February Update
My third grade class has grown over the past few months. They have learned how to access their CPS gmail accounts and have explored Google Drive by using it to collaborate with peers to make their learning visual and public. They applied one of the major math concepts studied during the fall and winter by creating a Google Slide presentation. Students had never heard of Google Slides prior to this project. They were amazed at the ability to collaborate simultaneously on a Google Slide together. Students worked in small groups of 4-5 and created a 7 slide presentation on animals that travel in groups. This project merged science, math, and technology. The science including animal life. Students counted groups and created multiplication word problems for the animals. Students used technology to research and present their findings. Below is a short video of their collaboration on their projects.
March Updates
My ImagineIt project provides students with daily activities that require collaboration. Students look forward to collaborating in Math Talks. Our math talks have evolved since the fall. Isolated math equations were used to prompt student discourse. Math Talks now are created using science questions that require calculations. These science topics include math computation which are gradually released daily. One science topic is divided into five parts which is cover over five days. Exploring one science topic over a week allows deep exploration as opposed to surface breath. Students used five days to analyzed data from one science experiment measuring elapsed time. Here is parts of the question using Pearson Realize Envisions Math curriculum.
The math talk above is more comprehensive than a traditional math talk that would have asked how much time has elapsed from 1:00pm to 11:27am. In addition to changing the rigor of the question, I have also changed the procedure of the math talk. Students have corner conversations about the questions which engages everyone instead of the former method which selected a few students to share out.