The First Trimester -- Discribing a Problem

The boys and I have been talking about how detail in their description makes a big difference when explaining a problem. I started off having the boys solve a problem and then they explained, in their own words what they did to solve the problem. Most of the boys just wrote the steps and did not give any detail. As we continued through out the trimester the boys started putting detail and getting more exact in their explanation of the steps. One of the boys on a test question even used this to check his work and noticed he had done a step wrong. He said,"Mrs. May, this really helps." As the trimester went on I noticed boys were really thinking about the steps as they solved their problems. They even were able to explain to their classmates how to solve different problems and explain why. Some of my students that have struggled in math, stepped up and started participating in class and teaching others. The boys that have always been strong in math were noticing that they were having trouble explaining what they were doing, but enjoyed the challenge, as they called the description process.

Here are some different examples.
I feel these are great examples of how hard the boys are working.






I was wondering if any other schools are using this process to teach fractions? I would love some suggestions on how to make this even better. We are in the process of turning this activity into how to videos. The boys are going to share them with the fourth grade when they are done. I will share the videos when we have finished.