April.30, 07: Teaching Block Day 15

I read a story to the clas last Friday called "The Puddles", and I planned to do the puddles experiment with them today. I showed them how to do it -- choose someone from their group to pour water onto a styrofoam plate, draw a circle around the puddle with marker, then pick a safe location to put their plate. However, my circle was already smudged when I brought it over to the window, even when I walked really carefully. So, one student suggested that we move the plate to where we want it to be first, then we can draw the circle. That way, it won't smudge! I think it's a great idea, so we decided to do that. Sometimes, students give really good suggestions, and they are very happy that we accept their ideas. They worked in groups of four, and only one or two arguments came up. I'm feeling more comfortable to let them work in groups now.

In the afternoon, I taught them how to make change with money. I have been changing the prices of the washroom passes, drinking pass and the items that they are allowed to buy in the morning and during Math lesson. The prices went up when I wanted them to count greater amounts, but I lowered them today because I want to teach them how to make change. They only had nickels in their banks, and the things that they purchase range from 1 cent to 4 cents, so they require change for every item they buy. In the beginning, after I explained how it works, a lot of students said that they didn't get it. Then I went on to show more examples, and I had students buy things and think aloud to make the change. Before I asked them to work on pretend buying with their partners, most of them got it.

When I walked around to see how they were doing, they were thinking aloud the way I did during the lesson, and I was very impressed. They were processing the information and thinking while they play and enjoy themselves. I had a worksheet for them, but I didn't want to rush into it before they fully understand the concept, so I'll push that to tomorrow instead.