A visit from Ms. Toth!

One of our next steps in preparing for Ms. Sandy's visit is looking at the type of Math problems
we will be solving when creating our step-by-step problem-solving guide.
We were very fortunate to have Ms. Toth (our school division's Numeracy Coordinator) with us
this morning as we jumped in and got to work.

After finding our group (a randomized group of 3), we found our spots at the white boards and began working through the steps to solve a series of picture problems. Each card contained a variety a shapes, each of a different value. We had to solve for each shape so that the picture remained balanced
(both sides of the balance were of equal).

As we solved each question, we needed to explain our thinking to Ms. Toth and/or Mme Careen before moving on to the next question. Some questions were certainly easier to balance than others! The more we worked through the problems, the more we were able to come up with different strategies and negotiate the most effective way to solve for each shape.

Some groups were able to work through all 8 problems and then were tasked with 2 next steps:
1) Writing a basic algebraic equation to represent the problem.
2) Creating their own "balance" problem for another group (or teacher!) to solve.

We worked really hard this morning and our brains all got a little bit bigger from all the Math thinking we did!

We will revisit these same problems next week, this time looking at how to represent each step of our process with both an equation and a written sentence to explain our thinking. Ms. Toth will also be back to help guide us as we begin these next steps and we can't wait to work with her again! :)