"Super Problem" Solvers!

Did you know how amazing our First Graders are at solving "real world problems"?  Well, they are if you give them the right tools and time to do so!  So, we are nearing the end of our Texas Animals PBL, and we are excited to learn that Grapevine Elementary First Graders will walk to Bear Creek to visit the Texas Animal Art Show which our First Graders created.  We Skyped them earlier in our study, so our kiddos were ready to meet these neighboring  fellow First Graders face-to-face!  Being typical First Graders, they began to ask a lot of questions like "Do they have 7 classrooms like we do?"  and "How many kids will be coming?"  and finally... "How many of their kids will fit into our classrooms?"  So there you have the beginning of our "Super Problem."  We ditched our "regularly scheduled lesson" and brainstormed ways we could solve this Super Problem.  We tore big sheets of butcher paper, got out counters, picked partners and got to work.  I had to stop mid-way and regroup a little to clear up a little confusions, then off they went again solving the world's Super Problems.  They figured it out (each classroom would get around 11 or 12 GES students visiting), shared their findings and explained how they went about being a Super Problem Solver to the class.  Here they are hard at work solving "real world problems"!  By the way, when GES students finally got to visit Friday prior to Spring Break, you should have seen the kids "counting" to be sure we had around 11 or 12 GES First Graders in our classroom!

Our Real World "Super Problem"

Students brainstormed tools they could use.

Great Job Super Problem Solvers!