Equal Shmequal

Last month, we were working on understanding equality as balance in relations to numbers and equations.  

During the first lesson, I handed out the number balances and gave the class about twenty minutes to explore this new apparatus.

After exploration time was over, we gathered into a sharing circle and each student was asked to share one thing they noticed and one thing they wondered about the number balances.

After our sharing time, we headed back to the number balances to explore some of our wonders.

This lesson led nicely into a problem solving lesson using the book Equal Shmequal.

This problem evolved from a study group that I was a part of in 2009/2010.  The study group explored communication and mathematical problem solving.  We spent the year creating problems, often linked to picture books that were open ended, focussed on problem solving and children communicating their learning in a variety of ways.

Equal Shmequal is about animals wanting to have a tug- o- war.  But all of the animals are different sizes, so they try to sort out how to make both sides equal.  From the book, I posed the question, "How many different ways can you arrange the animals so that they can balance on a see saw.

I like to see all of the different ways the students make sense of the problem and show their learning.

Go Fish Tens

This term, we continue to develop number sense.  Term three continues with addition and subtraction with a specific focus on developing personal strategies that support the students in their ability to answer addition and subtraction questions.  Knowledge of numbers that make ten is a great personal strategy and can also be a part of the "friendly number" strategy that some student employ.

This game is a fun way for students to become very familiar with numbers that make 10.  We call it Go Fish Tens.  We play the traditional card game, "Go Fish," but instead of asking our opponents for a card that will make a pair or a match, we ask for a card that will go with one of our cards to make a ten.

I teach the students to remove the Kings, Queens and Jokers from the deck for this game.  We use the Jacks as zeros.

I also found a cheat sheet on pinterest that you can see pictured above.  I sent the cheat sheet home and told the students to teach their families how to play.  Before you know it, they have flipped the cheat sheet over and are not using it anymore.

Blog Neglect and the 100th Day of School

Oh my goodness, there has been nary a blog post in this space since the beginning of March.  We call that total blog neglect.  I have some catching up to do.

In February, yes way back in February we celebrated the hundredth day of school. The kids had a blast celebrating the day and I was happy with the activities.  Over the years, I have simplified one hundred day, but I am still happy with the results.

The kids were greeted with this at their table spots when they arrived in the morning.  I found this adorable idea here.

We made these one hundred hats to celebrate being 100 Days Smarter.

We made Froot Loop necklaces.  This year, to make it easier to keep track, after every ten, we placed a numbered paper on the string.

We have been working on estimating, so one of the stations included some candy filled estimating jars.

We built with one hundred things.

We did a number search, circling numbers that added up to one hundred.

By far the biggest hit of the day was the game, I can find one hundred numbers.  I hid coloured numbers around the room from one to one hundred. Each student was given a hundred chart and a clipboard and they search the room for the numbers and colour them the correct colour.

We ended the day by reflecting on our learning.  This was my favourite part of the day, watching the kids write down the things they have learned in the first one hundred days of school.

Math: 3D Shapes Who Am I Activity

I found this lesson in a great book,  Math and Nonfiction by Jamee Petersen.  On the first day of introducing the lesson, we read the book Cubes, Cones Cylinders and Spheres by Tana Hoban.  We talked about the examples in the book and all the other places we see these shapes in our own lives.  I gave them each a paper lunch bag with the homework instructions typed onto it.

On the following morning as the students arrived, I wrote a note on the chalkboard asking students to put their bags at their seats, but not to share the contents with anyone.  I had extra bags for students who did not bring any items.

At the beginning of the lesson, I read the clues for the items in my own bag to model I expected of them for this lesson.  They had fun trying to guess the items in my bag. After setting some criteria and talking about what their clues had to include, I sent them off to write their own clues.

This is M's first clue and item.  He focused on the tennis balls inside the container.

I am fuzzy and I am green.  You can hit me.  I love aces.

What shape am I?  What am I?

I am black.  You can keep balls inside me.  I am clear.   I have

a flat face.  What shape am I?  What am I?

I chose this example because this student is a reluctant writer and to see him write this much on his own and take this risk made me so happy.  

 I have 9 spaces on the outside.  And it have a lot of colours on it.  What shape am I. 

 And it have 6 faces too.

I love this one because I love bugles.  Yummy. The kids had a hard time with this one, but mostly because I don't think they eat them that often.

 I am a toy that can transform.  I am like a ball.  I have o faces.

 I am something that is a circle.  Some people put water in me.

I am from the house center.  What am I?

I have a circle on my top and a point on my bottom.  I have been used

to hold ice cream and taste delicious.  What am I?

At the end of the lesson, we formed a sharing lesson.  Each person chose their favourite clue and item and shared it with the class.  The class then had to guess the object.  They liked this so much that they didn't want it to end.  So then we broke into smaller groups and gave students the opportunity to share another one of their clues.

Math: Geometry Problem Solving

We continue to have a great time in math this term.  The kids have been exploring 3D objects through sorting them into groups according to one attribute (e.g. these all have 4 sides), building towers and looking for these shapes in the real world.  When we work with 2D shapes, we also sort them according to one attribute and also replicate objects and create other shapes using shape materials such as pattern blocks and tangrams.  We still do problem solving on a regular basis.  Here is a geometry related problem that we completed recently.

There are 3 shapes in a bag.  The total number of sides is 13.  What could the shapes be?

What I like about this problem is that it allows the children to demonstrate their knowledge of 2 dimensional shapes and there are many possible outcomes.

The kids organize their thinking in many different ways.  It is another thing I love about problem solving.  We almost always include a debrief or sharing time at then end of a problem solving lesson.  We ask kids to share their strategies.  Sometimes we let anyone share.  Other times, we target specific kids to share a strategy that we think could support other students.  Throughout the year, students develop quite a repertoire of strategies that they are comfortable using.

Some used equations with the shape name written underneath.

Other children created equations, but instead of numbers drew the shapes.

Others chose to "act it out" with pattern blocks and then trace the blocks onto the page.

Some kids asked me the name of ten sided and thirteen sides shape so they could use them in their equations.  Thanks to google we had some fun trying to pronounce some of their names.

This student, used equations and then the initial letter of each shape underneath to show which shape he was referring to.