What’s the mistake? Why is it tempting?
Thanks to Christopher Danielson for this submission. His blog. His twitter.
Category: Elementary School
I arbitrarily designate some mistakes to be “classics,” and this here is one of them.
No need to identify the mistake. It’s right there. But let’s get some wisdom in the comments. What is the significance of this mistake? Does knowing that this mistake is common change the way that you do (or should) teach?
[I didn’t exactly know how to tag this post, but it’s from a 9th grade classroom. For CCSS I tagged 5th grade.]
What’s the mistake? How can you help the kid?
When you’re done with this post, go check out Mary Dooms’ blog and go follow her on twitter. Thanks for the submission, Mary!
Let’s have a good old fashioned brawl: is there a mistake here or not?
This submission comes from Chris Hunter, who blogs at Reflections in the Why.
What about this table and her knowledge about numbers, lead this kid to put down 39? Tell a story in the comments.
I usually try to at least come up with an idea of what the student was thinking before I post these mistakes on the site. Sometimes, though, I’m totally stumped. Here’s one that got me:
How did the kid get that answer? Anybody?
Also, how would you help the student move forward?
What does the student know? What does the student think is going on with fractions? How would you help?
What’s going on here? How would you help?
Categories
“27 – 11 = 38”
I love this mistake. From their work, what can we infer about what the student knows? Where are they getting confused? How would you help? (Also, if you don’t feel as if you have enough information, feel free to jump in with want information you’d like.)
Elementary teachers? You out there?