This year when I found out that we were waiting to focus on
regrouping until after Christmas I got a little worried. Would it be too late? Would we have enough time? Well, I can honestly say now that it was a good change for us. We are normally driving down Struggle Street when we start regrouping in the fall. Some of us get it, but most of us don’t. I normally leave school and immediately take a nap because I’m just too exhausted from pulling my hair out all day. This year things have been totally different. I think giving my kids a couple extra months helped them to be developmentally ready. Plus, we spent so much time on place value that the numbers just make a little more sense now. And, we hit addition strategies and mental math in a big way in the fall. All of the puzzle pieces are just slowly coming together.
My students love this flipchart from
Promethean Planet. The different boxes spin to make a number, then they can show their work to the side. It creates large and small numbers.
The thing I’m most excited about is what we did below. After
visiting RCA, I wanted to up the rigor a little bit and give my kiddos a challenge. So, I put two sets of numbers on the board. I had my students explain (without adding) which set of numbers they thought would add up to the greater sum. Hearing my students explain and use their strategies was such an eye opener. They weren’t always right, but that was okay! After talking, I lined up the numbers for an addition problem. Then, I allowed my students to change their mind or defend their first position. Amazing! We took it up a notch and did three sets of numbers. This was such a challenge, and even pushed my highest students to the next level. My students were BEGGING for more numbers!
You can see one of my students teaching the class how to solve a
word problem that we worked on. For the most part she was facing the class while explaining, but I had to snap the picture of her back. We clapped and cheered for our
word problem teacher!
Of course, I couldn’t
visit RCA without thinking… I’ve got to incorporate chanting and movement more into my classroom. I’m not a singer, but I was a cheerleader, so I made up this little regrouping chant for my kiddos and they LOVE it! We have motions such as walking next door and shushing each other. You’ll just have to make it your own because I’m not videoing myself doing it, ha!
It’s not the norm to have professional development impact my classroom and instruction in such a powerful way. It’s so exciting to see how little things can change the entire tone of my students!
8 Responses
Thank you for the ideas and the inspiration. One can never have enough tools in their toolbox when it comes to regrouping.
I love the chant! Is there a particular tune that it goes to? Also, is this in your TPT shop to download?
I love your chant/cheer! I spent a lot more time in October on place value than I did last year, thanks to your packets! I think that has made a BIG difference with regrouping. We did regrouping addition in November. The majority had mastered it by the holidays. I started regrouping with subtraction about a week ago, later than it was scheduled by our district, but I'm pleased with how they are doing. I think the extra time spent on place value helped. When we came back from Christmas, I realized that they really did not have a good, concrete understanding of vertical subtraction problems. We reviewed some first grade standards before we started. I have most students use manipulatives or create a drawing to show me why they regrouped. The lessons are slow, but it is so worth it to see the outcomes!
I'm glad you had success with waiting to teach regrouping. I always think we rush place value and number sense and pay for it later.
Daisy Fryer at Not Your Mother's Math Class
Love your chant/cheer, so cute! 🙂
It's amazing what a little time some curriculums allow to let skills sink in. I always felt our division unit was too soon after introducing multiplication, while students still worked on adding and subtracting greater numbers.
Fishing for Education Blog
AWESome!! Always so inspired by your posts!! It is always so interesting how we sometimes ignore the fact that some kids are just not developmentally ready but it really is a key part of them being able to learn certain concepts!! Kuddos to you for realizing it!! Thanks for sharing!!!!!
A Grade One Nut and Her Squirrelly Crew
These are great ideas! I get so much inspiration from your posts! 🙂
This was the perfect post for me to stumble upon this morning! I always dread teaching regrouping to my second graders, and we are starting on Monday! Thank you for sharing these great ideas, especially the poem!