Hope your week is going well. Friday's coming!! And Spring is definitely in full swing! At this time of year we work hard to keep kids engaged in their learning and excited about math, writing, reading, etc. Yesterday our team met with our wonderful math instructional specialist. We got on the topic of writing critically during math. I do have to admit that I don't always give the kids time to write about their thinking after lessons in math. It's a time crunch thing, and an engagement thing!
I posted the other day about math talks, but I have made a renewed effort to bring more writing into math as well. So, today, I scrapped my initial math plans and pulled a rabbit out of my hat. (Or should I say "pulled a Jelly Bird out of my hat!) Our mini lesson from Tuesday about comparing and ordering numbers by using hidden numbers was still fresh on our minds. Today I gave each kiddo his/her own 120 board and about 9 "jelly bird eggs." (We are studying the life cycle of birds, so the connection was obvious!) Each kiddo had to cover nine numbers on his board in a similar way as what we did earlier in the week. Then elbow buddies had to tell each other which numbers were covered. Of course they had to tell how they figured out the hidden numbers. After doing it several times, it was time to write about our thinking! We got a chance to do it in an engaging way for those who needed some extra encouragement. The kids wrote on an egg shape and then added a little face and nest. I love their thinking, their risk taking, and their confidence. Here are a couple of pictures!
Great job, kids!!! I love it when spontaneous lessons work out!! This quick lesson showed me the importance of the written component to every day math. I hope I can keep the enthusiasm and engagement going!!
Thanks for stopping by!
Joyfully!
Nancy
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