Backwards or inside out day tomorrow!

Tomorrow is backwards day or inside out day!  We can wait to see how kids will dress at school.

Today in Math, both room 4 and room 5 worked on problem solving.  Working collaboratively in groups, the students chose what learning materials could help them (like coloured markers and blocks).  

Room 4 explored combinations of red and yellow balloons.

Room 5 explored how many 3-striped flags could be made using the CJP colours: Red/Yellow/Blue. 

Room 5 experimented with a collaborative model where a few children acted as floaters, who moved between the groups offering suggestions, posing questions and learning different ideas.  The floaters and teachers also used sticky notes to give feedback to the groups.  

We also came together as a groups several times to share strategies, discuss assumptions and review the limitations in the problem.  For example, we realized how direction was really important and that the flags were different depending on the direction you looked at time.  One group, drew flagpoles on the side to help them, another group wrote TOP on their page while another group had all the members move to one side of the table so they were looking at the flag from the same point of view.  

At first some kids predicted that we could make hundreds of flags.  After we began our work, many revised their predictions to much smaller numbers like 5 or 10.  In the beginning, students were frustrated by the limitations of the 3 stripes and 3 colours and wanted to add different kinds of lines and colours as well as shapes and symbols.  

We looked at pictures of flags from around the world, and noted that many had very simple designs which often included just three vertical or horizontal lines.  We discussed how flag need to be simple and recognizable, even when they are blowing in the wind.  

Some thinking heard today: 

"It is easier to compare them when we draw them beside each other." 

"If we draw them too big, we spend a lot of time colouring"

"What if we start with blue on the top?"

"That flag doesn't count.  It is identical to the 1st one." 

We are going to put a similar problem out for our Montessori work period tomorrow.