Math Interview

For a class, I had to write a a math interview. I interviewed three different third graders and asked them questions. If you would like to see my findings and questions, please read further.

Pre-Assessment:

I chose to interview third grade students at varying levels. The first one was below grade level, the second was at grade level, and the third was above grade level. I did this because I thought comparing the results would be interesting.

The math questions I chose were directly from my CT?s textbook. I chose these because they were similar to what the students were learning in the classroom. I also chose these questions because they represent Michigan GLCE?s for Math in the third grade. These are some GLCE?s that I based my questions around:

N.MR.03.15 Given problems that use any one of the four operations with appropriate numbers, represent with objects, words (including ?product? and ?quotient?), and mathematical statements; solve.

N.ME.01.07 Compose and decompose numbers through 30, including using bundles of tens and units, e.g., recognize 24 as 2 tens and 4 ones, 10 and 10 and 4, 20 and 4, and 24 ones.*

N.MR.01.11 Understand the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction, e.g., subtraction?undoes?addition:if 3 + 5 = 8,we know that 8 - 3 = 5 and 8 - 5 = 3; recognize that some problems involving combining, ?taking away,? or comparing can be solved by either operation.

N.FL.01.12 Know all the addition facts up to 10 + 10, and solve the related subtraction problems fluently.

N.MR.01.13 Apply knowledge of fact families to solve simple open sentences for addition and subtraction,such as:? + 2 = 7 and 10 - ? = 6.

I will start out my interviews by first asking each student what their favorite subject is, how they feel about math, and what their favorite and least favorite things are in math. I will also tell my student that these questions are not graded and make it clear that I will not tell my CT how the student did. This is just for my personal learning because I am going to be a teacher.

I will take one student at a time to the hall. This way, there are less distractions and more one on one time. The only materials I will need are paper and a pencil. I have chosen to ask the children these questions orally and record the answers myself.

Assessment

1. If 3 + 9 = 12 and 9 + 3 = 12 (Additive Property)

Can you also switch numbers when applying subtraction, while still getting the same sum in both cases? Please give me an example.

1. The sum of two numbers is 14. One of the numbers is 5 less than the sum. What are the two numbers?

1. Josh saw three butterflies in his yard on Saturday. On Sunday, he saw 2 more butterflies than he saw on Saturday. How many butterflies did he see in all?

Post-Assessment:

Ask student if they thought these questions were difficult?

Student One:

I first asked him how he felt about math and he responded by saying, he feels good about math and likes all math, but division. He seemed to be easily distracted and kept asking me questions about my life. He thought that I was 27, and had three kids; I had to set him straight. Besides that, he continued to tell me about his dog and siblings. After that, we actually got into the swing of math. He figured out the first answer, but the other two were more difficult for him. He never figured out the answers to the second and third questions, I think this was because they had more than one part to them. He could figure out the first part, but never moved beyond that. I learned that he could not understand the point of a two-part question and instead only figured out the first half. This surprised and confused me. I chose to interview him because my CT said that he was a struggling student. If i had to design lessons for him in the future, I would separate two part questions into two different problems. I would then show him that these questions can go together, you just have to solve the first part and then use that answer for the second question.

Student Two:

To begin, I asked her how she felt about math and she said that she likes math, especially adding. None of these questions were simple for her, but we eventually got to the correct answers by talking about them together. She was eager to say the right answer and was stressed out when she wasn?t getting the correct answer. I made it clear to her that this interview was just for my personal learning and that I wouldn?t tell her teacher how she did. This seemed to calm her down a bit. This didn?t surprise me; I imagine that when I was a child I would have reacted the same way. I chose to interview her because my CT said she was right on grade level. I learned what children on level for math can accomplish and what is ?normal?. I wonder if this meant she was on grade level for this school, or for all third graders? Instructionally, I would try to keep the stress to a minimum for this student.

Student Three:

This student was all business. My CT chose him for me because he is at the top of her class. I was definitely surprised by how intelligent h was. I would really like to assess him further to see what level he really is at. Like the previous two, I asked him if he liked math, he said he liked math and his favorite things to do were multiplying and dividing. For the other students I would read the questions aloud and talk out the answers with them, this student read my paper and told me the answers before I even had a chance to ask. Instructionally, I?m not sure what I would do with him. Maybe I could partner him with some lower level students and hope he can help them.

Reflection:

I learned a lot from conducting these interviews. I was surprised a few different times but I think that was a good thing. I hope that by comparing three different levels of learning, I can better see a spectrum of learning in the classroom.