Math in Thanksgiving Diner

      Planning before a break is always tough. The kids are excited their minds are dreaming of turkey and potatoes and sleeping in. Oh wait, that's me.  Well I'm sure they are just dreaming of not coming to school for five whole days! So, using their excitement for break I created some Thanksgiving math activities.  It's always ideal to bring in the real world application of math so they understand that what we do is purposeful and they will use it! This is no different.  I am trying to incorporate more three-act math into my workshop.  You can see in previous posts that I love inquiry based teaching, so this is perfect.

     The first act is to show a picture and the kids brainstorm questions about the picture.  Since they are familiar with this their questions are naturally in the direction of math.

    Then once they are thinking of their question we will work to solve it.  Now, I am planning on them asking about how much it costs for these groceries or a Thanksgiving diner in general.  I have gathered up some ads we will look at and created a differentiated recording sheet where they can track their thinking.   This is an example of the "hardest" version.  For my other children I have changed the numbers of servings to "friendly numbers" or made alterations to the final question and required number of dishes.  I  also am providing my struggling math students with items that are already priced out to numbers that will be easy for them to work with.   (GLEs 4.OA.3, 4.OA.2 4.NBT.4)  (MP1 MP5 MP6)

     Differentiated learning is a building goal of ours and is quite easily attainable when you think about your learners and their needs.  Changing the numbers to those "friendly numbers" or changing the amount of problems that a child has to complete can change their attitude about math, especially when they struggle. Now, no it is not always so simple as in this task where my struggling students have a completely different set of materials.  If you want to learn more about creating a differentiated classroom you need to read this book by the "guru" of differentiation!

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