Try This

 

A while back I posted about two new professional books I’m tackling. Here’s one of them.

 

This book has some thought provoking things to share on small group math instruction. One of the problem solving activities was this gem.

This provided lots of insight. I let them use whatever tools or manipulatives they wanted. First we talked through it..then I let them go.

Most got it, but a few were stuck. The ones that were successful could look at the 2 in twenty five and know it was stood for 20, then they broke that down into two boxes of ten and 5 left over.

But the ones that were stuck had no idea…even though we talk about tens and ones all the time during the calendar. This really made me more committed to not just the daily pace of teaching the curriculum but really making sure my students have a good understanding of mathematics and know how to problem solve. Try it and see what insights you’ll get.

Click here to try it with your class. I didn’t think to take pictures of my student’s thinking, but when we do it again I’ll be sure to post them.

 

Tomorrow we’re doing a great activity on opinion writing using this book.

Can’t wait to post pictures! Have a great week!