I loved this exercise as it was a quick activity that allowed students to critically think about their understandings. I did this in math with my grade 2 students but I only gave them 3 options as to not confuse or overwhelm them with too much information.
This gave me a great deal of information in planning my next lesson. What information students understood so I did not need to go over and what information students needed more practice and assistance with. When I analyzed this data I looked for patterns between the different faces. Were students really confident in their ability to add one's and two's? Or were students more confident in certain types of questions? Which questions stretched their understandings and which didn't?
To extend this learning I would have the students come up (as a class) with their own symbols that are meaningful to them. This would allow them to be a part of the criteria creating process.
Margin Symbols are not just used in the math classroom they are also known as reading annotations. These annotations help students to understand and identify the reading strategies they are using when they are happening. Research has found that using these symbols while reading increases students attention to learning and in turn increases their comprehension of the text. For the teachers purpose this also allows them to get a better understanding of the students thinking, making it visible. A wide variety of different symbols can be used to extend students knowledge.
To extend this learning I would have the students come up (as a class) with their own symbols that are meaningful to them. This would allow them to be a part of the criteria creating process.
Margin Symbols are not just used in the math classroom they are also known as reading annotations. These annotations help students to understand and identify the reading strategies they are using when they are happening. Research has found that using these symbols while reading increases students attention to learning and in turn increases their comprehension of the text. For the teachers purpose this also allows them to get a better understanding of the students thinking, making it visible. A wide variety of different symbols can be used to extend students knowledge.