I recently stole an idea from Lynn Lape (@lmlape) involving having students create a dream bedroom where they use grid paper to calculate the area and perimeter of the bedroom and everything in it. I started out telling kids they would be designing their own dream bedroom with the shoe boxes I had been asking them to bring in for a few weeks. We actually didn't have enough so I had to cut the kids off so I could double the number of bedrooms I had. I let he kids pick their boxes and we were off!
So anyway I went through and modeled how to set up grid paper to match the area of your box and then calculate area and perimeter. So far so good, I was able to facilitate and get kids through it. It was actually going well. The kids were calculating area and perimeter of huge rectangles and now just had to add in the other parts.
What I left out, and where I think my first misstep was, was part of the timing and order. After I went over the first part, I created a rubric with the students outlining what should be included and how they should be evaluated. It actually went well and we came up with some good guidelines for items to include. Although, I think next time we will look closer at the idea of the door taking up area in the bedroom along with how big the things should be in comparison to each other.
So yes, the first lesson/day should have just been building the plan/grid and finding area and perimeter. What happened when I started suggesting what would go in the room is that kids just went to that step. They skipped the math content I was trying to reteach entirely. I spent the rest of this unit or lesson or whatever trying to recover. My students needed more direction early on than I had predicted.
So, back to the lesson. The next day I modeled how to find area and perimeter of the big rectangle again and how to put things on our plans. The mistake I made this day was letting students have the boxes back. Again they skipped the planning stage and just started building. Why didn't I think of that? I do the same thing and just plan as I go but never write it down. When I arrange furniture I just move it around the room until my wife likes it. This lesson was becoming a disaster. Trying to redirect them back from the "fun" part to draw rectangles on grid paper was near impossible.
I think I should have had them use their plans and grids and then get approval from me. Once a few got approval I could hire them as inspectors to approve others and speed up the process. This way my early finishers are engaged and teaching the students that need help and I essentially clone the teacher while empowering my students. Also, if I sold it as an incentive to get your plan done it would have been an engaging option vs some other busy work while they wait for me to help everyone. Who wants to solve math problems when you have a bedroom ready to be designed? Then, the next day I could pass the boxes back out and students could work on transferring their plans to their houses in the same way. Early finishers can again become inspectors to check that students plans match their bedrooms.
The final flaw in my lesson was hinted to above. Students weren't building their bedrooms in accordance to the plans they made. The sizes didn't line up and they wanted to add in a lot of extras based on trying to use some extra supplies I had left over from creating ornaments for Christmas. There were a lot of jingle bell room alarms to keep pesky siblings out.
To make this better I think I should have just left it up to my students to bring in materials like many of them did, or build from paper/drawings. Even showing them the supplies when we talked about making our plans. This way as they plan on the grid paper they are thinking about what supplies they need.
Now after three days of math instruction students had only improved their knowledge of area and perimeter a little but I had an idea on how to fix it. At the end of fourth day I saw the rooms and plans were a disaster. One student even lost the entire plan, but boy was he having fun. He even came back at lunch one day to work on his bedroom. Anyway, I wanted to see if the idea of inspector would work. I had students set up their bedrooms and plans on their desks. Then they went around trying to find mistakes on other people's plans. They were generally engaged (if they knew how to find area and perimeter) and proud to show off when they found a mistake. They also were being bribed with a "wow" Dojo point for being able to explain to me the mistake. That part was awesome and I would include it at the end next time.
So if you are still reading I hope it helps you.
Please leave any questions, comments, or suggestions for me. I am also thinking maybe this could be outside with meter sticks and sidewalk chalk in groups instead.
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