Fourth grade teachers at Wealthy Elementary recognized the need for small groups of students during math time to help them engage in accurate independent practice.
To accomplish this, teachers Katie Gipe, Winona Tinholt, and Delaney Klein submitted a grant request from the Foundation to fund octagonal-shaped whiteboard tables to encourage collaboration and the ability for students to show their work. In addition, an instant print camera request allows the teachers to take a picture of an example problem and then stick the picture directly to the student’s work.
“The whiteboard tables and instant print cameras have been a great addition to independent work time in fourth grade!" Gipe says. "Students use the whiteboard table to show their work and collaborate through multi-step problems during math partnership time. The whiteboard table gives them more space to work through longer problems and a shared surface to engage in productive discussion with their
partner. 4th graders can then independently take a picture of their work to tape into their workbook and refer to later.
"We also use the camera during teacher led small group time. Students work through challenging problems with teacher prompts as needed and then can take a picture of their work once completed. This fosters
excitement to finish and a picture to stick on their homework page to serve as a reference when the child is working at home. The whiteboard table has also promoted more focused spelling practice during our morning word work as students are more motivated to practice writing their words on the table instead of
in their spelling notebook. Overall, the cameras and whiteboard tables have fostered excitement, boosted engagement, and prompted more productive, independent practice from my fourth graders.
"We are so grateful the Foundation sponsored the addition of both resources to our learning spaces! Thank you, East Grand Rapids Schools Foundation!”
