Moving On - Maths Inquiry 2017

Our school wide Inquiry this year is focused on mathematics. Research results have shown we are achieving acceleration in reading and writing but it is time to turn our attention to maths to see if we can also achieve more acceleration in this area.

As I am a teacher of Year one children just beginning their mathematical journey it is important for the children to develop a sound number knowledge and strategies.

My inquiry will centre on a group of children who find difficulty in moving from stage 1 (counting one to one) to stage 2 (combining sets - adding and subtracting).  They can count and form sets of objects up to ten but they are unable to solve simple problems that involve joining and separating sets like 3 + 2. They can count the 3 counters in one hand and the two counters in the other but when asked how many they have all together they say "three two".

This raises questions such as what strategies can I use to help these children?  How can I strengthen these children's understanding? What key items of knowledge do the children need to developed? What learning activities can I select and implement that will aid these children?  Would using manipulative equipment be more useful than iPad activities?

The beginning of this journey will involve an in depth look at reviewing their present knowledge to see what number knowledge they have and then working on activities to strengthen their understanding within the stage. This information, along with current literature and colleague's advice, will help me formulate an action plan for my teaching inquiry.

New Beginnings in a New Year - 2017.

It is the beginning of a new year with a group of 17 year one students.  I am delighted to be teaching year one students again and to be taking the first steps in their learning voyage with them.

The focus this year is that "we are voyagers."  It is fitting to think about navigating through our learning journey.  We need to know who we are, where we come from and where we are going to.

Most of the children in Room 16 this year have previously spent a few weeks at school at the end of last year so they have a sense of belonging to Point England already.  They are enthusiastic to get on with their learning voyage again.  We have been getting into new routines and getting to know each other.

We look forward to sharing some of our adventures through our class blog.

Successes Shared and Advice Sought

Collaborative inquiry groups are an informal way of sharing success and seeking advise from colleagues outside our team.

I shared the small success I have had in helping a child to use what he does know and to encourage him to recognise what he needs to know and remember.  We have moved from looking at a letter to remembering the shape or sequence of two or three letters.  He is seeing and commenting on words around the room or in books we read and he is so positive about his learning.  Each learning journey starts with small steps!

The advice I sought was in helping children transfer their oral vocabulary into their writing.  A good suggestion was to get the children to record their story so they could listen to what they originally said and write it down. The replay idea would also help children hear words and visualise what sounds they need to write as so often they don't use a word because they don't know how to spell it.

"Reading and Writing Work"

Term 3 Inquiry

There are always students who find learning comes less easy to them so this term my focus is on this group of students.  The readiness to learn varies from child to child and for some beginning school is such a different environment in which they have no idea how to respond or what is required of them.  They prefer to be observers or watchers, not participating for fear of getting things wrong.   I looked at my class to see what is holding some of these students back and decided it was time to look at the pace we were working at and the medium they were working in.  These students seemed happiest working in a more tactile environment at a much slower pace.

Already they are becoming more confident in both reading and writing and once they have a more  confidence "I can" attitude we will begin to work again on the iPad.  

Term 2 2016 Inquiry Presentation

Making Connections

The reciprocal nature of the skills and knowledge of reading and writing is not something that children are naturally aware of.

I have been demonstrating to  my students how they can transfer their knowledge and understanding from their reading to their writing and vice versa.  During guided reading or reading to we might notice the same ending i.e. the  -er ending and discuss the sound made by these two letters.  Then during writing one prompts a child that the end sound they are looking for is the same as the word we looked at in reading.

Another prompt is to look for chunks they know - You know "look" so you will also know how to write  "took".  The children are encouraged to "stretch out" sounds and this phonic skill or phonemic awareness develops as children begin to write and read more new words.

I have been consciously selecting a range of texts to read to the children to provide models for  "interesting" words or rhyming words, structure and grammar in writing as well as widening students ideas and knowledge to write about.  I also comment on connections between books to get children thinking about themes or content and have had one or two children now picking up on this and making comments such as this is like such and such a book and giving a reason.  When a child might be stuck for writing ideas one can refer back to a book they have read and prompt about what happened then.

Some of my students are very excited to 'discover' that these two subjects are so intertwined and are beginning to prompt each other as to the connections.  It is exciting showing and discussing connections and then hearing them being used by the children in their learning.