Addition and Subtraction Strategies Math Huddle (Bansho) Lesson

We have been doing a WHOLE lot of adding and subtracting in my class these days! Whew. Here is a look at some of the things we have been doing. (This post is very picture heavy.)

Addition and Subtraction Anchor charts.

Addition and Subtraction Math Huddles

We started with these 2 questions, the first was designed to get the students thinking about regrouping and the second was a typical addition word problem. 

My math huddles are set up so that the students have a minds on (Getting Started) type question that we discuss together. Then we share the lesson problem and often discuss possible strategies together. 

Then I send them out to work on it...usually in pairs or groups. 

I post up most of my student's own work and use that as the teaching point for discussions. 

If there are any gaps then I fill in with what I want the students to learn. 

I often recopy my student's examples so it is a little easier for everyone to read and on the day after the "Working on It" we revisit the learning and annotate the learning. **This can also happen right on the day of working provided that students are able to reach the solutions to the problems within the class time. **

Once we started to feel good with the addition strategies we moved on to subtraction, and the lesson cycle repeats again. 

Getting Started

Lesson Problem

Working On It- this was added underneath the addition examples from our earlier lessons

Finally, anchor charts of big ideas are created or shared. I actually used the annotations on each strategy as the big ideas for this math huddle and then posted these anchor charts that I found online at the Jordan School District. 

And now we practice!! Even though the majority of my Grade 3 students are proficient using the traditional regrouping algorithm for 3-digit addition and subtraction I have insisted that they practice all 5 strategies we studied. It's amazing how many of them have memorized the steps but are unable to communicate their knowledge of place value by using a variety of strategies. The work continues!!

Using a T-chart to Solve Patterns- Math Huddle

I'm loving Math Huddles these days...things have gotten a little too busy for Math Workshop, and I am sad about that. I hope to get back to it soon. But in the meantime, Math Stretches and Math Huddle marches on!

My class has been working on patterning- creating, extending, describing etc. Since it is a testing year in Grade 3, we are also working on using a T-chart to solve patterns since one of these questions seems to always end up on the test. Plus, it's a great strategy for the kids to have in their toolbox. 

Here's the kids' work samples...I love the t-chart and the picture on this one.

This group extended their t-chart waaaaaaay past what was asked in the question, which was okay because it lead to a discussion of reasonable answers. 

This group started by drawing flowers, and when I asked them why they had no idea...so we re-visited the question and that's when they realized the question was about a fence not flowers! Hmmm?

Happy Mathing!

Using a Math Huddle to Teach Workshop Skills

If you have been following me for awhile now and reading my posts you already know all about my love for the three-part lesson and math huddles.

Love them!

This year as we are starting up our Math Workshop I decided to try something new and use the same Math Huddle framework to teach a concept that will be the cornerstone of our Math Workshop program....Math Talk!

Here is a picture of the finished Math Huddle board. It's such a nice clean way to organize the student work and create an interactive anchor chart.

This was my class' first experience with a Math Huddle and they did a bang up job (if I do say so myself!). We had been slowing moving through the parts of our Math Workshop and talking a lot about the expectations for each area. 

As the Minds On for this Math Huddle I simply displayed the poster for the Helping Others component of our Math Workshop and had the students turn and talk about what we would be doing during this time. 

Then I posted a simple problem that I thought the students could handle but would still need to take some time to really think about. I also wanted an open-routed problem so that my students would be able to use a variety of strategies to solve it.

BUT here is the most important part....it doesn't really matter what type of problem you use, or if you even talk about the problem, which I didn't. 

The focus of this Math Huddle was actually the math talk that would be happening during the problem solving stage. 

You can see here that I posted all my students' work up on the board but we never actually looked at it. Normally during a Math Huddle I would have students present their work, discuss their strategies and make anecdotal notes on the board to help other students stretch their thinking. 

This time, however, we focused on Math Talk. I posted this anchor chart in the Key Ideas and Highlights section. We had previously completed the section that has the question- "What is good math talk?" but had not yet done the chart at the bottom.

After the students complete their first Math Huddle we discussed their feelings and what they thought of the experience. 

Then we created this Looks Like/ Sounds Like/ Feels Like chart together.

My favourite part...Students loving math!

Sigh.

How do you promote good math talk in your class?

A Peek into My Class...The First Weeks Back From My Maternity Leave

No, I didn't forget about you guys and my little ol' blog over here. I just didn't quite anticipate how much more juggling there would be with 2 kids and going back to work. Add in an entire new focus on working out and getting fit (I'm talking 7 days a week) and there just isn't enough time in the day!

I have some pictures of my class to share and I promise to try and be back more regularly to share....

Fingers crossed.

The start of our lesson on "Just-Right" books...notice that the t-shirts are all different sizes. 

Finished posters to be posted soon!

Our carpet and Morning Math Meeting area. 

Class library

Bulletin boards

 (I love that I painted them black!)

More carpet area

View of the room from the back corner. 

Our first Math Huddle....success!

We focused on math talk and didn't worry too much about the actual math being done (good thing...) and it went super well.

We've done a second one since that I want to post about soon. 

Close up of the Math Huddle board. 

Anchor created during the Math Huddle...notice where it says "kids loving math"?

Totally their input.

Love it.

Turn a card behaviour system used school-wide. 

Small group meeting area...under construction as well are still getting our routines in place.

View of the whole room. 

And that's where the magic happens folks!

I have promised myself that I will set time aside for blogging...and I will do it.

If I don't- can you all drop me a line and yell at me?

Thanks!

Guided Math- Chapter 4

I can not believe how much I am re-learning by re-reading this book and my old posts!

It's been a very interesting journey so far and I am very thankful to Amanda from The Primary Gal for allowing me to take part in this book study. 

Once again you'll find my original thoughts in pink italics below with my new thoughts in black. 

This is a bit of a longer post but if you hang in there you'll find a freebie at the end!

So teaching the whole class, eh? Yep, that's kind of been my style. This is the first-ish year that I have taught math. I taught it for 4 months only last year before I went on mat leave so this was my first full year of being a math teacher. To my surprise, I really enjoyed it. I worked hard to use problem based learning as much as possible and to work with small groups when I could. I was learning as I went to I can honestly say that I didn't work with small groups as much as I should have and I probably used worksheets far too often. But that's the whole point of reading and participating in this book study right? To get better at teaching!

Working with small groups has definitely become the norm in my math class after reading this book for the first time 2 years ago. I can't say that I officially have a guided math/math workshop program in place but it's getting there. I found that switching grades and attempting to implement guided math was too much to do all at the same time.

This coming year will be my second year in Grade 3 and my 4th year teaching math so I think it's finally time to really focus on having a Math Workshop program.

To that end I started a series of posts back in the winter outlining my plans. If you are new to Thinking of Teaching (welcome!) you can follow the links below to check out my posts. The series isn;t finished yet, although it's been a wile since I posted, I do plan to go back and add more posts. 

Math Workshop Series 

Part 1- Getting Started

Part 2- What Will It Look Like?

Part 3- Organizing Your Math Workshop Materials (and a freebie!)

Part 4a- The Three-Part Lesson

Part 4b- Example Three-Part Lesson

Part 5- Written Communication

The Three-Part Lesson is by far my favourite way to teach a whole class, especially when it ends with a Math Huddle...or a Bansho as it's called in Japan. 

I have several example posts of Math Huddles I have done in my class-

Sorting by Two and Three Attributes

Math Problem Solving

Using a T-chart to Solve Patterns

Addition and Subtraction Strategies

Two years ago I wrote this...

On page 108, Sammons writes "Even experienced teachers using  whole-class instruction often find that the lesson goes over the heads of some students, leading to passivity and lack of attention, while failing to challenge others, leading to boredom." YEP.

The one thing I have learned is that no matter how great your lesson or your activity- there is always someone who has no idea what you just taught!

And that's where the guided portion of Math Workshop comes in.

Some standout moments-

* Mini-lessons: good for setting the tone and introducing concepts, can be used to summarize the learning that took place, no more than 10 minutes, identify the teaching point, demonstrates/models strategy, students try out strategy in a brief guided practice, teachers need to provide activities for those students who quickly finish so they are actively involved in further learning, end off by reminding students to remember the strategy and link to future work when possible

Love doing mini-lessons, especially when I notice a mis-conception that is common through the entire class as well as when I notice that my students are really getting something...then it's time to push them even further. 

* Word Splashes: I have often used this to start off a math topic and I think it is because of my literacy background, you always go to where you are most comfortable! I have always had my students create the word splash with me, however, I have not presented it to them all at once. That will be something new to try. 

I kind of forgot how much I love Word Splashes....gotta do more of these in the new school year. 

* Math Related Children's Literature:  This is a huge goal for me. I really want to focus on this next year and tie in math related literature as often as possible.

Still a goal...sigh.

Don't you wish you could just do everything?

* Math Huddle:  This has been a focus for my school in the past few years as we have worked towards a problem based teaching model. Our province has been promoting a teaching method known as bansho, which comes from Japan. I like the name Math Huddle much better! This is also a goal for me. I want to be more comfortable discussing my student's math understandings on the fly and in class as their problem solving takes place. I like the idea that students are "held accountable for expressing their ideas and listening thoughtfully to each other and justifying their mathematical thinking". 

As I stated above...LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

And now for the freebie(s)!

In the winter I completed a course on teaching mathematics to primary/junior students and I was required to create three three-part lessons (say that three times fast!) for my final assignment. It's based on the Ontario Mathematics Curriculum for Grade 3 but if you know your own curriculum well enough I'm sure you'll be able to see if they are usable/adaptable for you. They might also just be good to look at for an example of how to plan a three-part lesson for your whole class. 

Click HERE to download the lessons. 

If you head over to my TPT store you'll also be able to download a free Three-Part Lesson Plan Template. 

Don't forget to check out all the other posts by my fellow book study hosts....

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