Aug 29 2012
Today we created bead strings to help us solve our Egg Problem! We are still talking about the concept of half and what that looks like. We found that the bead string is a very useful tool in halfing! (We also found that pretending to karate chop an even number in half is a pretty effective tool, too! 🙂 ) I wonder if we will discover any other tools that help us half as efficiently…
Aug 28 2012
This week, we have been in charge of taking care of the chickens- we’re the chicken stewards! Today, we were able to collect 3 eggs from the “girls”. When we came inside for math workshop, we began an impromptu conversation about what to do with the eggs we collected. Messi suggested baking a cake. Regan suggested giving them to Miss Judy, our cafeteria lady. Some friends liked the idea of giving them to Miss Judy but weren’t sure if they wanted to give them all away. We talked about how it might feel good to give to someone else. Regan mentioned that Miss Judy may need all of the eggs to make pancakes for breakfast. Another friend, J’Den, suggested something else.
How about we give her half? J’Den
What is half? Mrs. Argus
Like not all of them, but some. Half! J’Den
If you go, one for me, one for you, one for me, one for you, its half! Messi
But how do we know what half is? We only have three right now. We may get 10 by the end of the week, what would half be? Mrs. Argus
I have an idea, we should do this as like a math workshop problem. J’Den
Going off of J’Den’s suggestion, we grabbed a manipulative (the bears) and closed our eyes and pretended they were eggs. I laid out 6 bears in two rows, 3 and 3. We talked about how half would be one of the rows. We then laid out 8 bears and talked about how one row of 4 would be half. We practiced spotting half in 10 bears. The kids were then challenged with another question…
But what if we only get 9 eggs this week? Mrs. Argus
You give Miss Judy half! See, these for us, these for her… uh oh… J’Den
Its not fair! Beatrice
It doesn’t work. We should probably give Miss Judy more then us. J’Den
When you can’t divide it fairly, its an odd. Fairly is an even. Mrs. Argus
Odds and evens! Odds and evens! Lucas
We then practiced noticing when numbers could be divided fairly, and when they couldn’t, and described them as either odds or evens.
J’Den talks about odds and evens with the egg problem.
Mr. Henderson and I also noticed a new interest in our classroom- dinosaurs! Throughout last week, friends were making dinosaur puppets and using a few small plastic dinosaurs to tell stories during story workshop. We noticed a lot of conversation circulating around this idea too. Today, we put out pictures of dinosaur bones with some clay and asked the kids to explore the clay. Many friends were inspired to create parts of dinosaurs and even eggs! Addie shared a really neat connection during the day as well- both chickens and dinosaurs lay eggs! I wonder if we will find any other connections…
Aug 13 2012
Wow what a great day we had! I wanted to share a little bit about Math Workshop today and how it will work in the future. Today during Math Workshop, we looked at a few addition story problems that I had projected up on the big screen. We read them as a class and talked about what exactly they meant. Friends took turns modeling the stories with three different manipulatives they were invited to use. After we practiced a few together, I challenged the kids to try it on their own. I read another story to them from the screen and they were invited to find a manipulative that they were comfortable working with. By their own choosing, the kids sat in little groups together around their selected material and many talked through their problems and thinking with one another. It was really neat to watch this happen naturally. Many friends even chose to work with the number set, a higher set of numbers that can be inserted into the problem. Eventually, I will be adding several number sets to choose from and we will discuss what a “Just Right” number set may be for each friend. During Math Workshop, the kids will always be encouraged to share their thinking with one another. It helps them think through their own process and also may help come to an understanding they did not have before. Listening and supporting one another during workshops also help build our classroom community. We plan on problem solving like this for the rest of the week. Gradually, friends will begin to have the problem typed in their math notebook and will be invited to show their thinking in their notebook after using manipulatives (or use the notebook as a manipulative by drawing pictures).
Aug 08 2012
I wanted to share something new that we have in our classroom this year- The Cool Down Spot. This is a place where friends can go if they are feeling angry or upset and would like some time to calm down. I may ask friends to go there from time to time or they may choose to go there themselves. The Cool Down Spot is a tool we will use in our classroom throughout the year to self regulate our emotions and learn coping skills. This week, we talked about why have a spot like this and what we may need to do when we are there. We made a list of three options for when we are at The Cool Down Spot. 1. Take deep breaths. 2. Shake the ball. 3. Read a book. The kids have enjoyed trying out the options this week (and are doing so when not upset) so they will know what to do should they need it.
Messi checks out the cool down spot to see what its all about.
Aug 06 2012
What an exciting first day we had! The day was filled with singing, dancing, making friends, and learning new routines. Today during math workshop, the children were invited to explore one of our math manipulatives, unifix cubes. We sat in a circle and had an open discussion about their possible uses, not necessarily mentioning anything about “math”. Friends showed ways to create and build with them, including making letters and buildings. Then, our friend Beatrice shared something. “You can do math with these. Like patterns!” Friends then began making different types of AB and ABC patterns. Another friend, Addie, had another interesting idea. She explained how she could measure things with a long stick of unifix cubes. We had a lively discussion about measurement and began measuring things around our circle. Another friend, Lucas, suggested, “Hey, we should put all our sticks together and build something!” and J’Den enthusiastically replied, “Lets do it together!” The kids then took charge on their own, negotiating what piece would go where and eventually decided as a class to build a long line as far as the unifix cubes could go. It was so exciting to see different friends lead and others practice listening to one another. It was a memorable and valuable lesson in working together. Dylan worked as project manager and directed friends to certain ends of the line. Tajanaye, Kalaya and Sascha were gatherers. Amaiah cheered people on. Everyone had a role. When the class piece was finally finished, we sat down and talked about what math had just taken place. Friends mentioned patterning, counting, measurement, and general building. We also talked about how we had worked together and labeled it as teamwork! What an incredible experience for only the first day of school.
Later on in the day, we practiced telling stories with materials and shared our stories with one another. Some of our friends had some very creative ideas. We sure have some great storytellers in our room.
Ayden explains his bear story to Mr. Henderson, our student teacher, during Story Workshop.
It wouldn’t be a complete day in the Argus classroom if there wasn’t any dancing. Today, we danced to some 80’s pop hits. Tomorrow, who knows?!
Greyson and Jackson play some air guitar during explore time. How creative!
