The+Race+and+The+Chocolate+Bar

=The Ballad of the Race and the Chocolate Bar Questions= Beware: I speak very candidly in this monologue and I speak about the reflecting I do as i leave the classroom. You are not allowed taking offense! It is about me.

The Pauline Johnson Grade 6 teachers asked that we co-plan, co-teach, co-debrief the Fraction Lesson that we did in grades 4/5 at Highland on April 5. I shared the development of the problem - from the meeting Jung and Wanda and I had in March to the day we were to teach it April 14.

//March 25// - the problem all the Grade 4/5 teachers in the project decided on when we were at Highland Day 1 March 25, 2011. They wanted to see co-teaching on April 9th when we were altogether again.

//Between March 25 and April 5// - two versions of a lesson plan. One I did because I was working on the PowerPoint and I wanted to show a lesson plan format so I created a lesson plan from what I knew of the question. I was excited. The second Wanda did because on the TO DO list - it was her job. We were too busy to share. Opps. Anyway our expectations differed. Wanda bowed to my input. In reflecting on how the lesson went, I think we made the wrong decision. And the problem we gave the students was too hard. First of all, in grades 4 and 5, they are only to deal with common denominators. I missed that and I regret it. We have to remember learning is developmental. We can't just show them the last step to the finish line and expect them to fill in the rest. We have to meet them were they are. And we cannot do that if we try to use grade 6 expectations in a lesson for grade 4 and 5 students. Not Fair!! Anyway - here are the two different plans - notice expectations...

//April 5// Wanda and Maria co-taught the lesson using the lesson plan below.

// April 14 // Cynthia, Dan, Janice, Manju and I reviewed the lesson plans with our eyes on grades 5 and 6 expectations and we used the problem this way in a grade 6 classroom. Perhaps PJ would post some of the photos they took. We had short time to co-plan - about 60 min to co-teach - about 1 min to co-debrief. We have to find time to do it...

A few of my reflections (and I invite others to comments as remember anyone can write on the WIKI) Hit EDIT in upper right. Move cursor to the end of the line of type before the place you want to have your say... Hit SAVE (Top or bottom) If you erase something you did not want to erase - DO NOT SAVE - Hit CANCEL

We saw: I would love to continue with that work and use different versions of the student work to launch new conversations throughout the unit of study. I think we have to consolidate the following...
 * different wholes
 * same wholes with 6 as the unit and the fourths estimated between marks for sixths
 * rectangular twelfths - sort of arrived at by guess and by golly but strong commitment to the solution
 * rectangular twelfths with thirds, fourths, and sixths clearly marked
 * marks on a fraction tower (from handout in Gap Closing end of module 1)
 * numerical calclulations for common demoninators
 * if all the PIECES of chocolate were the same size (not the bars but the pieces) then the answer "It doesn't matter." is correct. These are all the same ...
 * 2 pieces of a 3 piece bar
 * 2 pieces of a 4 piece bar
 * 2 pieces of a 6 piece bar
 * BUT 2/3, 2/4, and 2/6 of the same whole means a very different thing
 * we didn't add words to the word wall (numerator, denominator)
 * we need to move the thinking of the circle kids to the number line (Fraction towers help with this)
 * we should (before we leave the unit) use the fraction circles to connect to decimals as your circles that go with the fraction (Sasha's that we used today) have decimal equivalents on them and then
 * maybe before decimals do percents as fractions of 100.

Someone today said, "I find this really stressful." As I thought about that today I wondered why...

 * My instinct is to tell. It is easier that way. I say to my family, "You don't have to do it my way - but it is a lot easier." I have been teaching in this 3-part lesson design with a focus on students talking for 5 years+ and I am calmer than I used to be. I think it is because I used to wait to hear them say what I wanted them to say - guide them - and in reality confuse them. Now I can take the lead from them and I trust the truth will emerge. I can't always get them where I hoped we would go when I planned the lesson but I WILL know what I have to go back to an make explicit. It is about making the thinking explicit. Curious to see where we go from here.