Author: adubois

Greater Than, Less Than, & Equal To Song

Grade Level: 2nd

Content Area: Mathematics

TEK: 2.1 (C), use place value to compare and order whole numbers to 999 and record the comparisons using numbers and symbols (<, =, >)

Video Link: UMIGO-Greater Than Less Than

Summary:

In the video,   UMIGO-Greater Than Less Than, by UMIGO LLC teaches students about the greater than less than and equal to symbols. The greater than symbol sings a song that teaches students what its front and back mean. I found this video through TedEd and “flipped” it from a youtube video to a TedEd video.  The greater than symbol teaches through song saying, “my face looks at greater, my rear points to less”. The video contains many inciting visuals and it offers many images of greater than, less than, and equal to problems. The video reinforces the use of the greater than and less than symbols.

Instructional Strategies:

While you are watching the video with your class, I recommend you pause the video periodically after the symbol sings the words, “my face looks at greater, my rear points to less”, and have students use the song to help them solve greater than, less than, and equal to questions. I suggest you have the students get up and sing the verse, “my face looks at greater, my rear points to less” or “equals sign, when he is between two things, you know they are the same”, before they give an answer to the question on the board.

Another instructional strategy that I think would be useful with this video would be to role play, somewhat like a brain break during the video. I suggest you call students up to the front and assign them a numerical value. “Johnny you will be 9999, Sarah you will be a 410”. Call another student up and tell them that they will be our greater than, less than symbol–“Luke you will be our greater than, less than symbol”. Have all the students sing, “my face looks at greater, my rear points to less”, and then have Luke face the greater number. Have the whole class read the problem. “Nine hundred nine is greater than four hundred ten” or “four hundred ten is less than nine hundred nine.” You can use the same set up for equals to but have them sing “equals sign, when he is between two things, you know they are the same”.

These two strategies will be helpful because they use rhythm to reinforce symbol use and meaning. They are also helpful because they encourage students to move and use their bodies in mathematics. This use of connecting knowledge to song and movement will help your students convert the knowledge of greater than, less than, and equals to to their long term memory.

Diggin’ Dirt: Science Adventures with Kitanai the Origami Dog

Title: Diggin’ Dirt: Science Adventures with Kitanai the Origami Dog

Author: Thomas Kingsley Troupe

Illustrator: Jamey Christoph

Published in 2013

Topic: Science

Grade Level: 1-3

           Diggin’ Dirt: Science Adventures with Kitanai the Origami Dog is part of the mixed media Origami Science Adventure series. This fun and educational story explores soil through narrative and conversations between Kitanai, an origami dog, and Roger, a knowledgeable earthworm. Roger teaches Kitanai about the importance and complexity of soil. They explore different layers of soil and talk about fungi, bacteria, nutrients, humus, and decomposers. The author also provides readers with a glossary of key educational terms and directions on how to create their own origami dog at the back of the book. This engaging story fits well into a science lesson regarding soil formation and/or components (1.7 (A) and 3.7 (A)). Diggin’ Dirt: Science Adventures with Kitanai the Origami Dog is a story of friendship, new knowledge, adventure, soil, and science.

Here is a snippet from Diggin’ Dirt: Science Adventures with Kitanai the Origami Dog:

“Kitanai caught another whiff of that scent. The scent was close by! He walked in a circle through the mud, stopped, and started to dig.

‘Hey that’s good! Digging in the dirt is great for the soil. It helps mix the topsoil with the next layer of dirt.

Moles, prairie dogs, and other animals that live underground do most of the digging.’

‘Oh, really? I just want to find whatever is buried out here!’

‘The dirt down here is different,’ Kitanai said. ‘It’s not as dark and fluffy as the topsoil.’

‘You’ve dug down to the subsoil layer. There’s less humus and more rock than in the topsoil. In a few thousand years, the rocks will break down and become part of the topsoil.’” (14-16).