Get Ready, Get Set, Go Create

Central Idea: We all have a story to tell and can choose how to share it.

What happens when you give second graders the following provocation:

• 5 minutes to think of:
  
  • A favorite moment or important event that has happened in their life
  • A memory you’ll never forget 
  • A story that had strong feelings and emotions
• 5 minutes to think of how you will choose to tell it
• 20 minutes to create a story
• 5 minutes to reflect

You get...

Students Engaged in the Creative Process

Here students are preparing their stories:

Students then shared their stories with each other. We filmed each story so that students could reflect on the process and review it later. 

Students reflected on their own stories.

The next day students rotated through and viewed each other's videos. They gave feedback on one thing they liked and one thing that they thought needed improving. 

We then looked at each others reflections before we discussed the next steps that needed to be taken when we share our next story.

Investigating, "Do Taller People Jump Further Than Shorter People?"

My Grade 2 students investigated and responded to an open-ended problem: "Do Taller People Jump Further Than Shorter People?" 

This activity gave students the opportunity to use mathematics through the lens of the scientific process. 

Question
Students were posed the following question:

Hypothesis

Using a visible thinking routine, students were asked to think of "tugs", or reasons why they support a certain side of the question. 

Hypothesis ranged from a strong yes, to a no, and even yes and no:

• Yes, taller people jump further I think because they have longer legs. -Izzy
• Yes, taller people are probably a bit stronger so they can probably jump further. - William
• It is a no and yes, because I think it depends on how strong you are and how heavy you are. I'll need to find out more before I can say yes or no. - Tony
• No, because the taller people are heavier so they drop faster so they can't jump as far. - TJ
• No, because taller people are heavier than shorter people so they won't be able to jump as far. - Aqif

Learner Profiles

As a class we discussed what Learner Profiles we should all be mindful of for a successful investigation:

• Principled - We need to be principled because if we make a jump of 120 cm, we can't say we jumped 150 cm even though no one is looking. - Dan
• Caring - We shouldn't get mad if we don't get the best jump. We should be caring to others and tell them they did a good job because they tried their best. - Kris
• Thinker - We will need to be thinkers to know how to use the measuring tape and rulers. - Ben
• Inquirer - We will need to ask questions and think for ourselves. - Theresa
• Risk-Taker - You can't be worried about making the best jump and just try your best to jump. - Antonina

Is it Fair? Experiment

Students were asked, "What would we need to follow to make sure our investigation is fair?"

• When you jump, you should measure where the top of your toe lands, not where your hand falls, or the back of your foot. - Paula
• You need to measure from zero when you use the measuring tape. - Jung Seo
• You need to stand behind the black line, not on the black line or on top of it. - James
• You shouldn't run and jump. You need to just stand and jump. - Minh Anh
• We need to take turns so we don't jump into people's area and ruin their jumps. - An Dan

Conducted an Experiment

Our mathematical focus was:

• Compare, order, and describe objects by various measurable attributes for length
• Select and use appropriate tools and units to measure length

Students carried out tests by jumping and measured the length of their jump using centimeter/meter rulers.

Analyzed the Results & Made a Conclusion

Students shared their results and some changed their position on the "Yes" and "No" continuum of our original hypothesis.

• No, Dong Jae is shorter than Nhat Anh, but he jumped further. Paula is very tall, but she made the smallest jump.
• Yes and no because Dong Jae is shorter than Nhat Anh, but if Dong Jae was gone then you can see Nhat Anh jumped further than Aqif and Dan jumped further than Minh Anh and they are both taller. There is a pattern that answers yes, but there are also patterns that answer no.

As a class we brainstormed other questions we could investigate. Students then worked in groups to come up with their own mathematical experiment. 

Math is Everywhere...Even in Stories

My students were posed the following statement:

Math is Everywhere...Even in Stories. Do you agree or disagree? Find Evidence.

See, Think, and Wonder

We watched the story, "Moira's Birthday" by Robert Munsch and students were asked to "see, think, and wonder" if math was present in the story. 

Investigate

Through the use of a story, students were provided a context to solve an open-ended question.

In groups, they worked together to investigate and show evidence of their thinking.

Marketplace Cooperative Sharing Strategy

Taking turns, half of the group "Marketplaced" their knowledge by presenting the strategies they used to solve the problem, while the other half reflected and provided comments on the groups' use of their strategies. 

What's the Big Idea?

Our Big Idea in Math

"Decimals, fractions, and percentages can be represented in a number of ways that have the same value."

Investigate

Second graders investigated this question:

Prove It & Show Evidence

The Pursuit of Curiosity

With Einstein's advice in mind, we thought about how we could use our students' interests and curiosities to initiate learning.

It all started with getting our students to ask questions and to get used to the idea of catching and jotting down any thoughts they had in their mini notebooks or on a Post-it:

We began the conversation with our students by showing curiosity-boosting videos, such as Caine's Arcade and asking:

• What do you want to learn more about?
• What makes you curious?

Students had to think about things they were really into and start a "Heart Map" of passions to explore. 

Then they made a plan on how to gather more information based around their curiosities and passions. A structure was provided to help guide them in their inquiries, but they ultimately decided what questions or passions to explore, and will eventually determine how to share what they have learned.

During this process, students:

• Worked on their research skills
• Browsed the library shelves and learned to use the Dewey Decimal system to gather books about their passion
• Read nonfiction text and used web resources and videos to further their knowledge
• Developed more questions as their inquiry progressed
• Worked on "cave boy/girl" note taking skills by writing down notes in their notebooks

Here's a sampling of student curiosities: 

• Izzy and Theresa have hooked onto the topic of salons and hair dressing, specifically exploring a variety of hairstyles and how to recreate them. 
• Paula's interested in learning more about why people start wars. She's inquiring into World War II. 
• Dan was really motivated after watching, "Caine's Arcade," he's decided to look into the many uses of cardboard and is researching ideas on what to make with cardboard. 
• Amanda's into art and crafts, so she's checked out books about crafting and is now working on a project to do with photo frames and flowers.
• From our last unit, we looked at how the Egyptians used obelisk to measure time. Minh Thu was really excited to further her curiosity of Egypt. With Ms. Sophie, the librarian's help, she was able to find a second-grade friendly book on Egypt. 

Our next steps will probably include:

• Having students share through a curiosity gallery. 
• Improve self-motivation for learning by incorporating curiosity-driven learning into their homework

Confused with Fractions...Great!

We started with the question: 

What comes to your mind when you think of the word fraction, decimal, and percent?

Using their prior knowledge, students generated their ideas through words and pictures. 

• "I've seen decimals and percents in the store." - Dong Jae
• "I remember getting 100% on a test." - TJ
• "I think fractions are sharing because I played a game on the computer one time called Fractions Pizza and I had to share the pizzas in the restaurant." - Minh Thu

Figure It Out

Students were engaged in a fractions, decimals, and percents provocation designed to create confusion. They were tasked to look for connections and similarities or differences between the three. 

During this learning process, students worked on their group decision making skills and had to justify why certain sorts should go together. 

Reflect and Connect

Students reflected on the patterns they noticed between the three and were asked to make connections to create their own understanding using the visible thinking routine: "I used to think, but now I know..."