Book Study Wednesday: Chapters 7 & 8

This week we decided to wrap up the book study in and of itself and use our final week next Wednesday to finish designing a Number Sense kit.  The study group that also meets in person is going to put together a kit that teachers can use to remediate some important concepts within the broad spectrum of what we call number sense.
Using the Learning Trajectory on page 9 as a guide, the team is going to pull together a series of leveled activities to help with subitizing.  In addition to materials, we want to include a teacher's guide.
Stay tuned for next week's post!  It'll include a freebie or two for you!  For now I hope you'll read below and join the conversation.

Discussion Questions
Q1-  Consider Shumway’s discussion about mistakes in the classroom:
“Through the course of the year, as we build a supportive community of learners…” (Shumway, p. 130)
In what ways do I, as the teacher, support an environment that encourages mistakes?

Q2- What does student reflection look like in my classroom? What implications does holding discussions have on written explanations?

Q3-  “Formative assessment are ongoing, in-the-moment, dynamic processes that provide the teacher information during instruction.  They are assessments for learning, because teachers use them to make instructional decisions and plan the next steps for student learning (Chappius and Chappius 2007/2008; Tomlinson 2007/2008).” (Shumway, page 137)

How does this definition fit with your idea of formative assessments?  Can formative assessments be paperless? How would you keep track of and organize information collected from formative assessments?

Book Study Wednesday : Chapter 6 Calendar & Data Routines

I apologize for the tardy post.  This week really caught up with me and then ran me right over and kept going!  Anyone else know what I'm talking about?  Well, let's get on with it anyhow!  Welcome back!
 
Chapter 6 was pretty brief in comparison to the previous chapters  Basically it was broken down into calendar and data.  Both types of routines, as with all the previous routines in this book, encourage math chatter among students and that is my favorite part.  Many educators are afraid of math talk and I can tell you from experience that talking is the most valuable part of learning.  How many times a day do I bounce ideas off of a co-worker or friend?  Constantly!!  I think out loud all the time as a way of problem-solving and making observations.  And so do students.

Talking about math during number sense routines gives students the opportunity to converse in a way that many may not be used to in the home.  Working in a Title I school, many students do not have the vocabulary and background knowledge that their same age peers do. Discussing ideas in class is life ring for those who are struggling.  These little number sense routines are social opportunities to bridge the learning gaps!

Click here for a little freebie! Some great discussion task cards for 1st and 2nd and easily modified for Kindergarten.
 
Discussion Questions:


Q1 - How is your calendar routine different from the way Shumway presented it in Chapter 6?  How is it the same?

Q2 - What mathematical concepts are you currently focused on and how are the number sense routines supporting them?

Book Study Wednesday - Chapter 5 Playing with Quantities

Last week I met with my first grade team.  There is a district wide assessment approaching and we've all been a little apprehensive about how the students will do.  So we spent some time discussing number sense routines, specifically routines that allowed students to play with numbers.  I shared with them the following experience.

I spent some time going through chapter 5 and chose "Ways to Make a Number" since one of the items in our standards (and coming up on the assessment) required students to think flexibly about a number.  I had a wonderful teacher volunteer to let me come in and try this routine with her class.  We did "Ways to Make 17".  I chose 17 because I wanted to see what the students did with a teen number, to see if they'd draw out the ten.  I was pleasantly surprised by most.  One little girl in particular wrote the following:

I asked her about the last equation.  It was clear from her number bond that she knew the fact family.  I asked her if her last number sentence was equal to 17.  I gave her a chance to revisit her thoughts while I visited other groups.  Later, when I returned, she has modified her answer to read 10 + 7 =17.  

After 1st grade returned to their classrooms, I received a message from one of the teachers (the same teacher I had visited in the above story). She had decided to use the last 20 minutes of her day using "Ways to Make a Number".  She presented the with "Ways to Make 55".   Here are some of their responses.

Students use manipulatives to explore 55.

Students made a list of their discoveries.

My take-aways from this my experience and hers were as follows:

1 - This didn't take as long as I thought it would.  The second time this class did this routine, they did it in the last 15 minutes of the day...WITH manipulatives! Because this teacher has manipulatives available to her kids all the time, it shaved minutes off of this routine because the kids simply pulled from the buckets in the middle of their table and clean up went just as quickly.

2 - Kids love to use these manipulatives!  It is ENGAGING!

3 -  The students came up with far more responses than I imagined that they would.  They were CAPABLE of doing this, they just need the chance to show it!  Paper and pencil should wait.  

Discussion Questions:
Q1 -What have been your biggest take aways this week as you work through routines with your classes?

Q2 - What are some obstacles that you are currently facing and how you overcome them?