Teaching Changing Numbers to First Grade

This semester, I have been working with a first grade class in Math. I worked with three students on the concept of changing numbers. Changing numbers is being able to take one number and compose or decompose it into another number. Students need to learn how to add on or take away from a number to create a new number.  I created an activity that helped my students see the changes they were making to the number as they were adding on or taking away.

The first activity that I created is "Car Control". In this activity, the students are given a strip of paper that looks like a road. I place unifex cubes in the top lane of the road and a card with a number on it underneath the road. The number on the card indicates the number of cars there should be on the road. The students must identify how many unifex cubes or "cars" are in the top lane of their road. If the number of cars on the top lane is less than the number on the card, the student must add cars onto the bottom lane of their road. If the top lane has more cars than the number displayed on the card, the student must take away cars from the top lane and park them on the number card. After completing the roads, I have the students choose a road that they liked the best and explain what they had to do to change the first number to the second.

The students loved working with the roads. Being able to see what number they added on or took away helped them see the numbers as groups and a whole while adding and subtracting. This activity can be changed to match any theme. I eventually created an activity similar to this one, but instead of a road, we used an ocean and instead of cars, we used fish. This activity can be modified to meet students' needs with the use of a number line or a hundreds chart to add an extra visual for the students to utilize.

Teacher Intern Experience

This past semester, I have been a student intern at two elementary schools. I have taught three lessons at Chicod Elementary School in Greenville, North Carolina. I worked with 2nd grade at Chicod. I taught these students about morals of fables, text features, and conjunctions. The other school I interned at was H.B. Sugg Elementary School. At this school, I taught a guided reading lesson and I taught three lessons on changing numbers. Being a student intern taught me that it is important to be resourceful and use everyday objects to create classroom resources. Below I will be discussing some of the creations I have made for my lessons this semester.

During my lessons at Chicod, I utilized a word wall. I created my own word wall using things that I had at my apartment. This word wall was very durable and cute. The students were able to pin the words onto the word wall with push pins during the lesson. This interactive take on a word wall got the students involved with the words and also served as a reference for them during the lesson.

The word wall I created......

What you will need.....

1. A corkboard

2. Stapler

3. Glue stick

4. Scissors

5. Construction paper

6. Bulletin board trim

7. Colorful pre-cut letters (you can find them at any craft store, but you can cut your own if you are feeling crafty)

How to make your word wall....

1. Staple down the construction paper to cork part of the corkboard. Cut the excess paper to fit the corkboard.

2. Measure and cut bulletin board trim to fit the edges of the cork board. Staple the bulletin board trim along the edges of the corkboard. 

3. Arrange the letters for the words "Word Wall" on the corkboard wherever you like (I preferred mine at the top) and glue them down using the glue stick. 

4. Your word wall is complete! You can use index cards to write your words for each lesson and let the students use push pins to pin the word to the wall.

Volunteering in an Elementary Classroom

I volunteered at H.B. Sugg Elementary school. This school is located in Farmville, North Carolina. I have been going to this school for a few weeks for my MATE and READ practicums. The class I have been working with is a first grade class. These students have been learning about Fall and have been doing activities that are related to pumpkins all week. The classroom teacher asked me if I would like to come in and help her with an activity called Pumpkin Math. The teacher bought in a large pumpkin. Each student was given a worksheet. The students were asked to guess how much the pumpkin weighed, how many stripes the pumpkin had, how tall and wide the pumpkin was, and how many seeds were in the pumpkin. The students wrote down their estimates. We measured the pumpkin's width and height using unifex cubes and we weighed the pumpkin using a standard bathroom scale. We counted the stripes on the pumpkin. I then carved the pumpkin as the students talked to their neighbors about their estimations thus far in the activity. After I carved the top off of the pumpkin, the students each received a bowl and were instructed to come to the pumpkin one at a time and get seeds from inside the pumpkin. The students enjoyed putting their hands inside of the pumpkin to find the seeds. After we got all of the seeds out, each student was responsible for counting the seeds in their bowl. I went around and recorded the number of seeds each student had. I then totaled the number of seeds. The students talked about how many seeds they thought were in the pumpkin. We then revealed the total number of seeds. The students then wrote a few sentences about their estimates and the actual results. I enjoyed working with the students for this activity. It is nice to visit a classroom outside of a practicum visit and observe and help the students with their daily activities. When I have my own classroom, activities like Pumpkin Math will be something that I incorporate into my classroom instruction.

Using Integrated Learning Systems in the K12 Classroom: What I recommend and why. By Brittney Woodle.

       According to Technology in Education, integrated learning systems, also known as ILS, are software.hardware solutions that designed to deliver instructional content. ILS are often connected to educational atmospheres. These systems are interactive and engaging. They are designed to provide feedback to ensure progress and help students obtain an understanding of the content. An ILS program that I am familiar with is Accelerated Reader. According to the Institute of Education Sciences, Accelerated Reader is an exceptional program for promoting reading comprehension and achievement. Accelerated Reader is a program relies on independent reading practice. This program quizzes students on books that they have read on their own. Accelerated Reader provides both the teacher and the student with feedback from each quiz taken. This program manages and tracks student progress from book to book and recommends the level in which the student should be reading. Studies have shown that this program has a medium to large positive impact on reading comprehension, but little to no effect on reading fluency. Despite the fact that there is no evidence of impact on reading fluency, I think that this program is definitely a step in the right direction for helping our young readers. I am a huge advocate for helping struggling readers, and I think that this program (and a little help from their teachers) may give the students the motivation they need to succeed. I remember taking AR tests as a young girl who struggled with reading. The feedback I would receive gave me the push I needed to strive to be a better reader. I think that this program will do the same for our students today.

Why I want to be a teacher.

I wish I could say that I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher, but I didn't. It wasn't until my senior year of high school that I realized that I wanted to be a teacher. When I was in elementary school, I actually hated school. I have dyslexia and I struggled with reading when I was growing up. I remember having to be pulled out of my regular classroom to receive extra reading instruction. When I got to middle school, I realized how much those pull out classes helped me. I went on to score the highest score on the English aptitude test my classmates and I were given in the sixth grade and was placed in an AG classroom. When I was in high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do for a career. I decided to take a class called Teacher Cadet my senior year of high school. On my first day working in an actual elementary classroom, I was asked to read with a girl who was struggling with reading. Listening to her read made me think back to when I struggled with reading. I instantly fell in love with teaching and being in a classroom environment. I loved passing on my love for learning and knowledge. I hope to one day have my own classroom and to inspire every student to pursue their dreams.