Maria Ricchio-student work blog

After giving students their place value test, I noticed that many students did very well with the material. They were able to represent and classify different numbers using the base 10 blocks. However, I did notice many students still struggled with addition. When students were asked to find the number from looking at 10 base blocks they were usually able to do so, but when asked to add 100, subtract 100, and add 10…that’s when we lost some students. We were getting all sorts of different answers, which made it seem like students were just putting random numbers down. After analyzing their responses, I could see many of them were lost, so that tells me I need to go back and make sure students understand before we go forward. I believe my students really do better when they have visual representations. As I continue into GLT, I want to give my students opportunities to use manipulatives, as much as possible. Turning the math tasks into games seems to be working really well, because students don’t feel like they are doing “ real work”. I think through practice, students will gain more knowledge and how to perform shortcuts. Luckily, the next unit students will be learning is Addition and Subtraction, so this gives us the perfect opportunity to clear up those misconceptions and errors, so students can gain confidence in their responses.