Teacher Jessica Goodwin (right). Independent reading time in Goodwin’s classroom. Before King/Robinson School first-graders could ski the slopes toward a hot chocolate hut, they first had to tackle a two-digit addition lesson.  That learning adventure took place on a recent Friday in t he first-floor classroom of veteran educator Jessica Goodwin as she used tools like “tens rods” and single units to teach students how to add up math problems like 30 plus 7.  After working on the math lesson, students worked to update a large wall poster made by Goodwin depicting a snowy ski slope that tracks the class’s progress in a school-wide reading challenge. Each time students logged reading minutes, they moved a little further down the hill. At the bottom of the poster sat the reward: a hand-drawn “hot chocolate hut.” Students who reached the finish line would earn a warm cup of cocoa to celebrate.  After Friday’s math lesson, Goodwin gave students the reminder that their daily reading time would soon allow them to “slide down the slope and make it to the yummy hot chocolate hut.” Before the class could put on their imaginary skis, there was math to do. Goodwin introduced Friday’s lesson of addition as the group of 16 students sat on a rug in front of a “smart board” picturing a group of sheep.  The first graders learned how to add two-digit numbers by first breaking the numbers into tens and ones. Using singular cubes and rods, Goodwin explained the difference between a single “unit” cube and a “tens” rod, a bundle of ten.  Also in the classroom with Goodwin was paraprofessional Juan Santiago. As Goodwin provided instruction to students, Santiago would redirect those occasionally distracted to face forward or raise their hands as they worked through examples on the smart board. When Goodwin pointed to her screen picturing a cluster of sheep, she asked her students how they can quickly count how many there were.  One by one, students approached the board to group the sheep into sets of 10 to make counting easier. First-grader Zuleyka placed a number on each sheep to confirm she counted correctly. She then circled the group of 10 before passing the pen to a classmate.  By the end of the exercise, the class had identified three groups of 10, which Goodwin explained represent three “tens rods.” “If we have seven sheep left, can that be another rod?” Goodwin asked.  The students in unison called out “no” while explaining the remaining sheep each represented a single unit.  Goodwin then wrote 30 + 7 on the board, causing a dozen hands to shoot up to answer that the answer was 37. Next, students dispersed to four tables to tackle two worksheets independently or in small groups. Goodwin and Santiago took turns checking in with each table as students worked through putting to practice the recent math skills.  “You guys are doing awesome with these!” Goodwin said with encouragement. This year is Goodwin’s fifth year teaching first grade. She previously was a paraprofessional at Mauro-Sheridan. She was encouraged by Mauro-Sheridan first-grade teacher Amanda Milne to attend Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) to become a certified teacher. When first-grader Jasmine finished both of her worksheets quickly, she headed to another table to help her classmates.  Across the room, Santiago helped first-grader Jernee by suggesting she place their pencil on each cube while counting aloud to keep track of their tens and ones.  When Zuleyka looked at three tens rods and declared she had “30 tens,” Santiago asked, “Do you see 30 tens or 3 tens that add up to 30?” Zuleyka observed that “30 tens is way too much to count,” then corrected her answer.  As students wrapped up, Goodwin tasked the students with putting their worksheets in their math folders then organizing them neatly on their desk. “I love how table two is following all of my directions,” she said with praise.  When the class reconvened on the rug, Goodwin reviewed a common mistake she had spotted during the lesson, which was that students were writing 5 tens plus 1 unit equals 6.  Goodwin wrote the equation on the smart board, asking the class, “What does 5 tens actually mean?”  First-graders Eva and Kairo answered aloud together: “50.”  Next came a brief snack time for students to reenergize on Trix cereal, seaweed crisp, and Takis while watching a YouTube video explaining how lollipops are made. Before transitioning to reading, Goodwin reminded them to tidy up. Then using four 15-minute reading stations, the class rotated through independent reading, worksheets, small-group work with Goodwin, and Lexia lessons online.  Each minute of reading in class or at home counted toward their ski-slope adventure. The ski-themed reading challenge in Goodwin’s classroom was just one of many ways educators encouraged classrooms to participate in the school-wide “Olympic reading challenge.” Each classroom was assigned a country for their reading theme contest and Goodwin’s class was assigned the USA.  By the end of the morning, the high energy that fueled the class’s sheep-counting carried on into quiet page-turning and sentence making. After the downtime, the group’s energy returned to conclude their reading lesson on the class rug with Goodwin.  “I’m chopping and you’re blending,” Goodwin called out while sounding out words like “f-lo-or” and “sp-ar-k,” prompting the students to blend the wood “floor” together with “spark.”  Meanwhile, at 12:30 p.m. in a second-floor classroom, King/Robinson French teacher Audrey Berthelot hosted a Mardi Gras-themed French honor society celebration for students.  Second- through eighth-graders gathered in the room for 30 minutes to enjoy croissants and donuts while also crafting purple, yellow, and green bracelets.  Seventh-grader Adrianna Francis has been taking French at King/Robinson School since she was in elementary grades.  She’s stuck with it, she said, because “it makes me feel good trying a new challenge.” Over the years she’s overcome challenges like learning to identify masculine and feminine words in French. She thanked Berthelot Friday for the celebration that she said reminded her that “it’s worth it as long as you keep trying.”  Santiago and first grader Maysun write and draw silly sentences. After finishing her own work, Jasmine (in gray) helps her classmates. Goodwin’s reading challenge poster showing students inching closer to the hot chocolate hut. French teacher Esperalda Doublette celebrates students in French honor society. 7th grader Adrianna Francis has been learning French at King/Robinson since first grade. The post King/Robinson Counts appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less