We are a very small school, but our hearts are so overflowing for our students. I have approximately 80 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students in and out of my room daily for math. We love new experiences and seeing the many ways to solve real world problems.
My students are learning there isn't one way to solve a math problem, but many.
They are very curious young minds and I love to see their smiling faces when their understanding comes full circle.
My Project
We start every math class off with a Math Talk. I give them a multi-step real world math problem that they must solve. Their first step to a Math Talk is for the student to think on his or her own. It is our quiet time. Trust me they have their time to talk and be excited about the issues at hand. We then turn and talk with our neighbors about how we solved the problem of the day. What steps did each other take? Did we solve it the same way? Did we get the same answer?
Last we come together as a class a discuss our findings.
The journals will help my students keep track of their thoughts and their neighbors. We will also be able to write down any notes from our whole class discussion. I want my students to be able to look back at these journals for guidance as we move forward with more challenging problems.
These journal will become an everyday resource for my students. They will be one more tool to better the math minds of all 80 of my students. I can not wait to receive these journals in my classroom and get started!
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Hedges and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
