Literacy and Numeracy On The Fridge
Transcript of video
Male: In any household, the refrigerator door attracts a lot of traffic and is therefore a perfect place to post puzzles for children.
In this clip, you will see Simaya thinking through the puzzle as she solves the math questions on her own.
Caroline: We do a lot of puzzles here at the house. The fridge is the best place to display these because it's a common area and it's a place that the kids go to a lot. So a lot of times what we'll do is we'll put some puzzles that we might find in children's puzzle books or magazines and we'll post them up here for the kids to take a look at. And a lot of times as they're going to the fridge, they'll come up and just take a look at some of the puzzles. A lot of times we won't explain them ahead of time. We'll have them take a guess and when they get really stuck then they'll come and ask us. And really what we want them to do is to try to figure these out on their own and a lot of times they are very interested in these.
So here we've got one puzzle that looks at logic and what they have to do is they have to take a look at each row, column or diagonal and to identify what's common within in each of these cakes. And this is a really great skill to develop geometry skills. It has them look at properties.
In this puzzle here, what they're doing is they're putting a sequence of pictures in a storyline. So what they have to do is they have to organize this so that it makes sense. So this also is a logic problem.
Here we've got a Tangram puzzle and this is really easy to make. You can find a lot of these templates on the Internet and you can post them on the fridge. And here what we have is an outline where the kids have to take these seven pieces and place them into these outlines, and a lot of times they'll have strategies so if one of our children are up here, I might come up to them and say, "Oh. What are you doing? What did you start with first? How did you fit that piece? Why did you choose this piece?"
So Simaya, I'm going to have you take a look at this Tangram puzzle. Which one would you like to do?
Simaya: This one.
Caroline: Okay. So let's see how we can fit these pieces into this Tangram. Okay. So why did you choose that piece first?
Simaya: I chose the square first 'cause it looks like it could fit here.
Caroline: Okay. So what would you do next?
Simaya: I would put the big triangle.
Caroline: Oh, okay.
Simaya: And I would put it here 'cause it looks like a triangle.
Caroline: Okay. And then what would you do next?
Simaya: Now I'm going to take the other one and do the same thing 'cause it looks like a triangle(?), same thing.
Caroline: Okay.
Simaya: So now, there's other pieces left. So, look, it doesn't fit even if we turn it.
Caroline: Hmm.
Simaya: Doesn't fit. So let's do that at the end so then we'll(?) find out.
Caroline: Okay. That's a good strategy.
Simaya: So let's put this one here ‘cause you could see that it goes there.
Now there's these left so since this one, the parallelogram, doesn't fit, let's try putting the triangle there. And the triangles fit. So, if the triangle fits, then we'll put the triangles. And then, at the last, at the end, you will see where the parallelogram goes.
Caroline: Okay. So that was the toughest one but you left that to the end 'cause you weren't sure where it went. That was a great strategy!
Okay, so here, there's a pizza party, so for her birthday Paula threw a pizza party. So what you need to do is you need to order these from the first of the story to the end of the story. So let's see how we can do that.
Simaya: Okay. So, to get her party ready, she has to–so she has the dough and she has the stuff in the, in the cup.
Caroline: The pizza sauce?
Simaya: Yep.
Caroline: Yeah.
Simaya: So she pours it there so–'cause she has to get ready so that should be number one.
Caroline: Okay.
Simaya: Number two: they have to, like, mix it and roll it to make it flat. And third, they have to put the toppings that they want. And then sec–so, first, second third, fourth. And fourth, they have to put it in the oven to cook or else it's going to be raw. So, and then they're looking if it's ready and it's ready so they take it out and eat it.
Caroline: Okay. So why do you–why did you say this was the first one?
Simaya: 'Cause she needs to get it ready.
Caroline: So they need to pour the sauce?
Simaya: Mm-hm.
Caroline: Okay. And what about this one then? So they poured the sauce and then what did they do?
Simaya: Wait. Actually I think this one's first.
Caroline: Hm. Why do you think that one's first?
Simaya: 'Cause they have to get the pizza ready, the dough ready.
Caroline: Oh, okay.
Simaya: And then she has to put the sauce so then the toppings will stay.
Caroline: Okay. So what's your first one then?
Simaya: [points to one]
Caroline: So what's the order that you said?
Simaya: So, now I change it like this: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth.
Caroline: Okay. Wow, thank you.
Male: Problem solving and articulating one's thinking are lifelong skills. Caroline encourages Simaya to experiment and take risks. An occasional open-ended question such as "Why did you choose to do that first?" helps Simaya adjust and clarify her thinking.
- develop geometry skills
- post puzzles
- encourage risk taking
- open-ended questions
