2017 March Archive - Mathematics and Science in SD#38 (Richmond)

Archive for March, 2017

Vision, Mission and Values Project at Thompson Elementary

Posted on: March 20th, 2017 by jnovakowski

The Richmond School District is embarking on a legacy project, developing new Vision, Mission and Values statements for our district. Teachers were invited to engage in discussions with their students and collect artifacts to contribute to the district process of creating new VMV statements. Two intermediate classes and their teachers from Thompson agreed to do some special filming for a district video for this legacy project.

At the beginning of January, I was able to meet with classroom teachers Lyanne McCaskill (grades 5&6) and Kevin Dimmick (grades 6&7) to plan how this project might unfold. The teachers put a lot of thought into the experiences they wanted to provide for their students. I was fortunate to be able to attend three different learning experiences with the students and to capture the students’ thinking and ideas with photographs and videos.

On the first day, as is the usual routine, the students in both classes entered their rooms to the morning provocation: What do you imagine school could be? They were invited to respond to the question using loose parts. Some students focused on the physical environment while others focused on metaphors and ideas. Each class paused to go to each table group and have those students share what they had done. Students could go back to their spots to revisit their work, connecting to new ideas or inspiration. Students were then asked to reflect on their thinking using a familiar response form.

In the grades 5&6 class…

In the grades 6&7 class…

On the second day, the teachers used the Vision, Mission and Values from the Vancouver Aquarium website to initiate discussion about what Vision, Mission and Values are. In one class, the students were asked to use a familiar response format (Notice, Connect, Wonder) as they discussed and thought about the Aquarium’s VMV statements while in the other class, they used the Vision, Mission, and Values framework and questions as a way to respond.

In one of the classes, the students sorted different statements they had made in their own reflective writing about VMV – there were very interesting discussions that emerged as students distinguished between what was part of a vision, mission or values statement.

The students worked in small groups to create charts of words and phrases that connected to Vision, Mission or Values and these were displayed in the classroom for students to read and discuss.

On our third day together, the teachers began their days as they had the first day – with a morning provocation posted for the students to engage with and loose parts available. The original question of What do you imagine school could be? was now linked to Vision, Mission and Values. The students could choose one or all of the three areas to represent and record their ideas about.

It was fascinating to watch how the students’ ideas evolved over time and how each class had its own particular culture it terms of what came out in the students’ representations – kindness, inclusion, community, diversity and collaboration were the five big ideas that stood out to me as I listened to and read the students’ contributions to the project.

An short video compilation of the Thompson VMV experience can be viewed HERE.

What has stuck with me, while spending time in these classrooms is the wisdom of our students. Their lived experiences in different types of learning environments, their understanding of each other, the importance of collaboration and the purpose of schools within a society made my heart sing. Our future is in good hands.

~Janice

Vision, Mission and Values Project at Blair Elementary

Posted on: March 20th, 2017 by jnovakowski

The two kindergarten classes at Blair Elementary took part in our district’s Vision, Mission and Values project in February. As our district develops new Vision, Mission and Values statements, student comments and contributions are being collected to inform the process.

I worked with teachers Lauren MacLean and April Pikkarainen to develop questions to be a part of their regular routine of morning provocations for when the students arrive at school.

As the students chose what materials and question to engage with, we had the opportunity to capture some of their thoughts about what schools could be.

The students had clear ideas about what schools should have and how they should be designed. They talked about natural spaces and spaces to work together. There was a lot of conversation about how schools are for all children and that happiness is a feeling we should have at school.

The classroom teachers then facilitated a sharing circle during which students shared their ideas about school. We unpacked the questions around Vision, Mission and Values with the students. The students “turned and talked” to a partner about one of these questions.

Building on and connecting to the ideas they heard from their classmates, the students were given time to go back and revisit their creations and ideas.

I was able to “interview” some of the students and capture their thinking about what schools could be. This tweet kind of sums up the wisdom from these amazing kindergarten students:

I am looking forward to a district gathering in April when artifacts from classrooms across the district will be available for us to think about and am glad that the voices of these kindergarten students will contribute to the important discussions our district is having.

~Janice

investigating numbers with the Kindergarten class at Garden City

Posted on: March 20th, 2017 by jnovakowski

I visited the kindergarten class at Garden City twice over January and February, introducing different routines to develop number sense and to investigate numbers. Teacher Lori Williams had initially asked me to come to her class to introduce counting collections to her students and after that lesson, I suggested some other routines or practices she might try with her students.

To introduce counting collections to the class, the students and I sat in a circle together. The class’ “special helper” and I counted a collection in different ways, taking suggestions from the suggestions. I intentionally modelled working together as a “team” – taking turns, taking on different roles (one of us moving the items, the other counting, etc) and having each of us support each other when we were unsure or “stuck”. We counted a collection by 1s in different ways – each of us placing an item in a container taking turns while counting, putting the items in a line and counting them together, moving the items from one pile to another taking turns counting as we moved the items one by one. I asked the students if they could think of any other ways they might count their collections and they had some new ideas as well as some suggesting that they count by 2s or 10s. Pairs of students then went off to choose a collection to count, with the expectation that they count it in at least two or three different ways.

The students and I came together after about 30 minutes of counting and I invited some pairs of students to share what they counted and how they counted their collections. I encouraged the students to listen and make connections in their mind as to how they had counted their collections.

For my next visit, I introduced the clothesline and explained that it was another way to investigate counting, particularly ordering numbers.

The students took turns placing different representations of numbers on the clothesline – they were asked to explain their placement decisions. We followed this routine with an invitation to investigate ordering and sequencing numbers using a variety of materials.

The students were creative in their use of materials and the inspiration of the materials often nudged them beyond their familiar counting range and what the curricular expectation are for kindergarten in BC (number concepts, including counting from 0-10).

For the classroom teacher, this was a time to notice her students engaging in new routines with different materials and to think about how she might incorporate them into her classroom. It is always a conundrum for kindergarten teachers – there are always more materials to add to the classroom but we also have to let things go and put things away, even if temporarily, to create open access to the materials students will use regularly and purposefully.

~Janice

investigating patterns with the grade 3s at Garden City

Posted on: March 18th, 2017 by jnovakowski

I visited the grade three class at Garden City Elementary twice in February, focusing on ways to teach mathematics through the big ideas in BC’s new curriculum.

Teacher Stella Santiago asked that we do some work around patterning together and we began with a class discussion around the question: What makes a pattern a pattern? The students shared their developing ideas about patterns, which included many examples of patterns, and then the students were provided with a choice of materials with which to investigate different types of pattens with. We asked them to push their thinking about what patterns were and to investigate different types of patterns and what makes them patterns.

The students mostly began with repeating patterns but used different formats for their patterns such as going around the circumference of a table instead of just in a straight line. Blank grids were provided for students to investigate and some students engaged with those.

Students also explored using different shape frameworks to create patterns with.

And they played with seeing patterns in three-dimensions, from different perspectives.

About half an hour in to the work with materials, we asked the students to pause and walk around and notice what other students were doing – to be inspired, to capture an idea, to make connections.

As the students created their patterns, I recorded the questions I was asking them during their investigations, meant to provoke their thinking about what makes a pattern a pattern.

It was these questions that I came back to in the end as students shared their findings about patterns. We were able to come to consensus as a group that a pattern is predictable and generalizable, that there is regularity in it. Big words for a big mathematical idea.

On my next visit to the class we connected the idea of patterns to the students’ current study of multiplication. We began with a number talk, using a grid to support students in visualizing the patterns in multiplication. We played with the idea of decomposing numbers to support us in calculating multiplication questions. After our number talk, the students were provided a choice of materials and tools with which to investigate the focus question: Where do patterns live in multiplication?

One of the tools provided to students was a 100 chart and students used gems to cover multiples of different numbers on the chart to investigate what visual patterns might emerge.

Some students started with their understanding of multiplication – equal groupings of objects and then used the materials to create different visual patterns with these groupings.

Some students connected the idea of growing patterns with multiplication and used different materials to represent this connection.

The students were very curious about the geoboards, as they are not a regular item in their classroom. One student wasn’t sure where to start with the geoboard and I showed him how to stretch a band to make a square. He made another square and then I added a third. By then, he was making his own connections and began an investigation of square numbers.

Another student used the geoboard to create arrays. She played with the idea of halving and doubling the arrays, including using diagonals to create triangles.

A group of three students chose to use the magnetic grids to play with patterns and multiplication, using alternating colour patterns.

The students again had an opportunity to walk around the class and see what other students were doing to investigate patterns and multiplication and then go back to their own materials, adding new ideas if inspired to do so.

We met together as a class in a “math congress” to report out our findings and make connections between what we had found out about patterns and multiplication. Students used the terms growing and increasing but identified the regular-ness of the patterns involved in multiplication. Some students focused more on the spatial relationship of arrays and how those change as factors increase or decrease.

As the students continue to study multiplication and division, I am looking forward to hearing what relationships and patterns they find.

~Janice

primary teachers study group: fourth session

Posted on: March 10th, 2017 by jnovakowski

For our fourth session together this year, we gathered after school at Errington Elementary to share what outdoor inquiry experiences we had engaged in with students. There were many attempts at freezing bubbles, tracking different animals’ movements in the snow, looking closely at ice, snow and their affects on the environment, investigating melting of ice and snow and creating new experiences for students to experience the outdoors in winter.

Our discussions took several turns…self-regulations, navigating how much we share about our personal choices such as vegetarianism with our students, the benefits of risky play. Here is a link to the UBC research that study group member Megan Zeni referred to as we discussed the benefits of outdoor risky play.

We ended our session discussing the upcoming forecast for more snow and the eventual arrival of spring!

Thank you to Stephanie (Merrick) Rubio for hosting us in her lovely classroom!

~Janice

creating spaces for playful inquiry: January 2017

Posted on: March 9th, 2017 by jnovakowski

Richmond’s Playful Inquiry Mentors hosted their second dinner event of Creating Spaces for Playful Inquiry series. For this session, we focused on the theme of identity and its connection to the core competencies as well as curricular competencies and content in BC’s curriculum. As sixty Richmond educators joined us in the Grauer multipurpose room, the playful inquiry mentors had set out provocations to engage in.

A handout of the provocation questions and curricular connections can be downloaded HERE.

Three Richmond teachers (Kelly, Anna and Christy) who visited the Opal School in Portland last June shared how their visit to Opal has inspired their learning environments and their teaching practice.

Kelly’s presentation on the impact her visit to Opal on her own teaching was summed up in two words – her presentation can be seen HERE.

Christy’s presentation on Fine Arts Provocations with her grades 5&6 students can be viewed HERE

For our professional learning area of focus for the evening, Marie and Hieu shared their thinking about using loose parts as an inclusive practice that particularly supports English Language Learners in our classrooms.

After dinner together, we broke out into mentor groups to discuss specific areas of interest and to collaborate and plan together.

Some of the playful inquiry mentors along with some of the participants in this series will be attending a Lower Mainland Study Tour to the Opal School in Portland over spring break and will bring back new sources of inspiration for playful inquiry to share with teachers in Richmond.

~Janice

investigating mathematical big ideas at Hamilton

Posted on: March 9th, 2017 by jnovakowski

In January, I spent some time in the two grades 4 & 5 classrooms at Hamilton Elementary. Coverage was provided to teachers so that they could observe and take part in math lessons in another teacher’s classroom. Teacher were then able to teach this lesson to their own classes, having seen and heard how another class responded and thus, anticipating and planning for their own students. This form of “adapted lesson study” is a common structure we use in professional learning in our district, with time to plan together, observe and discuss and then enact and debrief. The teachers at Hamilton had requested a focus on teaching through the big ideas in the curriculum.

For both classes we focused our planning around these big ideas:

Development of computational fluency and multiplicative thinking requires analysis of patterns and relations in multiplication and division.

Computational fluency and flexibility with numbers extend to operations with larger (multi-digit) numbers.

To focus the students’ thinking, connection-making and our discussions, the question we posed for the students to investigate was: What is the relationship between multiplication and division?

For each class we began with a game, to activate students’ thinking, get them talking about mathematics and to practice computing multiplication facts. In one class we played Product Gameboard and in the other, the card game Salute.

After discussing the strategies the students used in each game, a problem was introduced to each class. Both of the problems were taken from the book: Good Uestions for Math Teaching. Using different strategies, I facilities meaning-making of the problems with the students and then the students began to engage in problem-solving. They had an opportunity to “turn and talk” and share their strategies and were encouraged to approach the problem in different ways.

The students all began with the same problem but could adjust the number of students in the school (in the problem context) they were working with. They used whiteboard to show their different approaches to solving the problem.

As students shared their solutions and strategies, we asked the students to listen to each other and build on or connecting to each others’ thinking as part of the discourse.

In the second class, a related problem was presented.

What was interesting to notice as students engaged with this problem is that none of the students paid attention to the “four grades”- it was not required information to work through the problem but would have added an extra layer of complexity and context. We did pause near the end of our time together and this was pointed out, and if I had been with the class the next day, I might have had them re-visit this problem, being mindful of the “four grades” context.

What students did pay attention to in terms of sense-making for this problem was the types of sports students might be playing and the number of students that would make sense for each team. The students found a context (tennis) that made sense of having one person per team and two per team (doubles). The students shared their different solutions on the large whiteboard which we used as a starting point to compare and contrast their different solutions and strategies and have the students make connections to how both multiplication and division are related and could be used to engage with both of the problems posed to the classes.

Teaching through the big ideas was also a topic of conversation during an afternoon of Hamilton’s professional development day in January. We will be continuing our conversation at Hamilton’s pro-d day in May and continue to think about ways to nurture ways for students to make connections between mathematical concepts and strategies.

~Janice