MathThis week we started to look at organizing, and categorizing data. First grade students love this, and do it all the time. The students were told that they would be learning a new way to represent, or stand for, their counting, and that was by using tally marks. Students looked at cards with a number of different animals on them, and were asked to discuss similarities and differences among the animals. They used differences between the animals to sort the animals into groups of their choice and shared how they decided to sort them. After that, they sorted the animals into two categories: those that have wings and those that do not have wings. We talked about what a T-chart is and how we used it to organize our sort, giving it a title, labelling rows, and using tally marks. Students then sorted the animals in many other ways, and represented their data in charts using tallies. Continuing with tallies, we looked at all of the data we could collect about ourselves and the class. We tallied bottoms people were wearing (skirts, pants, shorts), girls and boys, favourite things, and even what we were sitting on (shown above). When we finished collecting data, the children counted the tally marks in each row aloud and wrote the total for that row. We learned to always count the 5s first and then the 1s. This was great practice for counting by 5s and counting on. Please check to see if your child has acquired this skill by collecting data at home using tallies and then counting them. Later in the week we played the game rock, paper, scissors, and used tally marks to represent the results. This led to a wonderful discussion on probability or liklihood. Our little learners played several rounds. After each round, the students made a tally mark in the tally chart to indicate the winning gesture or a tie. This was a great opportunity for me to observe:
At the end of the week, we looked at number stories and strategies for solving math problems. It was explained to the students that lots of everyday problems and stories involve numbers and have questions they can answer with math. We looked at several problems (above), and had the children think about each problem and solve them using any strategy they like. Strategies included using counters, drawing pictures, using a number line, counting on, using their fingers, using the number grid, and mental math. We learned that there are many ways to come up with answers to math problems, and that different ways work better for different people. We also talked about the importance of labelling our answers with appropriate units. Students were guided to understand why certain strategies did not yield the correct answer. It is just as important to understand why certain strategies do not work as it is to find and use strategies that do work. Students then partnered up and used pennies to tell and solve their own number stories - Here are some examples:
Pictured above is Tiffany leading our 100 stretch. Every day we move our bodies and count to 100 in different ways. Language ArtsFor the last two weeks we have been looking at story elements. This week we looked at characters and setting. In first grade students need to do more than just identify characters, but also understand them through making inferences and thinking critically about what they read. As these are two huge standards that we look at all year long, I like to start at the beginning of the year by teaching students how to analyze characters. I like to start with a short simple book called “No, David!” because the kids don’t get lost in the story or zone out while reading. I can spark a surprisingly rich discussion about a simple character like David. Is he bad? Is he good? What words best describe him? I can easily begin teaching lots of great vocabulary (kindhearted, impulsive, energetic, playful, forgetful, etc.). Plus, I just love David! The stories about him also spark many good inquires related to our unit of inquiry on 'Getting Along.' I love teaching character analysis! I love looking closely at an interesting character and trying to uncover what makes them who they are. In my experience, kids love this process, too. Unfortunately, for many little learners, understanding character traits is a bit tricky. Here are three big pitfalls and what to do about them! 1. Vocabulary One of the biggest issues is simply vocabulary. Most kids are familiar with the basic emotions – sad, happy, mad. But words that describe traits, such as compassionate, driven, and selfish, are often totally new or only partially understood. I build this vocabulary by doing LOTS of read alouds with rich discussions about the characters. We list these traits on charts and in notebooks, illustrating different traits, and using that vocabulary in the day-to-day of our classroom as much as possible! 2. Outside Vs. Inside (see photo above) Another aspect that students have difficulty with is understanding the difference between what we see on the outside and what the character is like on the inside. When I ask my students to describe a character at this point in the year, I often get a description of their physical features. As a result of this, we work hard on trying to understand the difference between physical traits and personality traits (we use the words inside and outside). I encourage you to discuss this at home. Physical traits can be seen with our eyes but personality traits are trickier. We have to use what we know about the character – their actions, choices, words, thoughts, feelings and more. We must use all of those clues to draw conclusions about the personality of the character. 3. Emotions Vs. Traits Another area of confusion is the difference between emotions and character traits. Many students want to describe a character as “angry” because the character was angry at one point in the story. Or they’ll say a character is “sad” because she cried. The emotion might be correct for the situation, but when we’re talking character traits, kids need to think bigger picture. When reading at home, this is something I would like you to focus on with your children. Talk about how our emotions don't define us, and that we all get: sad, angry, happy, etc., but that isn't who we are. After working on understanding characters, we moved on to identifying the setting of a story. We have sang about it, written about it, discussed it, illustrated it, acted it out, read about it, and I think at one time I may just have rapped about it to your kids. That being said, students were still mixing up characters and setting. As a result of this, I found some cards that helped us sort characters and setting. After we sorted them together, students did a 'read the room' activity where numbered cards were displayed around the room with a picture of a character or a setting. Students were asked to find them in the room (a big game of hide-and-seek) and circle whether the picture was a character or a setting. This was a great way to assess student understanding. On Tuesday night during parent evening, one parent told me that their child comes home and says that they "played all day." It was such a compliment. This is the way I like to teach. Students had a fun time finding cards in the room ("playing"), and I was able to assess understanding. In my opinion this is a much better way for students to be assessed than a test. Unit of InquiryThis week we began to take a look at the inquiry cycle. We will be using this cycle for each unit of inquiry that we do this year. At the ASA, we use Kath Murdoch’s Inquiry Cycle. We find this inquiry cycle provides some structure to the elusive process of inquiry. When I first began teaching in the PYP I used to over think the process of planning for inquiry – when really it is just the natural stages of human curiosity! Now I have students write questions to serve as a great way to structure the process of inquiry with the students, instead of for the students. We then use the cycle to help scaffold and guide the processes that students come up with. Please take a close look at your child's question(s) above. Our UOI focus this week was on communication because of a student question on how to communicate with people who speak other languages, and how can I be a better communicator. We looked at physical and oral communication, clarification, and manners revolving around communicating. We began by reading 'My Mouth Is A Volcano.' This book presents the opportunity for great character development discussions, such as respect and taking turns. As we know, a class that respects each other allows for much greater and effective peer collaboration and conversation. Students learned about waiting their turn to speak and how to be good listeners. We also learned about how to be effective oral communicators by sitting back to back with a parter and trying to explain how to build the same tower without looking. This was a great exercise on asking clarifying questions when we don't understand something. Our oral communication inquiry continued by going outside with a partner and a blindfold. Students were required to get their partner through an obstacle course blindfolded. They needed to rely on their communication skills and teamwork. We learned how this is more difficult when someone doesn't speak the same language as us. We also learned about how we can modify our directions for learners who are new to English. Our biggest task when it came to getting along this week was the building of our Rube Goldberg Machines. Students had to work together, communicate, solve problems, and resolve conflicts, in order to create a working machine to drop a marble into a cup. With the help of Mr. Joe, we learned how to engineer these machines and work through the design cycle. We also enlisted the help of Mr. Joe's wife, Mrs. Carlee, our school counsellor, to come in and talk about conflict resolution strategies for when we have a problem with a friend. She taught us the ABCD method. To see a video of your child's Rube Goldberg Machine in action click on their photo below. What a great week!
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March 2018
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