Stepping Up to Educreations

The first graders at Peterson Elementary were preparing for their math SBBBs. I talked with Mrs. Sanders and discussed apps that would work well for students to represent their work. After discussing pros and cons of several we determined that Edu-creations would be the best fit.

We presented the following math problem to out first graders:

There is a staircase that goes up three steps. How many blocks are needed for the first step? How many blocks are needed for the second step? How many blocks are needed for the third step? How many blocks in all are needed to make this staircase of three steps?  Explain how you know.

The problem involved a growing stair case.  First we let the students practice with their manipulatives and paper products to organize their thinking. Then we brought in all the ipads, gave the students a brief tutorial on the Educreations app and let them do their  ‘thing’. The children were engaged in their learning and talking with each other as they worked on the problems.  After discussing with students their experience of using the program, some of their comments were:

• Adria said, “I used the typing, it was easier than writing with my finger.”
• Haven said, “I liked it better, if you messed up you could just erase and not get another papers. It doesn’t waste paper.”
• Greyson said, “I didn’t get to do that one (Educreations) before. I liked it more than paper and pencil because you had so many choices to do that were fun.
• Armand said, “I had colors to use.”

 

The students are already asking when can we do it again.

By: Debbie Kahler, 1st grade teacher, Peterson Elementary