Smarties Moments

We have a new phrase in Room 208 and it's "Smarties Moments". On Thursday at Morning Meeting, the boys and girls participated in an activity that I hope will help them understand that they all play a role in helping our room to be the most positive and optimal learning and working environment for all members of our little family.

We're struggling a bit in our class with following a few of the expectations we have in place for being active listeners and learners, which can make it difficult for a lesson to go smoothly and without excessive interruptions. So to assist with this, I came up with an activity that I hoped would resonate.

Each child received a Smartie and they were asked not to eat it until invited to do so.  Then, I asked the students to raise the Smartie to their mouth. On the count of three, they were allowed to eat it.  I explained their most important job was to eat the Smartie. I told them, "It is essential that you eat this Smartie now!"  I asked them how they felt just prior to putting it in their mouth and most of them reported, "We're excited, we just wanna eat it!" 

And then I began counting to three and then I'd get to about "2" and pause. Over and over again, I would stop and interrupt the process with an unrelated comment or story,a distracting noise or habit, or something I absolutely had to do (e.g. tidy my desk, talk with a neighbor). I repeatedly interrupted the boys and girls from eating their Smartie.   

I could sense the tension building.  I asked, "How are you feeling right now, in this moment?"  They ALL reported they felt frustrated because, I was making it hard for them to do what they needed/wanted to do. 

Eventually everyone ate their Smartie and we talked about how I feel when I am doing one of my most favorite things: teaching and sharing lessons I enjoy preparing.  I talked about how it can be just like trying to eat the Smartie when students start making noises with the items on their desks,  getting up to do things or raising their hands to share information that is not related to the topic at hand while I am teaching or instructing.  We  talked specifically about how that last one in particular is an indicator that someone is not being an active listener.  

Then, we reviewed expectations for the times throughout the day where they are receiving information or instructions: 

• our body language shows "I'm listening and ready to learn" so we're facing the teacher, hands up on our desk or in our lap and unless we have special permission, we're not holding anything 
• we are not sneaking in bites of our snacks during these times 
• as tempting as it may be, we avoid interrupting the lesson to share stories or comments that are not related to the topic at hand because we have designated times for that (e.g. as we're getting ready for recess or during the lunch period). Questions related to the topic are always invited.  
• we remain seated while the teacher is teaching unless we have a personal emergency, need a tissue, etc. 
• if we do have a personal emergency, we can always tell our teacher by raising our hand and letting her know it's a emergency

As teachers we wear a lot of hats throughout the day: psychologist, social worker, referee, nurse, librarian, handy-person, technical support, lunch provider, you name it, but when it comes to the part of our day where we are actually teaching a specific lesson or concept, sharing information and instructing, it's important that those times are focused with as few interruptions as possible so that students go home each afternoon with the learning goals of the day met. 

My hope is that after our Smarties activity on Thursday, the boys and girls will have a new appreciation for why it is so important that everyone follow expectations and demonstrate effective listening skills and minimize the "Smarties moments" throughout the day.  

A Math Update!

This week in Math, the boys and girls have continued working on their fractions folders, while also learning about how to find a fraction of a set. For example, what is 1/3 of 12? Or: divide 15 into thirds.  

We had a really fun lesson earlier this week where students used their Playdoh to practice this skill. We started by showing a fraction of a shape and then moved on to solving problems involving fractions of a set.  I love that students used their math songs to help them calculate their answers. If your child doesn't have their songs memorized, and I know there are a few, please have them practice them. You can find them in the tab at the top right corner of the blog.  I cannot emphasize this enough: knowing these songs make a world of difference in building both number-sense and overall Math confidence.  

Finding fractions of a set are a real light-bulb kind of lesson because students see how the skills they've learned earlier in the year (e.g. how to divide and "hey, multiplication is just repeated addition).  

Penny's Problem

As our Wednesday Workshop this week, the boys and girls will read a story I wrote called, "Penny's Problem". The focus of this task will is on how to respond to three types of questions or prompts:

• identify how a character's mood or attitude  changes throughout the story
• discuss an alternative title to the story and explain whether or not it is a suitable choice
• identify how one character supports another

There are three questions for students to answer. We call them "RRWEs" because they are "reading response with evidence questions. Now sometimes on EQAO, they'll ask you to add your own information or "plusses" as we call them. So in that case, we'd call those types of questions "RRWEPs" -reading response with evidence plus.    

Unit 8 Fractions: learning goals and big ideas

We've started our next unit in Math! It's unit 8 and it's all about Fractions! 

Please note: there is no workbook for this unit. We'll be using our slates and doing a variety of hands-on problem solving activities to develop skills and demonstrate understanding. Students will also create a "Fractions Folder" that will support their learning. 

Unit 8: Fractions (click here)

Let's compare!

As part of our ever-growing Morning Message activities, I have been slowly introducing the concept of comparative writing to the boys and girls. 

We began back in late February/early March with a look at a photo like the one in the slide below. Students were asked to use words like right and left to describe similarities and differences. 

After that, I asked students to write their comparative sentences on a Post-it Note, proofread it into their whisper-phone, and then share it with the class.  

Soon, I introduced the idea of using the word however to connect the sentences and make the mini-paragraph more fluid.  

Students began writing things like: The boy on the left is holding a pot of gold. However, the boy on the right is holding just one coin. 

We worked on the correct use of the word however for a few mornings. Then I asked students to be more creative in their sentences. I showed them the slide below and asked them to compare two features of the picture that no one else would consider.  

Then we worked with this slide for another opportunity to use the word however AND write unique and creative comparative sentences. I also began introducing the phrase on the other hand as a means of writing about something the characters in the picture have in common. 

We also practiced using this slide.  

The next task was to write a mini-comparative paragraph about the slide below.  Students were expected to include the following: 

• include their purpose for writing 
• write two creative differences they see in the slide below using the word however
• write about something the characters below have in common using the phrase on the other hand
• use commas appropriately as all of the comparative words and phrases require them
• write a closing sentence 
• all this needs to be completed, proofread and polished in just ten minutes or so! 

Soon, we'll start using comparative writing in Math. Students will be looking at two gardens with different areas and perimeters. They're asked to use the "comparative writing formula" (7 steps) as their guide.  

Here's the text I wrote for students to write about. They're job is to compare Andrew and Dana. I'm really excited to read these paragraphs. What will my students choose as the similarities and differences they want to write about?! 

On Wednesday, I'll explain to my students that they can use comparative words in a variety of ways and that they need not reserve however only for describing differences and on the other hand for similarities.