Math
We need how many??
Wouldn’t it be cool to have a bracelet like this to wear on Richards Spirit Mondays? First graders in Room 123 and Mrs. Bornheimer’s room thought so! But before they could make the bracelets, they had to figure out how many beads to order for all the students in both classes. It took some thinking–and rethinking–but students did it!
This challenge provided students with a real-life context in which to develop a critical math concept: unitizing. Unitizing is the understanding that objects can be grouped into sets of 10; these groups can then be thought of as 10 ones or 1 ten. This understanding is the basis for our place value system. Special thanks to the Richards PTO for funding this project!
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So, show me…
Mathematicians in Room 123 are always eager to share their thinking! That poses some problems, though. If students share their thinking one at a time to the whole group, only a few students can do so during a math lesson. If students work in small groups, it is difficult for me to get to every group so that I can hear and assess student learning.
Fortunately, we can use our iPads to solve those problems. When students work in small groups, they often use an app called Show Me to record both their math work and math talk about the work. I can circulate and assist groups as necessary, and then listen to all their recordings later in the day. Take a look:
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Exploring equality
To become fluent readers, students must learn to read both words and punctuation. To become flexible math thinkers, they must learn to understand both numbers and math symbols.
Initially, young mathematicians often interpret the equals sign as a signal meaning “the answer comes next.” To help them understand that the equals sign more accurately means “is the same as,” students in Room 123 are often challenged to evaluate more complex equations.
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Bull’s-eye!
Having clear learning targets–objectives that specify what students need to know and be able to do–enables teachers to provide focused and effective instruction. Further, explicitly sharing these targets with students helps them become more engaged in their own learning. This is particularly true when students are asked to reflect on their progress toward meeting those objectives.
Above you can see the learning targets for our current unit of study in math. Watch as students document their mastery of Step 1 objectives!
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Book Order Project II
Students in Room 123 have grown as learners since the first round of the Book Order Project! Take a look to see how they applied new skills and strategies during the second round of this project.
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Meeting of the minds
Talk isn’t cheap in Room 123. In fact, it’s very valuable! During math talk, young learners communicate, clarify, and extend their understanding of key math concepts.
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Thinking like mathematicians
To become proficient readers, young learners must develop both decoding skills and comprehension strategies. To become proficient mathematicians, they must develop both computational fluency and key mathematical practices.
With our book order project, students in Room 123 are doing just that! Working in small groups, students were challenged to select books for our classroom library; the total cost could be no more than $20. Then they made and presented their choices to their classmates. Finally, they voted on which group of books to order. Take a look at their work and the mathematical processes involved:
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Voting results will be posted next week!
Readers and books….and math?
Since the beginning of the school year, students in Room 123 have been collecting data about their preferences as readers as well as about the size of our classroom library. How will they use this information? Watch for updates as students use this data as part of a special project!
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