Week 11 reflection

We continued to work on patterns Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Monday we used the M&M Pattern Book to work on patterns. The students used paper M&M's that I had made to follow along with the book. They made many different patterns. A couple of the student had trouble staying on task. One of my students would not answer my question on what a pattern is. He said that he did not know however I know he does. I pulled him aside during the lesson and talked to him about what a pattern was.

On Tuesday we read the book: Fish Patterns. The students were read a pattern and they had to say the rest of what the pattern was outloud. It was a great way to check to see if they truly understood what a patern was. "DM" talked during my entire station. He was warned that if he talked again, he would be pulling a card. "SD" was also mumbling under his breath constantly and was told if he had something to say he needed to raise his hand. The students were given fish worksheet type activities where they used crayons/markers to color a pattern on the fish's body. It was a great way to check for understanding.

The studnets loved making their cd fish on Wednesday. It was an extension from the fish pattern lesson on Tuesday. They also listened very well. Participation was awesome from each student.

On Thursday the studnets were tested to see if they could identify numbers. After testing them we started to look for numbers around our classroom. The students found the clock, calendar, posters, number line, etc. I used number cards and havd the studnets say what the number was on each card as I showed it to them. They had a great time and did not even realize that they were learning.

Friday we looked through the counting book box. We talked about all of the books in the box briefly. Then I passed out newspaper and the students looked for numbers throughtout it. "SM" started off by coloring in letters but after having a discussion with me on what numbers are, she was able to find and identify most of them. :)

Overall it was a succesfful week. I keep thinking: "How should/could I best help my students with number identification?"