Monday 15 July 2013

A new book in the mail AND a crafty sort of day!

Can it get any better?
A new book (another math one!) and a craft project completed!

Here is the book. I went to a conference last month led by Peter Sullivan and it was fabulous. So I ordered the book and I am going to dedicate one maths lesson a week to his problem solving approach.

Sorry about the glare! It's written by Peter Sullivan and Pat Lilburn who are both big names in maths teaching, plus it's published by Marilyn Burns/Scholastic.
The blurb says:
"I have $36 in my pocket. What bills and coins might I have?"
"How many different shaped rectangles can you make using 12 square tiles?"
"Thought provoking questions, like the ones above, can transform classrooms into dynamic learning environments. Open-ended questions, coined 'good questions' by Peter Sullivan and Pat Lilburn, pompt children to think creatively and critically. This useful book helps teachers define good questions, offers tips on how to create their own good questions, and includes a wide variety of questions for use in the classroom. Organised by subject area and grade group."

I am looking forward to using this book. Even better, several teachers from my school went to this conference and we have all be talking about it and experimenting with the approach.


Now, onto my craft. Yesterday I was at the local craft superstore and as I was wandering around I found a wooden cube, designed for photos. It was marked down to $5. Score! I had been planning on making or buying some story cubes for a while, but wasn't sure what I could use to make them with. I know some people use milk cartons but I didn't think they would be sturdy enough.

This was better. I am going to use it during Show and Tell time with my littlies. I only allow them to bring a book for Show and Tell time and last term I had let them ask each other questions about the books. Unfortunately, their questions were limited to "Do you like it?", "What is your favourite colour in it?" and "Where did you get it?". Most of the time the answer would be a mumbled "I forgot". Sigh. So it is time to model and teach how to ask a good question about a book. This links well with my upcoming focus on comprehension strategies. The cube has 6 words which I will use to frame a question. The words are: character, setting, emotion, start, problem, end. (I couldn't fit the word "beginning" in!)

Here are some photos - super easy! And I apologise - my OCD self is upset because the cube actually had a slant on one side so it isn't very straight and symmetrical. Also, if I made it again I would type and cut out the words instead of using stickers because I think it would be neater.

I used scrapbooking paper, black electrical tape, clear contact and glue. It SHOULD without 6 year olds handling it!











Feel free to use this idea! The possibilities are endless!

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