Assessing Talking Turkey

The Turkey is all gobbled up! And it was a success. I am so pleased with the math that came out of it.

Once the problems were solved, groups of students came to the front of the class and presented their solutions. They were showing their peers how they solved the problem, reasoning and justifying their thinking and teaching others how to do things such as add fractions and decimals, represent decimals to add, and even introduced mixed numbers and improper fractions. I don't think I could have done a better job. They were drawing out their representations on the white board and using manipulatives to model their thinking.

The picture above shows how one particular student went about solving the problem. He used pictures to help him understand the problem; the circles within circles represent the amount of turkey each person in Sam's family ate, with one small circle representing 1/4 kg. He then took this information and drew a number line to show that he was meeting all the requirements for the problem as he had to prove that Uncle Roy, for example, at the most and Judy the least. He also used the number line to help him get the total amount of turkey that was ate. From there he went on to represent each amount using fractions, including improper fractions and then mixed numbers. He spent the majority of his presentation teaching his peers about these two concepts and most actually understood it. Oh, and did I mention that his mom told me that he did not like math and that he had a lot of trouble with it in previous years!! I was impressed to say the least.

So basically this is how my math year is going to unfold. Today, I am planning a little follow up to see how much students learned from these activities. I plan to do a quick assessment of representing decimals, and then give them a situation where they have to decide if three decimals are ordered correctly. One of the outcomes in Grade 6 is the multiply a whole number by a decimal number, so I will also do a preassessment to see where everyone is with this which will help me decide where to go next in instruction.

Monday we will be starting a new problem called Pumpkin Patch Picking. Stay tuned!

Talking Turkey

Now that things have settled down after the storm, I have introduced the first "real" problem to students in both grades 5 and 6. The problem is as follows:


Sam loves to help around the kitchen. With Thanksgiving approaching, there is plenty to do! Sam offers to help determine how big a turkey the family should buy for the dinner.

He finds some “rules of thumb” for buying turkeys. The suggested weight range is from:
• one kilogram to one and one-half kilograms per adult,
• three-quarters of a kilogram per child,
if the family wants leftovers

OR
• three-quarters of a kilogram to one kilogram per adult,
• one half of a kilogram per child
if the family does not want leftovers.

The people who made the rules of thumb do not know Sam’s family.
• The two teenagers in Sam’s family eat more than most of the adults
• Uncle Roy eats more than anybody else.
• Sam’s sister Judy does not really like turkey, so she will fill up on dinner rolls and just eat a little to be polite.
• It is hard to predict what the three young children (Uncle Roy’s kids) will eat—it depends on their mood.
• Sam loves turkey, but he guesses that the standard amount per child will be about right.
• Sam also knows that Uncle Roy will not take leftovers with him
after dinner.
• Sam’s family likes leftovers, but not too many.

How big a turkey should Sam recommend to feed the ten people (Sam,
Mom, Dad, two teenage siblings, Judy, Uncle Roy, and Uncle Roy’s three
kids) who will be eating Thanksgiving dinner? Explain your reasoning

To ensure all my students in both grades would have success with this, I manipulated the problem by making the numbers easier to think about and work with (depending on the ability level of the groups) and reduced the number of people in the family and changed some of the conditions. Here is an example of the question modified to meet the needs of one of my groups in Grade 5:

Sam loves to help around the kitchen. With Thanksgiving approaching, there is plenty to do! Sam offers to help determine how big a turkey the family should buy for the dinner.

He finds some “rules of thumb” for buying turkeys. The suggested weight range is from:

• 1 kilogram to 1 ½ kilograms per adult,
• ½ of a kilogram per child,


• The two teenagers in Sam’s family, including Sam eat more than most of the adults
• Uncle Roy eats more than anybody else.
• Sam’s younger sister Judy does not really like turkey, so she will fill up on dinner rolls and just eat a little to be polite.
• Sam’s family likes leftovers, but not too many.

How big a turkey should Sam recommend to feed the six people (Sam,
Mom, Dad, one teenage sibling, Uncle Roy, 1 child sibling) who will be eating Thanksgiving dinner? Explain your reasoning

Here, I have modified the problem without losing the integrity of the process in solving the problem.

I have grouped my classes by ability and then let them go. I introduced the problem and made sure they knew what I expected (answers with pictures, numbers and words)and set them on their way! Throughout the class, I went around listening in on their conversations. What I heard was nothing but rich mathematical discourse. These students, even those that proclaimed they hated math began to come alive and was engaged in the activity!!

Post IGOR

We are back! Hurricane IGOR has certainly torn away September month and now it is time to get back on track. Students have been back to school since Monday and I have stepped it into high gear with the problem solving.

In the beginning of the school year my goal was to establish a respectful, relaxed classroom environment where students became more comfortable with themselves as well as with their peers. I wanted them to see that math could be interesting and that it was ok to make mistakes. Teaching Grade 5 from last year, I knew I would have a little more work ahead of me before I could go full steam ahead with them. I needed to get them comfortable with the unknown (not using a text book, no tests, different expectations) and ready for working more independently. I needed to start with getting the math discourse going and having students begin talking about math and how they were thinking about it. I did simple problems with them getting them used to how the class runs. I also needed to get a feel for their personality, strengths and needs. One of the key ingredients to teaching this way is to know your students; to be able to give them problems at their level that will challenge them but yet give them success. During the classes I would have students work together and allow as much freedom as they needed. I would sometimes interject their conversations and refocus them by asking a question to get them back on track.

My goal for my Grade 6 class was a little different because I had those same students last year. I was able to mold them and get them to a place at the end of the school year where they could just jump right in this year and begin learning math through problem solving. Already knowing their strengths, weakness and areas of need really jump started the year for me. I knew what groups worked the best and who to call upon for help when it was needed.

Due to the Hurricane that blew through here 2 weeks ago, students are only just returning from a 2 week absence from school. So, it is the first week of October and I am only beginning my first attempts of seeing my kids in action.