Video 1 Analysis- "Word Problem Clues"
The Planning
This re-engagement lesson was planned accordingly to Common Core State Standards for 2nd grade, and also kept in mind the CCSSM SMP guidelines. The lesson consisted of 4 separate tasks, some of which involved addition and some which involved subtraction. The core math idea was using addition and subtraction up to 100 to solve word problems. In addition, another core math idea was for students to be able to use their understanding of place value in order to assist them in adding and subtracting for the word problems. Ms. Lewis, the teacher of the 2nd graders shown, made note in the planning period beforehand that her students had a tendency to just assume they were adding in all word problems. She believed this was due to the fact that they had focused so much on addition during 1st grade and the beginning parts of 2nd. Many of her students did not even read word problems, and instead automatically added the numbers within the problem. When she would ask these students why, they would have no response to back up their chosen process. This was a clear indication to Ms. Lewis that additional work on adding and subtracting in word problems was needed. She also made note that she promotes her students to use words, numbers, and pictures in all of their word problems. However, she noticed that the first time this lesson was done, many of her students had words, numbers, and pictures but they did not correlate to one another. The plan for the lesson was to discuss problems 1 and 2 as a class, and then break out so students could change or add to these problems and also look at problems 3 and 4.
The Lesson
The lesson began on the carpet with all of the students. Ms. Lewis reminded students of the problems they did recently, and explained that they were going to look at those again. She had several examples of actual student work blown up onto chart paper. In the first sample, the student used numbers and words to show how they solved the first question. They got the right answer; however, their numbers did not match their sentence. Ms. Lewis used this to show how your words, numbers, and pictures all have to connect to each other and say the same thing. In the second problem, this student added the two numbers together instead of subtracting. This was a common error among all of the students. The second student example used pictures, words, and numbers for the first problem. They got the right answer; however, their three items did not align with each other. Their picture did not display how they found their answer. In the second problem, they also used a picture. This time, they did find the right answer and the words, numbers, and pictures seemed to align better. At this point, the kids were becoming very restless, so Ms. Lewis had them move to their desks. She explained that they were going to get photocopies of their work back. They had the option of using a blue pen and making changes/additions on their photocopied sheets OR they could work on a new, blank worksheet. First, though, students were to form a dyad with a table partner to discuss what they did and why. Students did this for a bit, and gave feedback to each other about strategies and answers. Students worked on the two problems that were discussed, and some also went on to look at problems 3 and 4. Ms. Lewis helped many of the students who still seemed unable to grasp the concept. Some students seemed to be getting a better grasp on the idea, but others were still struggling.
Faculty Debriefing
Once the faculty joined together again after the lesson, Ms. Lewis made some points about the lesson. She believed that it definitely did not go as she planned. She felt that she ran out of time, and more time would have been beneficial to her. She was happy, although, with the high amount of participation and willingness of her students to admit if they were lost or confused. She explained that one of her goals moving forward was to have her students realize that their words, numbers, and pictures ALL need to be connected to one another. She wants her students to look back at all of these elements and make sure they all lead to the right answer. Her students have these 3 items instilled in their heads, but often have them representing different things. Ms. Lewis also said that she would have liked to show more student samples, including one that utilized a number line. There are multiple strategies that could be used to solve each of these problems, and Ms. Lewis said that she really wanted to emphasize these to her students.
Overall Thoughts
I thought that this was a very interesting video to watch. It was clear that many of the students automatically assumed that all of the word problems involved addition. Even after reading the problems, many still believed addition was the process to be used. I thought it was interesting how Ms. Lewis' students knew to focus on "code words" for processes, like "how many more" meaning subtraction. I read an article recently saying that teachers should deemphasize the use of these "code words" because they are not always correct in suggesting the process that should be used. I think that Ms. Lewis did an excellent job of explaining throughout, and allowed for students to do a lot of the thinking. Her students definitely need to focus on reading word problems carefully, and breaking them down into the most important pieces.
The Lesson
The lesson began on the carpet with all of the students. Ms. Lewis reminded students of the problems they did recently, and explained that they were going to look at those again. She had several examples of actual student work blown up onto chart paper. In the first sample, the student used numbers and words to show how they solved the first question. They got the right answer; however, their numbers did not match their sentence. Ms. Lewis used this to show how your words, numbers, and pictures all have to connect to each other and say the same thing. In the second problem, this student added the two numbers together instead of subtracting. This was a common error among all of the students. The second student example used pictures, words, and numbers for the first problem. They got the right answer; however, their three items did not align with each other. Their picture did not display how they found their answer. In the second problem, they also used a picture. This time, they did find the right answer and the words, numbers, and pictures seemed to align better. At this point, the kids were becoming very restless, so Ms. Lewis had them move to their desks. She explained that they were going to get photocopies of their work back. They had the option of using a blue pen and making changes/additions on their photocopied sheets OR they could work on a new, blank worksheet. First, though, students were to form a dyad with a table partner to discuss what they did and why. Students did this for a bit, and gave feedback to each other about strategies and answers. Students worked on the two problems that were discussed, and some also went on to look at problems 3 and 4. Ms. Lewis helped many of the students who still seemed unable to grasp the concept. Some students seemed to be getting a better grasp on the idea, but others were still struggling.
Faculty Debriefing
Once the faculty joined together again after the lesson, Ms. Lewis made some points about the lesson. She believed that it definitely did not go as she planned. She felt that she ran out of time, and more time would have been beneficial to her. She was happy, although, with the high amount of participation and willingness of her students to admit if they were lost or confused. She explained that one of her goals moving forward was to have her students realize that their words, numbers, and pictures ALL need to be connected to one another. She wants her students to look back at all of these elements and make sure they all lead to the right answer. Her students have these 3 items instilled in their heads, but often have them representing different things. Ms. Lewis also said that she would have liked to show more student samples, including one that utilized a number line. There are multiple strategies that could be used to solve each of these problems, and Ms. Lewis said that she really wanted to emphasize these to her students.
Overall Thoughts
I thought that this was a very interesting video to watch. It was clear that many of the students automatically assumed that all of the word problems involved addition. Even after reading the problems, many still believed addition was the process to be used. I thought it was interesting how Ms. Lewis' students knew to focus on "code words" for processes, like "how many more" meaning subtraction. I read an article recently saying that teachers should deemphasize the use of these "code words" because they are not always correct in suggesting the process that should be used. I think that Ms. Lewis did an excellent job of explaining throughout, and allowed for students to do a lot of the thinking. Her students definitely need to focus on reading word problems carefully, and breaking them down into the most important pieces.
Very nice thorough summary and reflection:) Thanks!
ReplyDelete