Integrating Math and Technology- Collecting Data

This year we have been working on implementing the Common Core Standards and teaching kids how to express their learning goals. They not only know what the learning goal for the lesson is, but they rate themselves based on a rubric.

Part of helping kids to become more aware of their own progress and learning is tracking data and celebrating success.  This week I took after some of my wonderful colleagues and started data folders with the kids.  Of course I have my own files as I always have with their running records and other assessments, but now they have a place where they can access some of this info in a kid-friendly format.

The first thing we started with was Fast ForWord data because this was easy for me to compile and was the more fun for the kids to see.  The score page on their computer looks much like a video game screen with the top scores of the day.  There are printable score sheets and graphs that they can fill in to monitor their progress.

The problem is... some of the kids still don't understand exactly how big (or small) their scores are.  What did we do?  Skipped ahead a few math lessons to the exploration lesson in Everyday Math Unit 4.  Base 10 blocks!  We built the numbers for the kids to see what a high score looked like and what a low score looked like.  What does 407 look like in comparison to 97?  How much bigger is it exactly?  97 seems pretty big to some first graders, right?!  Not only was this good math practice in number sense, place value, etc., but it also helped kids understand their scores in our research-based technology program Fast ForWord.


Here are some pictures of our work in math/data collection:

First, we built some sample scores in the pocket chart together.

Then, we transferred scores from our daily score sheet to the math page.  This was a great guide for students who weren't quite sure how to build their numbers.  Students didn't know where to put 97- in flats and longs, or longs and cubes.  We discussed what each placement would mean and decided together.  It was awesome!

Finally, students worked to build their own scores.  This is a score of 407.  We didn't have enough flats, so students put 10 longs together.  When I first saw the representation on paper (2 flats, 20 longs, 7 cubes), I was concerned.  However, this student explained what this meant perfectly- impressive! This was also a great lesson in cooperation/teamwork, as students at each table had to share supplies!

I'm always glad when two lessons can overlap because there are just so many things to fit into the day!  Also, it helps students when they can apply a math concept to something real, like their own scores.  I think this made building and comparing the numbers more meaningful, and understanding what each number "looked like" made their scores mean a little bit more and make a little bit more sense!  I can't wait until I see their scores tomorrow to see if this made an impact. :)