Developing Grit: A Graphing Unit

Albert Einstein had grit.

The standards we teach are SO rigorous these days that if we want our students to be successful they need it too. 

I like this acronym using the word GRIT: 

Image from: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhGLrdpr29FEFbkqd4r_dbEBBo350rV-RFOJPLTsM6NHUn5XmH8p1fyXlQ_Q287lAXn2YgERG7R7YUI1l-jgXjv8vhJQnr7rA7eyZBBk3Hnzg4aRVkCDE8VT8rUZew1DHJQRjOsiw0fWg/s1600/GRIT+Poster.JPG

 Learning experiences that cause students to struggle help them develop resilience and tenacity. I  believe I can help my students by using direct, systematic teaching and scaffolding my instruction so that the learning tasks I put in front of them are challenging, yet not completely overwhelming. I owe it to my kids to set them up with the skills needed to face and ultimately conquer the toughest of tasks.

I'm creating math packets that will help my students as they work towards mastering the very challenging third grade SOL math objectives. We usually begin the year with a graphing unit so this will be the set I use first.

Through the use of these materials, I will systematically teach each type of graph. Students will gain practice in asking survey questions, gathering data and creating tally charts, picture graphs, bar graphs and line plots.

I've increased the rigor of some of my questioning and included multistep problems similar to those my students will confront on their end of the year SOL test. 

The teaching pages are on what we call "Slice and Stick" note sheets that we glue in their math journals. That way they will have them there for the year and we can refer back to them as we go along. 

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These pages begin with "I Can" statements that helps to focus on what it is that we need to learn through the lesson.  At the end, we reflect back on the "I Can" statements and students indicate their confidence level for each one. I find that my third graders are super honest. They will let me know if they just aren't getting it. That then helps me plan my next teaching move. 

After the teaching pages, I made up some question sheets that mimic those that students will need to solve on the end of the year SOL test. They are difficult and will give students  the practice they need in using their grit and not giving up. 

If you are interested in using these yourself, you can find them in my TPT store. 

Click the link below: 

Data Detectives

What do you think about the rigor of the standards we now teach and how are you dealing with it? 

Please share your thoughts... email at youngdor8@gmail.com or comment below. 

I love to hear from you!