Kevin Terrell- MAED 3224- IMB Observation Scavenger Hunt 1

Observation Scavenger Hunt

Prompt2: Were the students given a task that required them to explore and make
sense of math themselves? Provide an example of a major task that was posed to
students that challenged them to do so. How did the students react?

The teacher launched a lesson where students built a three-digit number using place
value blocks. The manipulatives were already placed at the student tables before the
students arrived for the day. The teacher began the lesson with students gathered at
the front carpet and modeled how hundreds, tens and ones can be written in a three-
digit place value chart. Teacher allowed for students to use their questions and
observations to guide the lesson as they broke apart and determined how many
hundreds, tens and ones could be written in a place value chart from model form using
manipulatives. Students were then assigned partners and given a deck of number
cards (numbered 1-9) and a laminated score sheet and dry erase marker. The students
were told they would be playing a game with a partner where they would draw three
cards each and try and build the largest number with the three cards they selected.
Kevin Terrell- MAED 3224- IMB Observation Scavenger Hunt 2

The student with the largest sum would get a check mark on the score card. During
this activity the teacher and I were walking around observing, listening and questioning
students about their understanding of place value. There were three groups who had
inconsistencies on their score cards and required guided questioning as to how they
might arrange their numbers differently to create a larger three-digit sum. The students
were all actively engaged during the activity and showed great leaps in their
understanding of the concept by having to discuss and solve the problems
collaboratively. Following the activity, the teacher invited two students to explain how
they were able to solve a dispute with their partner about who had the larger sum. The
students were then dismissed to complete their individual work in their math curriculum
book.

Prompt 3: Describe a time when a student or group of students demonstrated

For this exit ticket pictured above, students were asked to use their best strategy to
complete a three-digit subtraction problem. Most students chose to use a place value
(hto) chart. This student’s work shown above demonstrated their proper use of a
subtraction strategy using a place value chart, but their procedural fluency is still
developing as they arrived at an incorrect sum due to errors within the tens and one’s
place values. They showed efficiency in regrouping between the hundreds and tens
places but made errors in both the written and drawn portions of the ones place. I
discussed the errors made by the student with the classroom teacher and she and I
both agreed this was one of the areas they have been working on very closely as most
of the mistakes made by the students are usually very easily remedied when they look
over their work. When working on end of topic/ standard assessments or quizzes, the
teacher takes the time before they begin to remind them to read a question twice and
evaluate their own work before moving on. I asked this student later that day to walk
me through the steps they used to solve the problem and she very quickly noticed her
mistake. As an extension to the place value chart she used, I asked if she might show
me how she could use an open number line to solve a similar equation. This picture
below is one that she plotted on an open number line to solve 479 + _____=682 and
gave me a clear and concise strategy that demonstrated her procedural fluency. What I
learned from this experience was that it is important to allow students the opportunity
to correct their mistakes in order for them to grow and be confident moving forward.
Kevin Terrell- MAED 3224- IMB Observation Scavenger Hunt 4

Prompt 4: Describe a time when a student or group of students demonstrated

During the classes Fits Me time, I was working with a student on how to break apart
hundreds, tens and ones and writing the number in expanded form. The student was
having difficulty with regrouping when adding two three-digit numbers, so we worked
on building three-digit numbers using math manipulatives and a place value chart to
establish a greater conceptual understanding. I had seen them previously in the day
solve a number of addition problems with three-digit numbers using an hto chart and
at times mental math but would get stuck when they needed to regroup. After writing
the expanded form, I had the student add the values in the corresponding place values
on the chart and then count the number of hundreds, tens or ones blocks and write
that value under what they had written previously. In this way they could see how for
instance and from the example above that 50 is equal to 5 tens, is equal to 5 tens
blocks. Once they had a grasp of this concept, we worked on adding two three-digit
numbers writing them in expanded form, building them with blocks and then adding
their sums together and regrouping if necessary.
Kevin Terrell- MAED 3224- IMB Observation Scavenger Hunt 5

Prompt 7: Describe a time you worked with a student or small group. Explain the
math topics that were involved and how you felt about helping students with this
content.

The student I was working with in the above picture had missed school the previous
day when we had launched a new topic where open number lines were used to solve
subtraction problems using two three-digit numbers. The teacher asked me to spend
some time the next afternoon giving a reteach of the lesson. Building off of how we had
used open number lines to solve addition problems, I had the student help guide my
modeling as we constructed an open number line to solve our equation. Having had
attended the previous weeks math lesson planning with the grade level teachers, read
the teachers lesson plan and observed her teaching the whole group, I felt confident in
my understanding of the content which allowed me to ask questions that instilled the
same confidence and understanding with the student I was working with. This was just
one of many opportunities I had to work with a student one on one, and in small
groups making sure they were able to grasp these important concepts in the time
allotted before moving on to a new math topic.
Kevin Terrell- MAED 3224- IMB Observation Scavenger Hunt 6

Prompt 8: Did you observe your teacher informally assessing students? How did
your teacher assess and how did the teacher use the information to adapt their
teaching?

For all lessons, the classroom teacher followed a methodical routine where students were
dismissed following the engage portion of a lesson and given a group or individual task to
complete in an allotted amount of time. The teacher had a clipboard with the student roster for
a given week and would check off students individual work they completed on a handout or in
their math journals and put a corresponding mark next to the students name on her roster
sheet with an area for additional notes and a text box at the bottom to add whole group
observations/similarities for guiding the next part of the lesson. This type of informal
assessment allowed for her to readdress portions of the launch of the lesson that students may
have yet developed an understanding of, allowing for a quick reteach or student guided
instruction where she had those who were successful in the task explain their reasoning and
procedures directly to their peers. Following this first assessment the teacher has students
complete their assigned work in their math books and gives a check mark on the student’s page
when they have finished their work.