Our first
observation was in a Year 4-5 class who were just starting their fractions
unit. The teacher had a problem up on the IWB which she had had up before
school started. This was a table with different names for fraction. The kids read
through these and made it a goal to learn any they don’t know by the end of the
week (she stated they will build on the activity by playing a game the next
day). She then spent 10 minutes with a whole class teaching session on how to
say fractions and what the numerator and denominator represent. Children did
think pair share during this time with the teacher also roaming through and
picking up on the children who don’t say much.
Next the
children split of into their groups to do work sheets and multiplication
practice. The teacher introduced the children to a sheet they were working on,
gave them the instructions and started the activity. What I really liked about
the activity was that it was hands on, engaging and the children were still
sharing their thinking to the group. The teacher asked lots of open ended
questions and if the children didn’t give her enough information she prompted
them for more – something I need to work on.
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| Activity for Guided Maths. |
The second
observation was in a Year 2-3 class and had more behaviours that I could
compare to my class. The same thing, she was just beginning a fractions unit
and had done her testing last week to group her class. This started with some
whole class teaching around what equal sharing is and what the numerator and
denominator represent.
The first
group were given different shapes of paper and asked to fold them in half. They
had a lot of rich discussion around what half is and how do we no etc. I also
really like that if children weren’t explaining the strategy she would ask them
for more, jotting these down in the modelling book. The shapes the children had
folded were then stapled into the modelling book.
The second
group was given a question: “A farmer has 5 paddock and 25 animals, he wants to
put the same amount of animals into each paddock”. Children were then required
to explain their thinking and then they had a discussion around this (teaching
asked open questions). Children glued these into their math books and will do
the same question at the end of the unit to see the learning they have done.
Class ended
with a quick check in with children sharing what they have learnt for the day.
This is something I want to get in the habit of.
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| Another idea to document my classes learning |
I look forward to seeing the changes and progress that you will make in your maths lessons this term.
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