Color Coding 100's Charts

Have you begun to use the 100's chart with your class this year? 

Remember to color code the return sweeps like this:

 

Why?  I personally have difficulty tracking lines of text, and I know there are students that have the same problem.  It's also hard to learn to visually sweep your eyes from 40 to 41. 

 

A good independent activity is to have students color code the 100's chart that they use on the back cover of their Math Journal also.

 

Deborah. 

Let's Collect Some Data for Grades 1 or Multigrade 1/2

Today, my granddaughter came home from school and said, "I want to collect some data."... and of course my heart rate increased...and I said I had an idea!

I just received the book, "Spookley the Square Pumpkin Counting and Colors" by Joe Troiano.

 It isn't a deep, thoughtful book, but the reading level was just perfect for my First Grader.

I suggested that we create a chart in Word, print it out, and use tally marks to gather data about the number of pumpkins and their colors that were shown in the book.

First, let's say that First Graders can do amazing things. I set up the 2 column chart and labeled the two categories.  When it came time to list the color possibilities, My First Grader used the back portion of the book to obtain the correct spelling of each color word, and type it into the chart.  She needed a little help in learning about how to tab through a chart, but that's all!.
Here's what the completed chart looked like:

Next, we printed the page, and used tally marks to collect the data of the number of pumpkins in the book for each color. 

Here is a link to share the chart with you:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6F30lEu7WXlV0g5S1JxdGt5bG8/edit?usp=sharing

In your classroom, this chart might be completed in a small group of 3 or 4 students working together. For those teachers using Everyday Math, it works well following Lesson 1.7 Recording Tally Counts, in the First Grade book.
 It could also be used in Multigrade 1/2 Classroom as an activity during Guided Math groups.


Lastly, let me thank that First Grade Teacher that inspired my granddaughter to "collect some data." :)

Deborah

Exploring Dice-Dot Patterns

The ability to quickly recognize the patterns on a die without counting each dot is important for young children.
 So today I played a game with a First Grader in which we each had 20 counters and 1 die.

The players take turns rolling the die and picking up as many counters as indicated on the die until all of the counters have been picked up. To pick up the last counter, the number on the die must match the number of counters remaining.  The first player that picks up (or slides the counters to the side of their pile) all their 20 counters is the winner.

While playing this game it is easy for the teacher to evaluate:
1) Can the child recognize the pattern on the die at a glance, or is it necessary for the child to count each dot before knowing the amount indicated on the die?
2) When counting their counters do they have one-to-one correspondence, and do they count using the correct sequence?

When we played the game the second time, I counted out my counters by two's instead of by ones. The First Grader followed my lead by counting her counters by two's also. So I learned something new about her again... that not only could she count by two's but she had the ability to utilize that pattern when picking up (or sliding over) her counters. To count out the number of 5, she slid the counters in this way:  2,2,1.

EXTENDING THE LESSON


I told the student that I wanted to know what she already knew about the patterns on dice.  I gave her 6 post-it notes and asked her to draw the pattern for each number on the post-it notes.  This is what she drew:

 

When I looked at  the post-it notes I could tell that the student had internalized the 6 patterns on the die, and could  tell you immediately without counting the value of each pattern.

 

If I was saving evidence of learning, I could save the six post-it notes, or a photo of her work.

 

Deborah