I had a lovely visit in a Boston Public School 1st grade today.  Several weeks ago the teacher read Monkeys for the Zoo to the class, and they discussed the story.  Today I reread most of the book to them, and we discussed how students can use their power in math!

Before rereading the book, I asked them to think about what Ms. Green means when she says, “Use Your Math Power”.  After listening to the story, the students shared ideas about:

• What it means to”Use Your Math Power”
• How the characters in the book use their math power
• How each of them use their math power, especially when something is new

These first graders talked a lot about the importance of thinking and learning from each others’ thinking.  They discussed the importance of listening and sharing ideas with classmates.     Many talked about how they can use their math power to try different ways, an important component in Monkeys for the Zoo.  Then they each got to write about how they can use their math power.

Here are some of their reflections.

We talked a lot about how nervous Mia was when she took a risk and shared her answer.  The class said Mia worried that she might be wrong.  We all acknowledged having similar experiences.  We talked about how Ms. Green helped her feel okay about taking a risk.

It was lovely hearing the students thinking about how they can engage in math.  I think conversations like this stimulate students to engage more productively in math class.