Get An Idea and Run With It

Ellen was on the wiki and came across the lesson that was done in Zarha's class as part of our lesson study.  Since she teaches Grade 1, she decided to try the lesson herself.  She made a few modifications to it so it would work with the needs of the students in her class.  Here is her lesson:

Minds-On:  She had the students use ice cream cones and scoops of ice cream as a way to see the different ways that they could make combinations of chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

Action:  The students then came up with different ways that they could arrange different coloured candles on the cake. 

Consolidation:  The students then talked about what they noticed and came up with some good understanding of ways they could make 8.  Ellen also had them reflect on what their next step's would be and recorded them as well.  This is a great way to help bring in success criteria with Grade 1 students as it helps them come up with their own ideas of what makes a good answer, and it lets them reflect on the discussion about what they saw that made a good answer.

Ellen said that the activity allowed her to see different things about her students.  She was surprised when some students responded (and responded correctly) because they are not always the most confident or able in math.  She did say that this activity took her longer than expected.  I'm confident that as Ellen does more activities like this in the class, her students will get stronger and better at them.

Here is a full shot of what the lesson looked like when it was completed and hanging proudly out in the hall: