9-14-06

September 14: Do a story problem based on a story told by a child. (A good practice to follow all year). For example, Kyana told a story about winning a fish at a wedding. I asked, “Who has fish at home?” I chose 3 children whose total fish added up to 10.

I drew fish tanks for each child’s house and put inside it how many fish they said they had. Then I asked, “How many fish do Kiana and Justin and Tim have altogether?” Children showed their answer on their fingers (I didn’t call on individual children until I saw everyone’s answer on their fingers -- remind them not to look at each other’s fingers.)

Then ask, “How many //groups// of fish are there?” Many children will still answer 10. Re-state the question: “How many tanks with fish in them are there?” Keep using the language of //groups// interspersed with the language of tanks. Repeat the questions, alternating between asking how many //fish// there are and how many //groups// of fish there are. Call on individual children at this point. They can come up and count on the board if they need help to answer the questions.