Calling all lost teeth! Attention all wiggly teeth!
Most students are going to lose some baby teeth this year. We need your help to keep track!
For those of you whom I have not had the pleasure of getting to know, my name is Maurice Tome and I am the Math Instructional Coach at SWS. Mathematics is all around us. It is a “language” based in patterns, creativity, and joy. This year, I will be in touch about math learning happening throughout SWS, ideas and resources for enjoying math outside of school, and community math events. Which brings us to our school-wide data collection project: the SWS Lost Teeth Chart.
Being able to read charts, analyze data, and form questions and insights are important mathematical thinking skills. We want to see what we might learn with students if everyone recorded each time they lost a tooth. Specifically, we are asking students to record the kind of tooth they lose (We all have three main types of teeth: Incisors (front four teeth on top and bottom), Canines (also called “cuspid”, the pointy tooth next to the incisors), and Molars (the broad chewing teeth in the back of our mouths). Outside Nurse Jade’s office you will find the “SWS Lost Teeth Chart”. Here is how this will work:
- Your child loses a tooth.
- She/He figures out what kind of tooth it is. (Either she/he already knows this, OR gets help from an adult, OR carefully reads the teeth diagram next to our chart and figures it out.)
- On our chart outside Nurse Jade’s office, your child adds a sticker to her/his grade level. (Choose the color that matches the kind of tooth lost. Blue = Incisor. Yellow = Canine. Red = Molar.)
- Over time we will reflect on the chart. What will we notice? What will we wonder? What questions will our data bring to mind? What might we learn?
If your child loses a tooth over the weekend or vacation, make sure she/he fills in the chart upon returning to school. I am curious as to how many teeth students will lose by year’s end. Any predictions?
Thank you for your help starting off a great year of math learning. I look forward to dialoguing with you again.
All the best,
Maurice