Class #30--6th Age Math

Wednesday, January 5, 10:10 A.M. 6th Age Math Class. Class #30 on my “50 Classes or Bust!” project. With today’s class, I have achieved 60% of my 50 classes goal, with still half of the school year remaining. I am confident I will complete—and hopefully exceed—my goal. Eleven chipper boys and girls sit down around two tables and eagerly look to Mrs. DeLorbe as class begins. A worksheet is projected onto the board, and the students have the same worksheet in front of them. The students are reinforcing subtraction skills by “crossing off” teapots and by learning how to move along a number line. Mrs. DeLorbe explains, “Put your pencil on the 6 teapot and then hop back 3 spaces and that is your answer. 6 minus 3 equals 3.” Students try some problems on their own and then come to the board to write and share their answers. Student helpers erase the board and collect the papers, and then the class moves on to the next activity—learning about the numbers 9 and 10. Through mathematical software that has been projected onto the board, the students count a variety of objects (that are in groups of 9 and 10), such as basketballs and birds sitting along a telephone wire. Mrs. DeLorbe reinforces the importance of counting in order, rather than jumping around. One of the directions in the lesson is to “circle” a group of 9 basketballs in a line, but a very perceptive student comments that it is not actually a circle she is supposed to draw but an oval! The students work individually in their workbooks as the period comes to a close, with Mrs. DeLorbe attentively works with anyone who needs assistance. The class earned a marble from Mrs. DeLorbe for their good behavior today!