasons for #1. Go.‖
After 30 seconds, call on one Team. Check responses from others for
logic like you did before. Ask which reasons are rational and which, if
any, are emotional. Repeat for purposes 2 and 3.
.

20 min. Now let’s say that we want to write this memo as an
email. Here the format is a little different. Have students refer to
memo/email format page while you pass out the sample email
and email rubric. Have make out a vocabulary card for ―email
format‖ while you explain each part using the sample email.
Have students choose one of the three memos to write as an
email in pair-share partnerships.
10 min. Have partnerships trade emails and rate according to
the rubric. Ask 2 partnerships with highly rated emails to read
theirs aloud while the class informally rates them to find areas
that could be improved.
Stretch Break

60 min. Fractions. Let students know that both the academic
and technical skills taught in Construction Trades are primarily
about learning and following the steps in a process. The process
can be a mathematical procedure like using the information that
we gather from our measurements to design a wall; or following
steps to actually frame a wall. Success in the trade is tied to our
ability to ask questions when we do not understand any step in
a process and to adjust what we’re doing based on the answer.
We call this ―asking for clarification ― which means using clear
questions to ask a knowledgeable person to explain what we do
not understand. Today we’re going to use adding, converting
and simplifying fractions to practice following steps in a process.
Construction Math

Hand out Resource 4.14 - Steps in Adding, Converting, and
Simplifying Fractions. Have students read the steps in adding,
converting and simplifying fractions. Tell students that you want them
follow along as you model these steps throughout today’s lesson. While
students are reading write the following vocabulary terms and
definitions on a flip chart or the white board and have students prepare
vocabulary cards for:
• Data: Numerical information used in a
calculation
• Perimeter: The distance around a two dimension
shape like the outside dimensions of a floor.
• Proper Fraction: A fraction where the numerator
(top number) is less than the denominator
(bottom number).
(Continued on next slide)

• Mixed Number: A whole number and a proper
fraction or decimal combined.
• Denominator: The expression written below the
line in a common fraction that indicates the
number of parts into which one whole is divided.
• Numerator: The expression written above the line
in a common fraction to indicate the number of
parts of the whole.
• Improper Fraction: A fraction that has a top
number larger than (or equal to) the bottom
number
Remind students that being able to read the tape measure accurately is
not enough. They also need to know what to do with the data, such as
they may need to add up the measures of the walls of a room in order
to find its perimeter? Using measurement data almost always means
dealing with whole numbers like 2, proper fractions like 3/5, and mixed
numbers like 2-3/5.

Adding fractions with the same denominators. Pass out Resource 4.19 -
Fraction Circles. Write the following equations on the board
¼ + ¾ = _____
1/3 + 1/3 =
2/5 + 3/5 =
1/6 + 1/6 =
3/7 + 3/7 =
5/8 + 2/8 =
2/9 + 5/9 =
3/10 + 4/10 =
5/11 + 4/11 =
9/12 + 2/12 =

Use Resource 4.19 - Fraction Circles handout to show students
how to add the first problem by first looking at the circle with
the number given in the denominator of the equation and then
counting the total of the numbers given in the numerator. Have
students work independently to solve the remaining problems.
Call on individuals for answers and to confirm correctness.
Ask students how to use the following equation that you write
on the white board:
¾ + ¾ = ______
Call on a student for the answer and explain that this is an
improper fraction. Students will need to change it to a mixed
number to be able to use it to determine a measurement.
Remind them that they can divide the denominator into the
numerator, which gives them 1 2/4. That can still be reduced to
1 ½.

Practice and model a few more equations with
common denominators. Modeling the steps listed in
Resource 4.14 - Steps in Adding, Converting and
Simplifying Fractions, reminding students to follow
along and make notes on their Resource. Practice
problems should use 2, 4, 8, and 16 in the
denominator to engage students with the
measurement context. Don’t go on to the next step
until you feel that most students are comfortable with
this concept.
Next write this equation:
½ + ¾ = _______

Ask students how to solve this one. (Wait time.)
Remind them that sometimes they need to change
the form of a fraction so it can be added, and that’s
another reason why knowing what the ―other‖ names
of the lines on a tape measure is important. ½ is also
2/4, 4/8, and 8/16 – by knowing that, they can
easily add it to any other number on the tape
measure. Use Resource 4.14 - Steps in Adding,
Converting and Simplifying Fractions to ―think aloud‖
as you model each step in adding fractions with
different denominators.

Return to your example of the importance of knowing
the ―other‖ names of lines on a tape measure and
convert ½ to 2/4 on the board and write the answer
(5/4, or 1 ¼). This step in the activity also needs
some on-the-whiteboard and at-the-seat practice.
Note students who may be struggling throughout this
math activity. Ask them to use Resource 4.14 to
identify which step in which process requires
clarification. Team students who have mastered the
processes with students who require further
clarification. If required, talk with the Academic
instructors to request additional guidance and
practice around specific steps in the process.
.

Remind students that the basic building block of math is addition, and
that subtraction is the opposite of addition. With that in mind, write
these equations on the board:
¾ - ¼ = ______
½ - ¼ = _______
Do these one at a time, returning back to the principles they just
reviewed about adding fractions with common and different
denominators. If the same rules for addition apply, students know that
in the first equation the denominators are the same and so 3 – 1 = 2,
2/4 can be reduced and the answer is ½. In the second example, they
will need to change ½ to 2/4 so denominators are the same, 2 – 1 = 1
and the answer is ¼. To reduce a fraction to its lowest terms, that is
simplify a fraction the numerator and the denominator must be divided
by the same nonzero whole number.

Practice and Application. Using the whiteboard or a flipchart,
write up four sections of 5 problems each for students to
practice on – addition and subtraction with common
denominators, and addition and subtraction with different
denominators (Generate your own and, once again, try to use 2,
4, 8, and 16 in the denominator to engage students with the
measurement context.). Label the lists A, B, C, and D. Divide
students into work teams of 4-5 and assign one work team to
each list. Their tasks are to copy the problems from the list
down in their notebooks, work together to solve them and check
them, and then circle or note any parts that they still have
questions about or do not understand. Ask them to use
Resource 4.14 to identify which step in which process requires
clarification

Give students about 8 minutes with the first list, then move
them all on to the next list for 8 minutes and so on. Tell
students that you recognize that they might not finish all the
problems, but they need to be sure to copy all the problems
down. They can finish them for homework.
At the end of the four rotations, solicit questions from students.
If questions relate to specific steps in the process of adding,
converting or simplifying fractions, encourage students to use
Resource 4.14 - Steps in Adding, Converting, and Simplifying
Fractions to frame the question. Remind students that like all
things, math skills come through practice.
Snack Break (9:30-9:40)

Third and Fourth Hours (9:40 – 11:30) - 1
10 min. Assign each group the responsibility for teaching the
whole class one of the following items, including vocabulary
terms, on pp. 204-209. Each group will have 3 minutes for their
teaching time.
1. Scaffolds and dismantling scaffolds
• Scaffold
• Scaffold planks
• Pipe scaffolding
2. Scaffold stability and scaffold safety
• Scaffold stability ratio
(Continued on next
slide)
Safety/PPE

3. Brackets and Trestles
• Brackets
• Trestle
4. Pump jacks and Lifelines
• Pump jack
• Lifeline
15 min. Presentations by each group. Students take
notes and fill out vocabulary cards

5 min. Explain the game, ―Name That…‖ (See Appendix A and
Resource 5.26). Teams line up facing you and the screen, so you
have 5 lines like you did in First Down. You put up the slide and
say one of the following commands:
• Name
• Care
• Use
The person who answers correctly first gets the point for their
Team. Ties get fractional points (another math opportunity!)
The person who answers correctly first gets the point for their
Team. Ties get fractional points (another math opportunity!)
Have pair-share partnerships practice vocabulary cards from
today.
20 min. Have Teams practice vocabulary cards for entire week so
far.
15 min. Play ―Name That…‖ Use Resource 5.26 - Name That…‖ PPT.
(Doubles as stretch break)

5 min. Read Personal Protective Equipment on p. 94. Have
students make a vocabulary card for
• ANSI
10 min. Have Teams read Hearing Protection, p. 94 and take
notes. Provide a mini-lecture on earplugs and maximum noise
levels; see Resource 4.15 – Personal Protective Equipment. Use
the table to impress on students how quickly hearing can be
damaged by exposure to construction site sounds. Have
students make vocabulary cards for
• Ear protectors/earmuffs
• Earplugs

10 min. Have Teams read the section on Head Protection and
Eye Protection. Provide additional information from Instructor
Resource D. Check student notes for the following: when is eye
protection required, what are the special requirements for
welders, what are the general precautions for eye care. Have
students make vocabulary cards for
• Hard hat
• Safety glasses
• Safety goggles
• Face shield
Have pair-share partners put on hard hats and safety glasses
and goggles while checking for correct placement.

10 min. Give a mini-lecture from the information in Resource
4.15 on Respiratory Protection while students take notes. Check
notes for 4 kinds of respirators, employer requirements,
employee requirements, seal check for full facepiece, inspecting
respirators, maintaining respirators. Have teams make
vocabulary cards for
• Self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA)
• Full facepiece mask
• Half mask
Give Teams each a half-mask respirator; have each person try
on the respirator, making sure there is a good seal.

10 min. Give a mini-lecture from the information in Resource 4.15 on hand,
leg, foot, and skin protection. Check notes for use of gloves, guidelines for
leg protection, ANSI-approved shoes (steel sole, safety toe, heavy leather),
and 2 skin problems. Have students make vocabulary cards for
• Work gloves
• Safety shoes
Add the following vocabulary cards, noting that the last two are not
technically PPE but are personal equipment items that allow construction
workers to maximize efficiency:
• Back support belt
• Knee pads
• Tool pouch/belt
• Carpenter’s pencil
Reflection.
Out the door:Model Notes,Reflection, binders on the shelf, shake hands.

AFTER HOURS - 1
Homework: Give each Work Team the following assignmen
Mr. Bueno really appreciated the stories you provided. His 7th graders have
been much more attentive to safety issues since they read your work.
He has now requested that you make a short presentation to his classes. He
would like there to be two parts to the 4 minute presentation:
1. A PPT of 7 slides on OSHA. The first would be an introduction and the
last a summary. The 5 slides in the middle would feature the 3 main
things employers must do and the 2 main things employees must do
under OSHA.
2. A skit featuring an OSHA inspection where there are 2 employees
involved, one of whom is clearly in violation of occupational safety
standards in his PPE use, his clothes, and his actions and the other of
whom is a model of occupational safety standards. The skit should have
an appropriate ending.

AFTER HOURS - 2
The presentation will be assessed by the rubric below.
Element Great job Adequate Below standard
Appeal to target audience 7th graders will love this,
and it will make them
understand the importance
of OSHA and safety
Has appeal for 7th graders
but won’t necessarily make
them more knowledgeable
about OSHA or safety
Has little appeal for 7th
graders; very little chance
that it will make them any
more knowledgeable
Accuracy of information
about OSHA
about OSHA
Information used is mostly
accurate, with 1 or 2
exceptions
accurate, but there are
more than 2 major errors
about safety measure(s)
Information used in the skit
is totally
accurate, with 1 or 2
exceptions
accurate, but there are
more than 2 major errors
Compliance with
assignment
PPT is 7 slides, 5 focusing
on employer and employee
obligations; skit provides
good/bad models and
logical conclusion;
presentation is within 30
seconds of 4 min
PPT is 7 slides, 5 focusing
on employer and employee
obligations; skit provides
good/bad models and
logical conclusion;
presentation is within 1
minute of 4 min
PPT is incorrect OR skit is
incorrect OR total length is
more than 1 minute off of 4
minutes
• Open Computer Lab

END
If you continue to click forward, you will see links to
presentations of similar content available through
slideshare.com
Content prepared for the National Office of Job Corps through Contract No. DOLJ111A21695
Job Corps Professional Development Support - KUCRL

Construction Communications: Written and Math

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Andere mochten auch

Andere mochten auch (8)

Ähnlich wie Construction Communications: Written and Math

Ähnlich wie Construction Communications: Written and Math (20)

Mehr von seejaynerun

Mehr von seejaynerun (13)

Kürzlich hochgeladen

Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)

Construction Communications: Written and Math