Children's Blog: Morning Data

                                                                                                                                            
How We Organized Our Data
Our class was wondering about what time people got to school.  Aliza decided to record what time people got to school using data. We made a line plot and organized our data about what time people got to school. Some other people in our class decided to help Aliza. They did another survey and took their data and made a line plot showing the third, fourth  and the fifth graders' results.

This is our lineplot that we made for every grade in lower school,

except for Kindergarten. Each X stands for one person.

We have all of the data together because it was easier to see the

 differences and the similarities.

What We Noticed
The class got together and thought about the line plot. Since we were in a math unit about data and surveys, our class got together and shared their ideas with each other. We noticed our class is the latest class from the trailers normally and the fifth graders are the earliest. If you see X`s in a row on the line plot that probably means they come in at the same time. We noticed the fourth grade has the earliest student (sometimes). Outliers (which are in 1^st 3^rd 4^th and 5^th grade,) probably go to early care.

 

What We Might Do Next
We might start taking data when people leave school.  We also might take data about what time people in middle school get to school and leave school.  Or maybe even study what time the preschoolers come in. This project is important to us because in our future we will need to know about data.  Data can also be very important information.

Written by Cameron, Ellie and Aliza

Data Matters

I really love our math curriculum. We use Investigations. However, being a teacher-researcher leaves me constantly looking for how something good might be great. In the past our data analysis units have been good, but not great. It repeatedly was the unit I was least satisfied with as a teacher. This year I've taken on the challenge of helping data to matter to third graders. I want them to generalize the information. I want them to think about the big ideas behind the information.

 

The curriculum has the children survey other classes. They LOVE it. However, it usually has them ask questions like, "How many teeth have you lost?" It is interesting to the children but doesn't hold their interest long term. It became more of a fun fact rather than a useful set of information.

 

In my efforts to make data matter, I asked the children to develop a survey question to ask that would help them make an informed decision about something. Many turned to our recess economy, others focused on our class community sculpture and some on music circle.

 

What is your favorite song in music circle?

 

Do you prefer handmade things or natural resources?

 

For our community sculpture, do you think we should use more man-made materials, natural materials or both?

 

Do you value paper money or natural resources?

 

 

 As the children present their work to the class, the conversations have been much more lively than in the past. These topics are things in which the children are invested. The information will impact their lives. We asked each group questions like

 

What question did you ask?

 

Why did you ask that question?

 

What decisions will you make based on your results?

 



"Based on our survey I think we should focus more on natural resources because that is what more people like."

"I don't think you should ignore the results of handmade things. It is less than natural materials but it is still a lot of people."

"Maybe you should have a variety of products. Some could be handmade and some could be natural."

"There are already a lot of people focused on natural resources so you might actually stick with the handmade to get the business of all of those people who aren't being taken by the natural resource companies that already exist."



"If we were going to make a music circle that the Kindergarten would really enjoy, we would make sure to include "Make New Friends" and "This Land is Your Land."

"And if we wanted to make a music circle that first grade liked, we would need to make sure we sang "The Shark Song".

"If we wanted everyone to have a good time, we should probably include the top song from each grade. That way every grade would have something they liked."



 

 

So far I am pleased with the difference. We've moved past the technical aspects of titles, keys, categories and labels (all still important, just not the star of the show) and are putting our energies into representing our research in a way that makes it matter. It drives us to look are more subtle aspects of the information and go far beyond which was the least popular and which was the most popular. I think it was crucial that the information be something that would guide a decision in the children's lives. Decisions are nuanced--not always black and white.

Messing about with Measurement

Figuring out how stop watches work.

Experimenting with displacement to measure the volume of objects.
The term "graduated cylinder" gives us the giggles as we imagine the cylinder
wearing a cap and gown and collecting a diploma.

Using a triple beam balance to determine the mass of a can of glitter.

 

Measuring the length of the rug in centimeters, of course,
because that's what scientists use.

 

3rd Grade Economics

This past week a parent contacted me to let me know that children were making and planning to sell homemade posters and wooden toys at school for money. We admired the initiative of the children starting these businesses but felt uncomfortable with the exchange of money at school. Was there a way to keep the interest alive with an alternative like play money? I gathered the class for a discussion.

K: We could make play money.
M: But if just anyone can make the money then it is pointless. I has no value.
G: Maybe we could have a mint that makes the official kind of money like our government does.
M: It just seems too easy to copy.
Me: I have access to a copy machine and more unusual colors of paper up in the office. It is paper that isn't just in all of the classrooms.
K: You could use the money from math. It looks really official.
R: We could just pay in things like rocks and sticks like we did last year in the garden.
Me: I remember that. Is it going to be a problem that you are out on the field now? There aren't as many rocks and sticks out there.
M: That is even better because they will be more valuable.
H: If we use the money, how will it get out into the world?
F: We could just have a bank. You could go get money at the bank.
H: In the real world you don't just get free money.
Me: If I go to the bank to get money I would have already had to put that money in the bank earlier. They just hold it for me. Maybe you could all start earning it by doing extra jobs around school.
M: I would rather just trade natural resources. Rocks are much more valuable to me than fake money.
R: But if you do natural resources, what is the work you have to do for that?
H: You would have to go mine it out of the ground.
Me: Right, you spend your precious time and energy gathering those things and people are willing to trade or pay you for it because they don't want to spend their own time doing the work.

The conversation went on and on. The children thought about trading product for product. Or natural resource for resource. Could they set up a trading post? What jobs could they do? How would we make the money earning opportunities even?

We voted on a currency. The children chose natural resources. One student asked, "I still like the idea of money, I just liked natural resources better. Can we just do all of them?" We decided no to limit ourselves to just one form of currency.

That very day during Spanish I got busy printing official money. By lunch the children were harvesting resources, making trades, forming business partnerships and making plans for their future fortunes.

A stick with more unusual characteristics may be more valuable.

Harvesting rocks to sell to rock smashers for money.

Money is kept in the watchful care of bankers while work is done during recess.

Smashing rocks makes them more valuable.

"Is crushed rock more valuable than a whole rock?"
"Yes, especially if you can get a piece that is just pure crystal."

The game allows us to substitute more authentic
questions into our math unit on data analysis.

Through out this process I am thankful to be in an environment where I have permission to slow down and give time to the things that are important to the children. Not an hour passes without me hearing whispered business plans. And never have the children so eager to pick up trash from the far corners of the playground. 

Assumptions

We started thinking about fractions recently. The children were dividing brownies evenly between two people. The situation was serving mostly as a way for us to access our prior knowledge about fractions before we forged ahead with new ideas. The children had lots of ideas.



Several children started to think in divergent ways by cutting the brownie into four equal pieces, giving two pieces to each individual. Hmmm, interesting.

Then I headed around the room to look at the work of other students. That's when it all started. I was shocked when I saw a drawing by one child. She had decided to share her brownie between two people by cutting her brownie into 8 unequal pieces, some large some small.  Yikes!!! 

Just then, I started to feel overwhelmed as my mind compiled a list of all of the foundational things we would need to revisit before moving on. I decided to get started right then and there. I began to question her about her brownie in order to help her confront the misconceptions I saw in her work.  



"Well, I decided that if each person got the same amount, it wouldn't matter if the pieces were the exact same size. I would just have to make sure that each person got the same number of big pieces and the same number of small pieces so that in the end both people got the same amount of brownie."



My mental jaw dropped! I had assumed. In fact, I had assumed quite a few things and now I was feeling a little bit sheepish. As it turns out, this child knew quite a bit about fractions. Actually, she even knew enough about fractions that she began to think playfully about the task.

Luckily this episode happened in a matter of seconds, completely within my own mind.  But it has given me a chance to reflect. How many assumptions like mine do we make on a daily basis? Many kinds of traditional forms of assessment and testing are full of these kinds of assumptions. If it doesn't look like the few things we think fit, then it must signify a complete and total lack of understanding. And yet, could it be possible that a child choosing a "wrong" choice on a multiple choice test may have a very valid and logical reason for their thinking?

This experience reminded me of the power of a question. All I had needed to do was ask.