Markert-Student Work Blog

This week I collected one of my homework assignments from my unit. This homework assignment asked the students to look at 5 dominoes and count the number of dots on each. Then it asked the students, on the back, to draw the dominos in order from the least to the greatest number of dots. It also asked the students to write under the dominos the number of dots prior to redrawing them and ordering them in the back.  The student was able to accurately count the dots under the dominos and write the number under the corresponding domino. On the back the student drew the dominos in order from least to greatest number of dots. However, her homework proved to be really interesting. The student looked at the domino but only the bottom half of the domino. The student ordered these dominos from least to greatest but only looking at the dots on the bottom half not the number entirely. Even though the student was able to see on the front of the sheet the number of dots each domino has. The student ordered the dominos on the back starting with the domino that had no dots, then the domino with one dot, then the one with two, then three, then four, and finally five. This is not incorrect because she did follow the instructions of ordering but she didn’t look at the whole domino. This makes me wonder if maybe she thought the domino is two separate parts or didn’t really understand the question. She may have also felt that this question allowed them to choose which half they order.

I would have liked to seen a question asking the students for an explanation. This would have allowed me to see what the student was thinking when she was ordering the dominos. This homework was in direct correlation with the student’s exploration day. This day the students were asked in class during a center to organize the dominos from least to greatest. This was the first time that the students were introduced to dominos so there is a chance that she may not have known the domino was all the dots as a group. I do not think that this student has a problem with ordering numbers since she was able to accurately do it based on the dots on the bottom. She also was able to answer the second half of the homework correctly. The second part of the homework asked the students to write a number that comes before and after the one printed. This is also an insight as to whether or not the student understands ordering of numbers. As a result I think her misconception of ordering the entire dominos number of dots has more to do with her unfamiliarity with dominos or the questions wording. To help this student understand this it would be beneficial for her to have a better understanding of dominos. This would allow me to see if this was the problem. It would also be helpful to higher her level of thinking by asking her to explain her reasoning and thinking behind her ordering.