The above picture was
actually created by the class during math. We're starting a new unit and the
concept is "Decimals and their Uses".
Whenever I begin a new
unit (especially in math) I try to ascertain how much my students already know
about the content. This guides my starting point for teaching, insuring that I
am not wasting their time or mine by teaching them something they already know.
Those ideas are best left for a quick review rather than a full-blown lesson.
There are several ways
to determine the "pulse" of a class in terms of a certain unit of
study; you can have them complete a K-W-L chart (what do I "Know", what do I
"Want"
to know, and what did I "Learn"?),
or you can give them a pretest on the concepts that will be taught and learned.
You could have an informal discussion, asking them to talk to you or each other
about the topic at hand. Or you could "Wordle".
Wordle is a computer
program that generates "word art" like the picture above. It's a
fascinating program in that it can be used for a variety of applications. I've
used it before both professionally and personally. I recently used it on a
personal level and so it was in the forefront of my mind.
On Wednesday, as my
students were taking their Math Unit 2 Test, I began thinking about this next
unit, "Decimals and Their Uses". The first thing I, as the teacher,
needed to know was how much about decimals do my students understand. Then it came
to me like wind blowing through the trees: ideas flowed in and out, centered
around "Wordle". Ways to utilize the program began swirling in my
head, interacting with one another in a dance that finally culminated in a
lesson.
Each student was given
an index card. They were instructed that they would have 2-3 minutes to jot
down everything they knew about decimals. I gave them an example using
fractions. Then I posed some questions on the board to help guide their
thinking: "What do decimals mean? Are they related to other math concepts?
Are there special names associated with decimals? How do we use them? Are there
special symbols used for decimals? Can we add, subtract, multiply, and divide
with them? What are the numbers after the decimal called? How do we say numbers
with decimals in them?"
After the students
wrote down what they knew about decimals I had one person tell us one thing
they had written. Then I asked those who had also written the same thing to
raise their hand. We did this same process for a total of 7 people. While
responses were being given I had the "Wordle" program open on my
computer (the kids could see it too, on the big screen). I would type the word
that was given the same number of times people reported jotting it down. For
example, if the word "money" was reported 12 times, I typed it into
the program 12 times. What this does is tell the program that this word is
important. The more important a word, the "bigger" it appears on the
final product.
If you look at the
picture produced by "Wordle" above, you can see the different
"decimal concepts" and how they are different sizes. The bigger the appearance
of a word, the higher the number of students there are that
"understand" the word to be a part of the world of decimals. Can you
see the really, really tiny word in the "Wordle" above??
It was an interesting
way to gain a glimpse of what my students understand about decimals. Not to
mention it was a creative and fun way for them to be engaged in the process.
Hopefully they will be interested enough to use the program for other things as
well. It's quite engaging!
Mr. Casten
Nov. 1, 2013
Copyrighted material
of Michael C. Casten
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