Standard+6

=Standard 6 - Teachers communicate well.= ==The teacher uses effective verbal and nonverbal communication techniques as well as instructional media and technology to foster active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom.==

Evidence: Non-linguistic Representation in Math


Developing this activity helped me consider that there are many ways to communicate information, and verbal communication is not always the easiest or best method to do so. I learned both practical and theoretical things while planning this lesson. From a practical standpoint, I learned about some terrific technology resources available from the National Center for Education Statistics. From a theoretical standpoint, planning and implementing this lesson reinforced my thoughts that technology, when used appropriately, can move the focus of a lesson from lower to higher level thinking skills.
 * Rationale:** This lesson is based on activity I have done for several years in my classroom. Each year, on St. Patrick’s Day, the students get a small bag of Lucky Charms cereal. They sort the marshmallows into groups based on shape, then create a graph showing the quantity for each type of marshmallow. We also develop a class graph, however, the scale of the graph is usually not very manageable. By introducing a computer graphing application to the activity, I am able to do several things: expose my students to a computer graphing application, make the creation of the class graph more manageable and meaningful, and expose the students to higher level thinking opportunities through discussion of the two kinds of graphs. Though I did not use the graphing application with this particular lesson, I did use it for several other activities during the later part of the school year with great success. My students were definitely more engaged during those lessons, and we were able to compare and contrast the ways data looked with different kinds of graphs.

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Data and Chance is one of the six major strands in our math program, and graphing gives kindergarten students their first formal exposure to some of these concepts. Graphing is an important nonverbal communication technique and this lesson shows students how technology can be used to create graphs. It also gives them an opportunity to evaluate the pros and cons of this technology.=====

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This is a favorite lesson in kindergarten and the students are always excited to create their graphs, compare them with their peers, and contribute to the class graph. Incorporating technology into this lesson enriches the leaning opportunities present in the lesson in several ways. It allows my students and me to create the graph with greater ease, it provides potential opportunities to extend the lesson by manipulating the data and examining the effects of that manipulation on the visual representation, and it provides a natural introduction to an analysis and evaluation of technology.=====

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Students are encouraged to verbalize their thinking during math time. However, many students find this difficult to do, especially in kindergarten.. Furthermore, there are many ways to communicate mathematical ideas, and many children have much better success with nonlinguistic methods. Visual methods of communicating mathematical thinking are especially powerful in kindergarten because they are much more concrete. This lesson exposes my students to different modes of communication and helps them see that non-verbal communications are valuable.=====