4th Grade Math Constructed Response

4th Grade Math Constructed Response

Today I had the opportunity to visit Mrs. Beavers's Classroom and use the ISTEP constructed response tool with her classrom. Our problem focused on finding area of an irregular figure and finding the perimeter with missing sides. 

We started the lesson by allowing the students 10 minutes to work on the problem on their own to simulate an ISTEP type environment. After the ten 10 minutes were up, we worked through the problem together and finishing typing there problems on the Test Nav Tool.  We first discussed the differences in part A and part B--Part A was asking for area, Part B was asking for perimeter. Students showed the 2 different ways they divided the figure to make two rectangles. We then discussed that we would have to change the dimensions of the original figure to fit just the rectangle we were finding the area of. Lastly, we practiced finding the perimeter, when all the sides are not given. We knew Mr. White needed a fence to keep the rabbits out. This lead to the discussion of how to find the missing sides. 

                       

We had a very teachable moment at the end of the 10 minutes of working on their own.

This 4th grade student had AWESOME work and an explanation.....on her paper. After the 10 minutes was up, I asked her if she got all of it typed in and she said no! I told her I was so proud of her answer, but I wanted to see her just type her answer. I used this whole class and said to just use the paper when you are solving the problems. When it comes to your explanation, use your computer and type in our answer, eliminating a step and saving yourself time.