Small questions go big

This week, two small questions became big in kindergarten and first grade, which is what we all want great questions to do. In KA, children were asked to consider what they already know already about numbers. 

Next in 1A, two children cornered me in the stairwell: "How many days of school are there?" I responded that I had no idea (why should a Head of School know something like that!?) It launched an investigation that started with examining cubes in their classroom. Now, 1A is immersed in a deep exploration of how cubes can be used to answer this very relevant question. They made a plan: they looked at the school calendar, counted the number of days in each month, created each month with cubes, and then attached them all together. The small group then recruited the entire class into the research because different groups were getting counts that are not the same. As one student shared with everyone in reflection, "Maybe the whole class can help!"

Classroom observations:

Students used a calendar to figure out how many days we are in school each month. One child shares with the class that it was "really hard work."

Two students began to count of all of the cubes that represent the days that we are in school each month.

One student is excited when the count is finished and the number is over 100!

Another student's idea to count by 10 to see if we can get a number that always comes out to be the same. One child shares: "Our numbers are different again!"

Today, I heard they have a final answer!