I have created Math Menus to go with the 4th grade EveryDay Math curriculum. My purpose in creating them was to give students enrichment opportunities to go along with what we are studying in class. I attempted to reach different learning preferences with the activities, as well (writing, poetry, technology, logic, art, and more.) One of the 4th graders decided to write a humorous story about a sad subtraction sign as suggested by the menu from unit 2:
Subtraction Sign was taking a walk. Today was not the best day for him. Today, first graders used him to take away 5 from 15. He did not want to be the sign taking away everyone from everything. So he went home to his Addistion Sign mom and his Division Sign dad. He told them about his day at Math Sign Elementary. He said, "Today 1st graders used me to take away 5 from 15. I know I'm the Subtraction sign, but I do not want to be taking away from things." His dad said, "We understand, Subtraction Sign. When I was a little sign like you, I did not want to be dividing things either." "I know what I can do," said Subtraction Sign, "I can become an adding sign." "Son, it is not that easy," said his dad. "Well you cannot just change your sign that easily," "Oh well, I guess that idea is off now," said Subtraction Sign. So the next day, Subtraction Sign went to school. He came home, went to his bedroom, and realized something. It doesn't matter what sign you are, it matters that you enjoy your job as a sign. And if you don't, learn that even if you take away or divide, that doesn't mean that you, in the real world, acutally do that. The End by Elliana
1 Comment
Last week, the 5th grade language arts group began reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. We have been reading books about kids who perform acts of bravery to fight against the injustice in their world. One of the things I love most about teaching using a great piece of children's literature is how it inspires kids to learn more. In order to create a firm idea of the setting of this story last week, I pulled up a map of Europe during World War II. Our story is set in Denmark when it is occupied by the Germans. The Danes help groups of Jewish Danes escape to Sweden. I thought seeing the "lay of the land" would help the students vidualize as they read. However, by opening the map and briefly discussing WWII, I opened a "can of worms" we may never get the lid on again! The kids had so many questions about WWII and were feverish for more information. What a great story does is leave you wanting more - wanting to know more and learn more. This book has done precisely that for these 5th graders. This book has hopefully helped to light the spark that will encourage them to seek out the answers to their questions about some of our world history. I can't wait to go back to school this week and continue to engage in our discussion and discovery. Those moments when you see passion come to life in learning are what a teacher lives for! With each of my math classes this year, I started out sharing this great book called Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt. I love this book because Scaredy Squirrel is in essence afraid of the unknown. Through a series of unfortunate events, he learns something new about himself. (You'll have to go to the local library to find out the details!) My connection to our class and GT students is that many of them suffer from a fear of making mistakes (more commonly known as perfectionism.) I can relate. I tend to suffer from that myself. I want my students to know that my classroom is always a place where mistakes are allowed and even encouraged. The trick though: you must fix your mistakes. Whether you fix your mistakes by yourself, with a friend, or with the teacher, we have all talked about how you can learn a lot from making and fixing a mistake (and sometimes that learning is more long-term!) I want them to learn that taking a risk is a good thing. And just in case things don't go as you planned, we are a supportive community of learners to help you out along the way. You just never know when you'll find out you too can fly! I learned of a great opportunity today for teachers and families to allow students to participate in Citizen Science Research projects. http://scistarter.com/ On this site, you can search by topic for a project you could help out with in your own backyard or at your own kitchen table. It might be monitoring the rainfall in your area or counting birds that you spot or observing stars. I have some experience with this because last year my fourth grade class got a bag of matrix (the scientific word for dirt!) from a mastodon dig site in New York state. The project required the painstaking sorting of the dirt into piles of twigs, rocks, and (if you are lucky) shells and bone fragments. It was a fabulous chance for my students to see how the process of being a paleontologists isn't quite as glamorous as the movies might make it seem! Science projects are fabulous, but science projects with a true purpose are even better! Check this website out if your family is interested.
Megan & Samantha During the first week of school, some of the third graders had the opportunity to work with a partner and try to "save Fred." Fred was a gummy worm who had an unfortunate boating accident. His gummy life preserver was trapped in the overturned boat and the students had to determine how to save his life using only four paperclips. Sadly, no one was able to save Fred's life on this day. They have been begging every day since to try again. I have promised them all another opportunity. The great thing is their creative juices began flowing that day, and I am certain that given another chance, Fred will undoubtably survive his next accident! http://6sci.pbworks.com/f/Save+Fred+ebook.pdf Jacob & Jack The first week of school, the fifth graders took on the Marshmallow Challenge. I thougt it was a great way to begin working in cooperative groups to problem solve. My students were given minimal instuctions and 18 minutes to build the tallest, free-standing structure out of spaghetti, tape, and string that would support the weight of a large marshmallow. Each group met with varying degrees of success. The fascinating conversation that came out of our discovery time was over cheating. One group was frustrated because they felt like the other groups had copied their original idea of a triangle base. What ensued was a conversation about when copying another person's idea is a bad idea (on a test in Mrs. Bean's class!) and when it might lead to greater things (the Wright Brothers success at building the first successful airplane based on a combination of designs of those before them.) Sometimes when participating in creative endeavors, we need to "stand on the backs of giants" to reach new heights. I think we'll try this challenge again later this year and see what kind of new skills and learning they might be able to apply and what great conversations might be sparked again. http://marshmallowchallenge.com/Welcome.html |
Tracey BeanWerner Elementary Archives
May 2018
Sign-up for updates: |
Knowledge Peak | Blog |