Dear Grattan Community,
I just wanted to share with you what I learned at the SSC meeting on Wednesday. Mrs. Cortese gave an amazing presentation about one math program used at Grattan. With the help of Mr. Reedy, Ms. Ciulla, and Mrs. Robertson, the parent participants were taken through an actual math lesson. It was so wonderful to see how much time the teachers spend training and preparing to meet the needs of their students and all the different learning styles and abilities.
The Grattan teachers make math dynamic by often using a literature-based approach, a method promoted by educator Marilyn Burns. The teacher reads a story to the children and then draws the math lesson out of it. Ms. Cortese explained that this allows children who may not have strong math or language skills easier access to the math problem. It also makes the math more practical and fun. The teachers took us through the math lesson that used Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong. This fun story tells about a man who finds a magic pot that doubles any item that is put in it. This is all well and good until his wife falls in…A very cute story led to a great math exercise on doubling. The parents had fun testing our own math skills as well as our ability to work cooperatively. The problem was: How can you end up with 21computers for the class when you have 1 computer and the magic pot? Then the teachers shared some anonymous work from Kindergarten (Problem: What happens when you put 5 bears in the pot?); First Grade (Problem: When you put ____ into the pot you will get _____ out of the pot.), and Second Grade (Problem: If you get 24 coins out of the pot, how many do you need to put in?) Then the parents asked and learned about how the teachers handle different abilities and temperaments of their students. Although I learned a lot about literature-based math, I also learned that the Grattan teachers are experts and know their students well.
We came from another school where my daughter did a lot of rote math work. Emma would say often that she was not good at math. She certainly didn’t like it. This year in the second grade Emma has been given creative math problems that are fun and ask analytic skills with all the rote stuff hidden. When she receives her homework packet on Mondays, she routinely wants to do the math first. She now says that she is great at math. Jack is learning so much in Kindergarten. His program is very different from Emma’s Kindergarten experience. His dad asked him what a trapezoid was today and he responded half a hexagon – wow! We are very lucky to be part of this school!
I don’t think we always know what the teachers are doing in the classroom. The answer in a nutshell is an amazing job. It was wonderful to learn about this program. Please try to come to another curriculum presentation as you will leave inspired.
Josie Owens