Snowmen

First I am sorry that I don't know how to turn these pictures so that you don't have to turn your head to look at them!  We often combine math and language learning to experience real life problems and examples of how to solve them.  This allows the students to experience math as an everyday real life necessity!  Today we wondered how we could find out how many of our students have made a snowman this year.  The students came up with the answer (because we have modeled and tried these ideas earlier in the year).  One said that we needed to ask each student, another said we needed to create a graph and finally another said that tally marks would be useful.  So we used all three!

The students drew a t-chart and labelled it yes and no, which would be the answers given.  They put the students' initials on the side of their paper so they could cross out each child as they asked the question and add a tally mark on the correct side of the t-chart.

They mingled around the room, using their good manners to practise how to appropriately ask a question.  Once completed, each student also made their own graph.

A 'word' form of a graphing activity is known as a GLYPH.  It also gives information like a graph, but a glyph has to be 'read' using a key. (Can you see the connection to reading a map?)  Using the snowman glyph key, each student made their own snowman.  A big thank you to FirstGradeBlueSkies for sharing the idea of using the black and white paper when making a snowman.  The students 'ooohed' and 'ahhed' over the adorable paper that they would be using to create their snowmen. 

What do you know about this snowman?  A boy who has made a snowman before was his creator.  This boy would be happy if we had a snow day and he would make a snow fort in his gloves instead of coming to school!

This mitten loving girl would also be happy to have a snow day, but her activity of choice would be making snow angels.

Aren't they all adorable, and each seems to exude the personality of the darling who made them?