First strategy- Drill and Kill
I know this strategy is not very affective, but we had already learned 5's at the beginning of the year. I thought a little practice and it would come back to them, so we drilled. I tried adding some rhythm, movement, clapping, and other things in. They were able to do it with me, but they were not successful alone.
With some formative assessment I could see this wasn't going anywhere fast.
Second Strategy- See and Say
I felt that maybe my students just needed to visually see how the pattern was going. We used the hundreds chart. We started with just pointing to the 5's as we said them. The connection between the nickels and counting still felt week. We then physically placed the nickels on the hundred's chart. This strategy worked with two of my student's, but my one student was still week. The two who were catching on were still not at 100% accuracy. I still felt like I needed something, but what?
Third Strategy- Music
I pondered how I would help my students remember the pattern. We had been playing games, visualizing, reviewing, and nothing seemed to get them to a 100% success rate. The idea popped in my head to use music. A quick youtube search brought me to Mr. R. His music is so fun to listen to. It is catchy and fun.
It was a huge hit. The student's loved it. Soon my students could count by 5's with a 100% success rate. I am so grateful to people who take the time to add such great and helpful resources. Mr. R defiantly has a talent that I am thankful for. I still catch my student's singing the song.
Happy Teaching!
Games used during this unit-
Graphics for this post-
http://the3amteacher.blogspot.com/
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