AIMS Primarily Pro-bear-bility

Our class is currently studying data analysis and probability, and this is one of my favorite units because there are so many amazing lesson ideas that are very hands-on.

There are several lessons I enjoy from AIMS, and this one comes from the AIMS Solve-It! 4th Grade book. Here's the deal: You can download the lesson and the cute handouts for $2 directly from the aimsedu.org site. One thing I enjoy about this lesson is hearing the conversations the kids have while doing the activity. The language is mathematically rich, and the format never allows them to "tune out" while a partner is doing their turn.

The lesson, which uses teddy bear counters (but could be done with linkercubes), is a great lesson in the concepts and language of probability. You give small groups different opaque bags -- i.e., lunchbags -- filled with 12 teddy bear counters. Each bag has a different amount of yellow or green counters, and the bag is labeled with the amount of each color. For example, a bag may say "11 yellow, 1 green."

The kids then use the amazing AIMS handouts to record predictions as they and their partners keep pulling out one bear at a time. The handout helps them track what has already been drawn and what is left. Each time, they make a guess, color in a bear on the handout, then draw a bear from the bag and record the actual color selected. The key is that they'll refine their guesses with each bear pulled out of the bag.

After doing this activity with three different bags, the students are then asked to create bags with different probabilities. For instance, 12 bears in the bag. Create a bag where it is unlikely (not impossible) that a green bear would be drawn. They have four guidelines to create their own bear bags.

Then the class has an individual check-in assessment about the terms: likely, certain, unlikely, and impossible -- all using hypothetical scenarios. There is also a handout with analysis questions that really get them thinking about the process. I usually front-load them with the languages using the great picture book, It's Probably Penny, by Loreen Leedy.

You can set up a lesson along these lines...but for two dollars, AIMS has a great PDF formatted lesson plan with handouts ready to go.

Fair Ways to Pick Teams

As I'm not a P.E. teacher, I struggle with the issue of playground games. My students came to me this year, bothered by P.E. time and recess games of basketball and kickball. This week, I held a brief class meeting -- okay, not so brief -- where the kids shared their concerns and feelings about their experiences in team sports.

As you can imagine, about 3/4 of the class talked about incidents of being picked last or almost last, or how it feels when someone groans or rolls their eyes when a non-athletic person gets put on their team or comes up to home plat. A few gifted athletes don't relate...team selection has always reinforced their faith in their talents, although one boy discussed the pressure of being "good" -- because their teammates EXPECT them to be good every single time. "And I'm not perfect. I'm good, but not perfect. If I make a mistake, they seem like I let them down, and I'm not sure everyone understands that pressure."

So I promised to Google on their behalf, because (gasp) I don't have all the answers. I loathe picking teams like that, but I need to give them quick strategies to get kids placed on teams without me doing "eeny meeny."

Here's one I found that seemed promising. I'll present it to the class on Friday, and promised to share our discoveries with the P.E. teacher:

Ten Unique Ways to Pick Teams Without Discouraging Children

There is a surprising LACK of websites that cover this topic, and that seems odd, because it is truly a universal problem. If anybody out there has more ideas, I'd love -- love -- love to see them.

By the way, there are loads of ways to assign groups in the classroom for partner or small group work, but I'm on the lookout for P.E./Recess ideas for two-team game selection that doesn't waste time deciding teams or leave kids dreading physical activity because of the humiliation of not being a sought after team member.

Just for Giggles

On yard duty yesterday, one of the girls in first grade ran up to me. Indignant would be the most accurate description. "Joey and Alex are saying mean things!"

"Hon, I need you to be specific. What exactly did they say?"

"They're saying I have boyfriends!" [tone reads: Those rude meanies went straight for the jugular]

"Well," in my quest teach that oh-so-valuaorble life lessons of ignoring wrong/inaccurate information, "DO you have boyfriends?"

With a huff and two arms thrown up in the air to signify the ridiculousness of the accusations by Joey and Alex, she turns and walks away. Shaking her head and turned slightly toward me, she mumbles, "Only one!"

"Read to the Moon"

Having just done our Read-a-Thon (see below), I think it's time for our final quarter's reading incentive: Read to the Moon.


The moon, on average, is about 239,000 miles from Earth -- it does change, but I go with 239,000 miles for the purpose of this activity.

I tell the kids the goal is to get the rocket to the moon, and it is fueled by reading time.

For every 20 minute increment of reading, the kids earn 500 miles for our rocket. However, this is a group effort...we calculate our miles by pooling all of those minutes. I really like the teamwork component of this activity, because every classmate is contributing. Yes, some more than others, but as the kids see the progress, the motivation ramps up quickly. The past two years, some of the kids who didn't read much in the beginning were cheered over when they starting racking up more minutes...and miles.

You have two options, depending on your philosophy:
1. Create one master chart using a poster board grid chart...add a sticker on the chart for every 20 minutes read...but don't label it by individual students.
2. Use the same kind of chart, but give each kid several rows for individual results which can then be calculated together with their classmates.

I send home a note explaining this, and then we begin. Each student has a record sheet, and a parent -- or me, if it happens at school -- signs off on it to verify the amount of time read. It's a weekly sheet they store in their binder, and at the end of the week, they total up all the minutes with a calculator (a skill I like to teach when adding lots and lots of addends). They then round the weekly total to the nearest 20-minute increment. Each Monday, we read the total and add the stickers to the chart -- and I hope you choose them with a space theme -- counting by 20s together.

We have a lunar landing party at the end of the activity (shortly after they reach 239K miles), and we eat astronaut ice cream as a taste test, and eat rocket lollipops. There are other details, but I'll leave it to your fabulous creativity (though share if you are willing, in the comments section).

Of course, all sorts of math strategies appear during the process (finding out how many rows are complete, how many squares are in a row, and then multiplying, for instance). Don't forget rounding.

I have done this for the past two years, and year number three is upon us. The first year, I had 14 students, so we reached the moon in shortly over 6 weeks. You can use this time to teach about moon stages or space in general. I simply enjoy the space theme, and there are tons of cheap materials out there to go along with it.

If you want to move from beyond simple and practical, you COULD have the kids help you do the math to create a scale model of the distance from earth to moon and then move a rocket along the wall for a visual of the process. Me, I need simple, but YOU could be the Martha Stewart of Read to the Moon!

Ready? Three...two...one...BLAST OFF!!!

Today's Data Analysis

Last week, we did a Read-a-Thon, which is a school fundraiser where students read as much as possible in one week. They compete for prizes for most books read, the longest book read, and most donations. Because we're third grade, though, I added an extra competition for most MINUTES read. That way, students were rewarded for the most reading done...no matter their level, and not encouraging students to choose skinny books or avoid a more challenging book.

Today, we had each child total up the number of minutes read at home and in class, and they were required to get two other classmates to check their math and sign off that they agree the calculations were correct. Then the data analysis began. I'm always trying to review for them concepts in a way that relates to their world. This contest has been a focal point for over a week.

I simply recorded the raw data on the chart paper, in no particular order. Each student gave me an index card with their total number of minutes read and the two signatures of classmates who agree with their number. Then we determined the following:

There was a huge range (least number of minutes read: 195; greatest number of minutes: 1,071). By the way, the winner was apparently waking up at 4:30 AM to get in extra reading time. His mom said she'd get up to go to the bathroom, and he had his reading light on...

There was no mode (remember that if no number repeat, write, "no mode," not "0").

They also identified the mean and median. We then discussed why there were so few people who read "above the average." In our case, the top two readers skewed the data heavily. The median helped in this case. All good talking points...

All told, our 17 students read 100 hours and 32 minutes. That's slightly over four solid days -- and yes, we used a calculator to find out the grand total!

Creative Mathematics Has New Color Posters

If you've read my posts for a while, you know that my favorite math resources are from Kim Sutton's Creative Mathematics. The big news is that she's come out with color posters!

I use a lot of these posters, which I've laminated. My favorite is the Challenge Number Properties chart, which we use each morning. [If you don't understand digital root, e-mail me at bookbelle (at) sbcglobal (dot) net.] You can buy it for $6, but it can be split with another teacher friend, since there are two printed on one poster board.

You can write on them with dry erase markers. But don't forget that if you ever accidentally use a Sharpie, you can use Lectric Shave Original Aftershave to remove permanent marker lickety split. It's the best kept secret in teaching!

Alliteration Brainstorming Sheet

With Children's Poetry Month just around the corner, I was thinking about alliteration. Usually, I begin with reading the book Some Smug Slug, by Pamela Duncan Edwards. We play with tongue twisters, and then we work in pairs to generate alliterations of our very own.

Read, Write, Think -- one of my favorite resources for language arts -- has a great handout to use for brainstorming. It was copyrighted in 2005, but may be reproduced for classroom use.

Enjoy!

Pair Up with a Law School for Your Mock Trial

Despite the initial concerns of the dean, who wasn't sure if third graders would behave appropriately in the moot courtroom, we made our field trip happen.

Last summer, I downloaded a free script for a mock trial -- a civil case brought by Big Bad Wolf, claiming that Curly Pig is guilty of attempted wolf poaching (boiling...). The American Bar Association offers several scripts as part of their education/outreach program. As it turns out, several parents in our classroom are lawyers, and one mom occasionally serves as a Judge Pro Tem. I recruited her help in making this experience as accurate as possible (She later explained this case would never go to trial in California, because of our home invasion statutes..."Make My Day" laws, if you will). However, it was an amazing experience.

After some arm twisting, the law school allowed us to use their moot courtroom, and they ended up being so tickled by the experience that they posted an article on their website. Life lesson #429: When you hear the word "no," write a very persuasive e-mail to the highest possible level of an organization. The old me would have hung up the phone sadly, and found a way to rearrange desks in the classroom. The new me sends an e-mail to the Dean, outlining all the benefits for the children, a link to the American Bar Association website, and highlights the outreach opportunity he has...reminding him of the importance of events like this in setting an implicit expectation for higher education.

The new me got a yes e-mail from the dean TEN minutes after I sent my plea. I think, however, he said yes simply to avoid reading the entire e-mail :)

If you decide to try this field trip, be warned that several lessons are necessary ahead of time to help the kids understand the terms and significance of events in the trial. Also, the jury has a really tricky task. In third grade, they're still a little young developmentally to grasp how a jury must review the evidence. I had to bite my tongue a few times, even though we prepped and prepped...it's simply hard for them to truly "get." But in third grade, even if they don't FULLY grasp it, they still are learning scores of valuable lessons.

Please consider trying this...You can take it much further, with costumes and such. We had to pull the final date together quickly because of transportation and law school scheduling constraints, but I can't express what a memorable experience this was for the kids and parents!

P.S. The mom who served as judge was in the center of the photo, wearing black. I'm the goober over on the rear left. :)

Global Economics, Geography, and Graphing

This lesson, inspired by a lesson designed by Kim Sutton, is one I recently used to integrate several standards. My version includes creating a graph in Excel, which my students were introduced to last October when they graphed their Halloween candy haul. You could modify it to use a handmade graph, but I really enjoy the technology component.

In trying to reinforce the idea that some goods are made locally, but we also use goods from abroad, I start with a "shoe" lesson. Each student takes off one shoe and we look for the label which identifies where it was made. For giggles, we went to the principal and the school secretary as well. We wrote down each country and made tally marks.

In Kim Sutton's lesson, she uses a large world map on either a shower curtain or a piece of fabric, and each student puts a tiny plastic person (available from Lakeshore) on that country. I don't have either items, so we sat and looked at the globe, while also discussing hemispheres, etc.

The second session of this lesson took place in the computer lab, where each student used Excel to create a graph with that information. We went over title, labels, capitalization, and more. They made two graphs -- one with a bar graph and one with a pie graph -- as different ways to represent the same data.

That night, for homework, they were to ask to examine each family member's outfit for labels. If they couldn't find a legible label, they were to write, "Source Unknown." They also took home a world map and a Xerox of a world map, so they could color in the countries they discovered.

This year, my class of 18 students came back with 34 countries represented. The geography lesson alone was amazing. We had clothing from six different continents, and we discussed why, out of 165 articles of clothing, only nine pieces were made domestically. For additional math, we represented some of the data as fractions.

Again, we returned to the computer lab, this time much more confident in our graph-making skills. The conversations these students had, both formally, and in the computer lab as they developed their graphs, showed that they were able to connect with the concepts at a deeper level.