Game of the Week!

Games are by far my very favorite way to engage children and adults in learning!  When parents and teachers ask me, "What can I do to provide extra enrichment opportunities for my kids?" my first response is always, "Play a game!"  Kids LOVE them and the "fun factor" provides a solid foundation for kids to push themselves and take risks.

Here is one of my favorites and my first featured
Game of the Week ~ Jungle Smart!

Students use the commands to move the animals from the starting position to the target position.  It requires some serious visual, logical, language brain power and two levels of play make it extra challenging!  Give it a try at your next family game night!

 

CREATIVE THINKING IN ACTION!

Creative thinking is the cornerstone to innovative problem solving.  This open ended challenge allowed these 3rd grade students to stretch themselves to try and find as many creative "answers" to the following problem.

Rearrange these six math sticks to make "nothing."  

No matchsticks may be bent, broken, or placed over each other.

SPOILER ALERT!  Give it a try before you scroll down to see these inventive solutions!

Just getting started!

Zero

"This is an "x" because if you put an "x" over something it means, "not"

Zero

2 - 1 - 1

ENRICHMENT HAPPENS WHEN...

• students use higher order thinking skills
• Bloom's Taxonomy 

• students construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others
• Common Core - Standards for Mathematical Practice

A recent example:

4th Grade Math Lesson Launch - Decomposing Fractions & Equivalent Fractions

The initial task:

The follow up question for digging deeper:

There are many different ways to accomplish this task and 

here are some of the examples that you shared.  

Evaluate the best representation considering what the task is asking you to do.  

Be ready to make a claim and support your claim with sound arguments.

Most students want to write the first answer that comes to mind and then be done with the task.  They also, often times, come to the table focused on one solution - their solution!  We want to continually stretch their thinking and rich discussions are an ideal opportunity to do just that!

Here, the students were encouraged to share solutions and explain why they did what they did.  They were also asked to be active listeners and to listen for understanding to the point that they could explain another person's solution.  

The best part of the discussion was listening to them evaluate the effectiveness of each approach, conduct a healthy debate about each solution, and then give support for their final decision.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK!

Today I overheard a 4th grade student tell a peer, 
"Getting the answer is easy but showing your work is HARD!"

As an Enrichment Coordinator, this is music to my ears!  Why?  Because it shows that students are being challenged to use essential mathematical thinking skills to dig deeper, make connections, and truly understand what it is that they are doing and why.