Three Reads for Math

At our Elementary Leadership PLC, we learned an instructional strategy for math. I was so excited about this new strategy that I tried it the next day. Three Reads for Math is a close read strategy for problem solving. The steps are 1) read the question stem orally without any numbers. Ask the students to describe the context or situation of the story. Step 2) the problem stem is read with the numbers and projected for the students to read along. The students then think of questions that could be answered with the information presented. Step 3) Present the question to be solved and work in groups to solve the problem.
What I really like about this strategy is the students focus on the language of math. They do not default into "harvesting" numbers and choosing an operation at random. Even more exciting is to hear the questions that the students generate. Reading the problem and focusing on the context, helps the students to identify what the language of the problem necessary for solving.

Students' reflections on the situation are in green. The questions by students are in red. The problem is in blue.

After we solve the main question then we solve or research the questions generated by the students. My first attempt of this strategy was on a problem about the area of western states. The questions generated by the students led to a great discussion about geography. This was a great connection to the content we are studying. The students used iPads to answer questions about miles and the locations of the states. I wish I could say that it was completely intentional. Going forward I will look for opportunities to construct problems that layer the content with the mathematics.

Students using iPads to research their questions. Impressive math ideas!

Comments

Ollies and Math

Thanks to generosity of Chevron through Donors Choose , my math class experienced a new mobile technology, Ollies! Ollies are programmable robots made by Sphero . We used the app, Macrolab to program the Ollies. I modified a lesson from the Sphero website to teach the concepts of measurement and data. The first day, we explored how to program the Ollies and how changing the variables in the program affected what Ollie did. The students recorded data to capture what they were seeing. On day 2 it was time to be more methodical with our data collection. Students only changed one variable at a time. This allowed students to discover the relationship between time and the distance that the Ollie traveled. The students changed the variable of the delay between the roll and stop commands to develop this understanding. There was definitely a lot of excitement and motivation to learn measurement. On Day 3, we analyzed the data recorded from each group. There were some noticeable differences

Roller Coasters

The students chose words to describe roller coasters. We recorded them using Answer Garden . I think it also describes what building roller coasters is like. There was a buzz of excitement as groups of students designed and constructed marble roller coasters. One of the student remarked, "This doesn't look like regular library time." He had just asked me if he could tape the roller coaster ramp to the wall and was shocked when I said, "Of course." The students were so engaged with their projects that they did not notice a visitor from the Hillsboro Tribune . Kathy Fuller came to learn about what was happening in our building this summer. We are proud that we will be featured in the newspaper. I will make sure to include the link in a future post. We will be continuing our roller coaster construction tomorrow. I am very thankful that our custodial staff is supportive of these messy projects. This video captures the feelings expressed in the wordl

Halfway

I am taking it as a positive sign that we are halfway through our summer program and there is still tons of positive energy. Mrs. Gonzalez and Ms. Ayala's phone calls resulted in 5 new students today! We are expecting even more new students on Monday. My hope is that we can bring the average daily attendance to 40 students. This article affirmed our purpose for the summer program and pushing the students to work on their math skills in addition to reading. http://www.vox.com/2014/7/13/5891583/summer-slide-achievement-gap-vacation I am looking forward to comparing their end of the year MobyMax math placement with their beginning of the year placement test score. Plans for next week... Model canoes, gardening, writing a Scratch character description and an art project

On the move

Search This Blog