Mindset Work

I can pin-point the first time I heard the concept of a "fixed-mindset" -- I was in a psychology class in college and I remember thinking, "Uh-oh, I'm pretty sure I'm guilty of that!" I knew I had felt the pressure to "prove myself" at activities I thought I was innately good at.  Worse, I knew there were activities that I'd dropped or dismissed out of hand because I did not think I could be successful at them. It was an eye-opening realization, and since then I've been fascinated by the idea of mindsets.

It turns out that just teaching people about mindsets, achievement, and abilities can change how they approach challenging situations -- see here.  

When I taught Pre-K and 1st grade, I demonstrated malleable intelligence with a stretchy rubber-band.  I made comparisons and connections between learning how to walk, how to do the monkey bars, and how to read.  It didn't take long for my little guys to understand that you can "grow your brain," and it was exciting to see them recognize their own accomplishments as they reached new reading levels and masted new skills.

As a fourth grade teacher now, I still teach about growth mindset and see my kids take the concept to heart. However, I'm more aware that their experiences have shaped their beliefs and confirmed the picture they have of themselves.  They have seen hard work pay off in some ways, but they often still struggle to believe that it can make a difference in every area of their life.  Even those who are excited to learn a new math strategy, may shut down during a writing conference.  Even those who play multiple sports or instruments, may shy away from reading books in new genres or by unfamiliar authors.  I now try to focus more on the benefits of experiencing challenge, trying new things, and expanding your horizons.

In many ways I have been successful at cultivating my own growth-mindset -- I've learned to cook, to teach older students, and to do math in new ways {all things I once thought were "just not for me} -- but I've still had a few activities that felt off limits. Of course, I could be okay having a fixed-mindset about just a few things... but I wouldn't want that for my students. In order to constantly combat a fixed-mindset, you have to be able to recognize when you are "stuck" and take specific action -- see here. So, while I don't consider myself a runner YET... this year I'm trying to work on own my growth mindset.

Started running just 5 miles in March... set a goal of 32 miles in July

Not fast, but 5+ miles in the books.

Math Steps

Along with addition, subtraction, geometry, and measurement, the Common Core Standards include "Mathematical Practice" skills which students are expected to integrate into their mathematical understanding.  Fortunately, the Investigations math curriculum that my school uses incorporates a number of these mathematical practices into daily lessons.  Students are regularly encouraged to make sense of of problems, reason abstractly, construct arguments and critique the reasoning of others, and use tools appropriately.

Another component of the Common Core Math Standards (in K-2) are the "Common Addition and Subtraction Situations."  These story problem types require students to think critically and demonstrate deep understanding around operations and the equal sign.  Given that most of the math that we encounter in real life is in the form of a "story problem" (not straight adding or subtracting), it's important for young mathematicians to get experience reasoning and solving different problem situations.

A few years ago, I created a tool to assess students' mastery of the common addition and subtraction situations. I discovered that the format I used also provided me with valuable information about students' ability to employ many of the mathematical practice standards as well. For the past two years, I've given this assessment two or three times throughout the year, and they are always my favorite days in math class!

The assessment is a series of "steps" which each include two story problems; the steps gradually increase in complexity and number size.  I set the assessment up as a challenge, as a game -- I start each kiddo at Step 1 and give them the opportunity to move up the ladder to Step 2, Step 3, etc..  I explain that they can use whatever materials they need to help them solve the problems.

As the kiddos work, I observe how they select and use tools, reason logically, and persevere through each step.  It's amazing to see how the kiddos push themselves to take on more challenging problems.  (It's also interesting to note which students give up quickly, get frustrated, or struggle to make sense of the problems.)  Even if they do not get the previous problems correct, I allow them to keep going if they want to attempt the next step. They are so proud of themselves for tackling each step!

I use the information I gather to differentiate story problem sets and math games, and also to plan small groups to work on specific problem types. It's great to give an assessment that kiddos love to take and truly informs my instruction!

** Get your own copy of my "Math Steps" on TpT!

Shape Graphing

During our unit on graphing, I wanted to focus on having the kiddos create representations of their survey data (Read more about "Survey Day"!). I really wanted to make sure that my kiddos got practice with making different types of graphs to support the Common Core Standard 1.MD.4 ... so I created graphing anchor charts, a packet of graphing questions, and also a graphing game that kiddos could play during Math Workshop time!

The shape graphing game was a big hit!   I created small bags of shape manipulatives and the kiddos got to practice counting and graphing completely independently.  I used sheet protectors and dry-erase markers to make the game completely re-useable.  

{Grab this Shape Graphing Game FREEBIE!}

In addition to worksheets and games, I also added more whole-class survey questions to give my firsties authentic, relevant experience with graphs.  The kiddos always love getting to come up to the SMART board, so they were eager to answer questions.  We used many ways to represent our data and different types of graphs.

It's important for young children to actually see graphs as meaningful to their lives, so I've started a list of theme-related graphs to continue incorporating graphing skills throughout the year.  We've already started by graphing our favorite "Lilly" book, by Kevin Henkes!

First Grade Curators

Museum Night is almost here.  The first grade curators have been working hard to put the finishing touches on our exhibit.  

I explain to the kiddos that part of curating an exhibit is ensuring that visitors to the exhibit will be able to learn from the artifacts and displays.  They thought back about visiting the Natural History Museum and how we had learned about the animals there.  They decided that they would need to have some writing about the regions they had learned about.   They worked with in their table teams to create webs for each continent and ocean, and a web about the major mountain ranges.  Each web included a title, picture, an interesting fact, description and location of the region, and a list of some of the animals that live there.  

We also wanted to ensure that our visitors would be able to recognize everything on our map of the world.  To do this, the kiddos made labels for the continents, oceans, and mountain ranges.  They wrote and posted their labels in the proper place on the map.  (I labeled all of their animals with a label maker so they would be small and wouldn't interfere with primary focus of the exhibit.)  They have had lots of practice with labeling in writing, but it was fun to have such a hands-on experience with deciding what to label and how to label it.

All of our museum projects are closely aligned to the DC standards for first grade.  For this project, we focused on our geography standards:

• Social Studies 1.1.1 Locate the cardinal direction (e.g. north, south, east, and west) and apply them to maps and globes.
• Social Studies 1.1.4 Label the continents, oceans, and mountain ranges on a map.

Of course, we also incorporated a lot of other standards throughout the development and planning, including the Common Core ELA standards for reading and writing: 

• RI.1.7  Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.
• RI.1.10  Know and use various text features (e.g., headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.
• W.1.7  Participate in shared research and writing projects

Here are a few picts of the final product.  The kiddos are so excited to share it with their families and friends!