1:00:00 Great Lesson Ideas –
Sit and Mingle [music]
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
One, two, three, eyes on me.
STUDENTS:
One, two, eyes on you.
Barbara (INTV)
Lesson Idea:
Mingle and Count BARBARA:
Hi, my name is Barbara McCormick. I teach kindergarten at Jerabek Elementary School. The game I’m teaching the children is Mingle and Count.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
Boys and girls, we are now going to play Mingle. Are you ready to play Mingle?
STUDENTS:
Yeah.
Barbara (VO) BARBARA:
They have to get into groups of a number that I call as they’re mingling around the room. It’s number sense.
Barbara BARBARA:
Let’s review the rules really quickly.
Barbara (INTV) BARBARA:
For the game Mingle the children first have to learn the ground rules, and that’s really important.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
Who can raise their hand, not their voice, and tell me one rule for Mingle? Zoey?
ZOEY:
Try not to say, “Go away, we don’t need you.” That’s, let’s not say that.
01:00:48 Barbara (INTV) BARBARA:
The ground rules are that they have to be kind and considerate to one another.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
What’s another rule for Mingle? Naomi?
NAOMI:
If you have a good group of the number you called out, don’t leave it?
BARBARA:
Right. If you have a good group of the number that I call out, don’t leave it. Beautiful! Thank you.
Barbara (INTV) BARBARA:
They have to make certain that they get into that number that I say, into that group.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
Good. JP?
JP:
And you want to say, “Look, there’s another group over there. They need someone.”
BARBARA:
Great! So, you’re solving the problem. Yes.
Barbara (INTV) BARBARA:
And then if someone else comes into the group, how do they behave? They have to problem solve.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
So I’d like everyone to have hands down. Stand up, hands behind your back, and everyone ready. Mingle. Five.
01:01:45 Barbara (VO) BARBARA:
If there is not a group of five then those children are the remainder.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
Okay, friends, do we have a good group of five here?
STUDENTS:
Yes.
BARBARA:
Do we have a good group of five here?
STUDENTS:
Yes.
BARBARA:
Do we have a good group of five here?
STUDENTS:
Yes.
BARBARA:
Do we have a good group of five here?
STUDENTS:
Yes.
BARBARA:
Very good. Do we have a good group of five right here?
STUDENTS:
No.
BARBARA:
No.
Barbara (VO) BARBARA:
If someone is a remainder, I might ask them to leap like a frog and say ribbit, or flap their wings and quack like a duck.
01:02:11 Barbara, Students BARBARA:
And when I call the next number, you’ll get into a group, okay? All right. Ready everyone. Mingle.
Barbara (VO) BARBARA:
Kindergartners need to move. They need to have a lot of movement. Not all children are kinesthetic learners, but many children in kindergarten are kinesthetic learners. They do love to move.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
Three.
Barbara (VO) BARBARA:
And if they can be moving and learning a concept at the same time, I think that that’s really beneficial.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
Count with me. One, two, three, four, five six, seven. Not this group. Six, seven.
Barbara (VO) BARBARA:
I scaffold it to set them up for success so that they can learn more and more skills as time goes on.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
Three times seven equals 21
Barbara (VO) BARBARA:
Some of them will get, some of them by the end of the year they’ll say, this is real math, and it’s doing it in the real world, and they’ll say, oh, you know, I’m in one group of five and there are four groups, and that’s 5 times 4. And so certainly some children will hold on to that.
01:03:16 Barbara, Students BARBARA:
Do we have a good group of four right here?
STUDENTS:
Yes.
BARBARA:
Do we have a good group of four here?
STUDENTS:
Yes.
BARBARA:
Do we have a good group of four here?
STUDENTS:
Yes.
BARBARA:
Do we have a good group of four here?
STUDENTS:
Yes.
BARBARA:
All right. Boys and girls, let’s count how many groups of four we have? Let’s count our groups of four. So, here we go. Count with me. One, two, three, four, five. We got into groups of four, so we have 4 times 5 equals 20. And we have three left over. Three left over. Okay, girls, you are going to flap your wings and quack like a duck. Okay. All right. Ready, everyone mingle. Two.
01:04:06 Barbara (VO) BARBARA:
It’s interesting when you watch the children play Mingle and Count, you get to see who the leaders are.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
There you go. Solve the problem. Solve the problem. Are you in a good group of six?
Barbara (VO) BARBARA:
It’s a wonderful assessment for me right away. The leaders immediately will be the ones that will call out friends’ names or just say, come here, come here. And when they have their complete group, then they’ll be the one to count.
Students STUDENT:
One, two, three, four, five, six.
BARBARA:
You already have six.
Barbara (INTV) BARBARA:
I like to keep the games short and moving fast so that they don’t have an opportunity to get real wiggly. I do five or six numbers and then we’re done.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
All right. Everyone ready. Mingle.
Barbara (INTV) BARBARA:
The whole game is about numbers sense, so I’m trying to teach number sense.
Barbara, Students BARBARA:
Let’s count. One, two, three, four, five.
01:05:02 Barbara (VO) BARBARA:
It’s a great way to teach it because the children are up and moving. They think it’s fun. They think it’s a game, and really they’re learning math.
01:05:10 With special thanks to Ms. McCormick and the staff and students at Jerabek Elementary School
CREDITS
Wingspan Pictures Logo [music]
01:05:20 Fade to black