So, I'm trying to teach one of my students to add. Keep in mind at the beginning of the year he only knew his numbers consistently through 10 and now he knows them to 50 and is starting to pick up the patterns of the 10's. Anyhow...adding...
When I student taught in kindergarten we would teach the kids to "put the big number in their head and count up." I could not get this kid to understand the concept of this. He knew what the big number was but he just couldn't get "it." He'd painstakingly count on his fingers, but we were starting to add so that the sums were above 10 & I knew we needed another strategy. So, on a whim I said, "You ate 8 hamburgers & I gave you 2 more. How many do you have?" I'd tried this with other things (I gave you 8 crayons, 8 marbles, etc...nothing). Out of the blue he "pops" those 8 hamburgers in his mouth, puts up 2 fingers and mumbles (around his mouthful of hamburgers), 10!!! Hallelujah. He finished the whole sheet on his own!
Always the cynic, I'm expecting this to be a one day deal. I cautiously hand him another Saxon 1 math facts sheet today...adding & subtracting this time. Okay, I thought...here we go. Of course, both adding & subtracting have been taught several times by now, but it's time to see what stuck...does he know the difference in the signs, what will he do? I sit down beside him and wait. He quickly "hamburgers" his way through the 2 rows of adding. Wow!
Now, subtracting. He freezes...I wait, knowing that sometimes special learners develop strategies on their own but it just takes a little longer. And all the sudden he "pops" 5 hamburgers in his mouth. Uh, oh, I think...he's going to try to add. A then, a miracle...he "spits" 3 hamburgers back out & mumbles the answer...2. Tears welling, breathless...if you knew him, knew how far he's come this year, you'd understand. And he figured it out all on his own. As I watched him work, I realized that sometimes he didn't have to "hamburger"...the facts were becoming automatic for him. Praises!
And there you have it folks...a new teaching strategy that I'll be copyrighting later this year...hamburger math. :)
4 comments:
Sounds like a rewarding day at work.
love it! you are such a great techer!
boy...I've tried cookies but never hamburgers...i guess to each their own. got any good ideas for 10's and 1's. AHHHHHH!!!!
Hey to each their own. Sometimes things just click! I'm sure there is some method to the madness in his little head...something the rest of us would probably never understand! Bree is right......you are a GREAT teacher and I'm lucky to have you over here!
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