Clip 8/16: Adding and Subtracting Fractions Using a Line Plot Lesson Part 1G

Overview

Mallory gathers the attention of her 5th-grade students with a call-and-response routine and asks them to come to the carpet with their papers. She asks them to restate what they were looking for in problem one, and invites students from different groups to share their strategies for finding the solution. Mallory asks the students, “Why did you guys decide to use this model versus this type of model?” After the students share their strategies, Mallory asks students to “Talk to someone near you on the carpet. How are these two equivalent strategies?”

Teacher Commentary

What I really love is when students ask me a question and their question is seeking for me to tell them whether their solution’s correct or not. I usually ask another question back and I'll just sit and wait. And they're like, “Well, am I right?” and I'll ask them another question. By the middle of the year, they know: “You’re not going to tell us, you’re just going to ask us another question.” I totally love that concept of when humor comes out and real authenticity of relationships, like you're a human being. We’re all trying to understand and physically or verbally express what's going on, and what's happening. So the kids will try to argue with me, and I'll purposely respond or not, whether it's making mistakes on purpose or it's like “This! I figured it out. Let's talk about it.”