Introduction to Unit Rates - Learn to be a smart shopper!

As my students enter the room they will immediately pick up and begin working on today's Opener: 

Instructional Strategy - Process for openers.  This method of working and going over the opener lends itself to allow students to construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others, which is mathematical practice 3. 

After completion of the opener, I will address the day’s Learning Targets to the students. In today’s lesson, the intended target is: I write and compare rates using unit rates. Students will jot the learning target down in their agendas.

A note about agendas: In my school's version of a student planner, there is a place to write the learning target for every lesson. 

To summarize this lesson, I am going to ask students to have a Table Discussion on the following questions: 

1. What is the purpose of a unit rate? 
2. How are unit rates useful in making comparisons? 

While tables discuss I will walk around and listen in, and then I will have tables share out.  This activity will give me a good sense of if students get the big picture of unit rates.