Monday, January 26, 2015

Math Monday - If You Listen, Then...



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I haven't had to teach telling time for the past ten years.  As I began looking for resources I visited one of my online favorites georgiastandards.org and discovered their unit Understanding Measurement, Length, and Time.  The lesson Building a Number Line Clock peaked my interest right away and I began asking all sorts of questions.  What does this look like?  How would you use it?  I wonder if it makes a connection between something they know to something new?  As I read the lesson, I got very excited about the connections between a number line and an analog clock and couldn't wait to launch our unit on telling time by building our own number line clocks.


Together we built this number line counting the squares per rectangle.  A student thought it looked like a clock.

We took that suggestion and converted our number line.



Each student then built their own transitional clock.  As I listened while they worked, I was intrigued by the happy comments.  A little girl kept repeating, "This is so much fun!"  Another little boy was saying to a neighbor, "This is the best day ever!"  They kept repeating it over and over for almost ten minutes.  As I pondered why they were so excited about this math lesson, I realized they were truly happy.  They were truly engaged with numbers.  They were creating something new and different to construct knowledge.  This is how I want math workshop to sound, feel, and look.  A workshop filled with joy, conversation, and action.  By listening, I know how my students want their math workshop to sound, feel and look.


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1 comment:

  1. Maybe they were also happy because you were giving them power over their world -- the tools with which to make sense of an analog clock.

    Smart ol' Georgia -- a clock number line! Brilliant!

    I'm in with some thoughts (as I graded and analyzed a fractions pre-test) about assessments that drive instruction.

    http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2015/01/math-monday-catchphrases.html

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