Taking a Step Back In Order to Move Forward

During Math today, I worked in a small group with two boys (academically lowest in the class) on estimation and place value. My CT taught the class to estimate the hundreds place by looking to the number on the right (tens place) and determining whether it is higher or lower than 5. This was a difficult concept for these two boys to understand. They could not understand how the number becomes "estimated" by changed to a higher number or lower number. After struggling through several examples, I decided to take a step back and modify my approach.

1. I realized we needed to use a number so that the boys had a visual representation of what the original number (example: 712). The middle point, 750, is the "magic number."

They needed to do 3 things: Determine which 2 numbers the starting number falls between, Plot the number, then determine whether it is greater or less than the "magic number"

2. We ditched the textbooks and used whiteboards. I realized the boys were becoming overwhelmed by all the other numbers on the page. Plus, it gave them a break from the boring pencil-and-paper work.

3. Brain breaks! When their brains started to fry right before my very eyes, I told to get up and get water or use the restroom. When they came back, we did a quick round of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." This definitely cleared their minds, and they were ready to get back to work!

The End Result:

After a long, rigorous hour of exaplantions and re-explanations, the boys were able to estimate correctly, then successfully add two estimated numbers together. I think this success was a result of my encouragement and unwillingness to except nothing less than their 100% effort and understanding, the boys' perserverance in leaerning the content, and the differentiation in the lesson. These three factors each played a vital role during this lesson. It was a proud moment, for sure!

#feap2h #feap2c