In addition to Skyping with a class from Sweden and Olympic Gold Medalist Steve Mesler, our class was also fortunate enough to Skype with a college student from Venezuela.
So now that I'm off my soap-box, haha. The rest of the week we completed two different big activities. One of the biggest things I learned from my benchmark data at Christmas was that my students were having more difficultiy with reading and understanding than the actual math. So I tried to design a project where they had to read and complete all the steps perfectly with the directions to get the right solution. Here is the paper I passed out to them...
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C93-1Msxyr4L4AlXtBXTPycpnZbvxACeEsGTewj5XrY/edit?usp=sharing
I had the students draw a group members body on chart paper, and then pick from the supplies given on the best way to measure ACCURATELY the perimeter of that person's body and then find the conversion and convert the measurement. It was a blast and the kids really enjoyed it! It also provided me with many opportunities to discuss with groups the importance of following the directions and reading carefully, because many of them were missing little things to do that were in the instructions.
After that project I had the kids split into partners and I gave them a grid of 36 numbers. Way more than they would ever have to work with, but I wanted to challenge them. I had them find the median, mode, and range of that list (it was interesting to see some cut the numbers out, while others re-wrote them).
After that, I asked them to use the same numbers to find the probability of choosing an even number. Then I had them find the probability of finding a prime number. They also had to make sure their fraction that they were making was simplified as well to get credit.
The thinking process was great and the kids were really working hard and with urgency....but it helped that I told them whoever got it right first got points for their "house"!
Since I have officially covered everything in 5th grade Texas Standards now, I'm just working on finding different activities for the students to take the knowledge they've learned and use it deeper than ever before. I am trying to push my student's thinking. I want them to be able to dissect and work through any situation using math, rather than make sure they can answer some test questions.
I truly believe that by developing this deeper and investigative understanding of math, the test questions will come so much easier to them!
ALSO:
If you're interested in the Flipped Classroom, sign up for the FREE Webinar with Sophia coming February 20th! Click here http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5249898588
Or check out my sessions at TCEA next week!
Hey Todd! I hate I will miss your sessions at TCEA I would have loved to attend them. It's so great to see what you are doing in your class especially with Elementary students. You make learning fun and that's what matters! :)
ReplyDeleteKeep it up!