What happens when you let children teach column subtraction?

Background:

Shirley Clarke in her book Outstanding Formative Assessment says ‘ask the children to …create their own individual success criteria. This is an effective technique… and enables misconceptions to be illuminated by asking children to explain, in their own words, how the procedure works…’

What we did:

Each child had a blank Bingo card. I asked the children to write down each step they would need to complete a subtraction sum. All to play for. Prizes to be won for a full house.

We shared our findings as a class. The children were bursting to share how they would do it. I spoke very little as they each pitched into the ensuing discussion, building and adding to each other’s ideas.

Outcome

We now have a full bingo card of our class instructions for subtraction using column method. I typed up the children’s instructions and displayed them as a poster on the working wall for the rest of the unit. The children had great success at using and applying the method in their work over the next few days.

Success Criteria Subtraction Bingo

Observations

Some of the children were resilient and bouncy in the face of the blank Bingo card. They threw themselves into the task, chatting as they did it. Others who like to be given a ‘recipe’ which they follow with great success were afraid to mess up the page with something which might turn out to be ‘wrong’.  We need to support and nurture these children to take risks with their learning.

Reflections

This week has seen a huge leap in understanding and use of column methods (addition and subtraction). It has been the most fun and fastest learning of the method that I have seen. I’ll be interested to see if the children retain this knowledge when we revisit addition and subtraction next term. How deep has the learning gone? I’m looking forward to getting out their success criteria toolkit next term to see if they add to it/ refine it in any way during the course of the unit. They haven’t included carrying/exchanging in this toolkit but learned how to do that as the week went on. Will it make an appearance next time? Watch this space.

I’d like to get to a stage where every child in the class is okay with making and sharing mistakes. Genuinely seeing them as an opportunity for learning.

This has led on to me trying a ‘glorious mistake’ growth mindset activity. (Glorious Mistake post to follow.)

 

Action research:

Focus: Book Talk

Year group: Yr 3/4

Date: Jan 2016

Reference: ‘Tell Me’ by Aidan Chambers

Description:  Talk around ‘The Tunnel’ by Anthony Browne, starting as a whole class for one week and then more focused work with group of 7 pupils for one week, all during ‘reading time.’

Reflections:

• Time: time is of the essence and also possible stumbling block: the more time we put in, the deeper the pupils’ responses and the richer the learning but how can we balance time spent on this with other demands on ‘reading time’—eg to teach them comprehension skills?
• Talk: this is all about the talk rather than the reading. While ongoing re-reading of the text became an important part of the process, it was the time spent talking rather than reading that made this such a valuable activity.

Possible ways forward:-

1. Classes to focus Book Talk on short stories and/or picture books and/or poetry instead of longer texts.
2. Book Talk to be used for work with small groups who need to develop a broader reading diet.

• Holding back: This was a constantly challenge for me. The temptation to step in with a point of view and/or a ‘why’ question was all consuming at times. It was a particular challenge when there was a lull in the discourse and I became concerned that the ‘talk’ was drying up. Even when I stepped in with one of Aidan Chamber’s general or specific questions, it felt like I had jarred the pupils’ thinking. As with any good conversation, the talk must always lead on from the pupils’ previous response or you lose interest. The Book Talk questions, while they are all open ended and judgement free, should still only be used where natural to ask.

Must remember:-

1. In this context, what I, the teacher, think matters little. This is all about bringing on the pupils’ thinking.

• All responses valued: This is also a challenge for the teacher. It is one thing to commit to valuing all responses, quite another to keep one’s reaction encouraging but neutral enough that we don’t unwittingly imply we value one response over another. It is important to allow pupils to give responses when and if they ‘want to give them. Two pupils started quietly’ here but with the space to think and without the pressure, they were willingly and confidently ‘joining in’ by the end.

Must remember:-

1. To stay interested but non-committal.

• Group dynamics: Important to vary this to help engagement and spread of ideas. Important also to get the balance just right between pupils contributing freely and some pupils being drowned out by others who contribute too freely. Teaching pupils to listen for a natural pause before they speak is a good conversational skill in itself. Varying the group dynamic and method also important including for example strategies like ‘snowballing.’

Therefore:-

1. Need time to develop pupil skills in this regard- through good modelling and a flexible but firm set of ‘rules for engagement.’

Pupil feedback:

‘It felt like we went deeper, in head first and we found out what the book was really about.’

‘I preferred it to doing comprehensions because when you o comprehensions, it feels like you’re being put on the spot, it’s scary because other people might know and you might not and it can make you feel left out.’

‘I like the way we’re all together for Book Talk, that there’s no fear, there’s no right or wrong.’

 

N Moss Jan 2016

 

 

 

 

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