Are there lessons to be learned from the "Hole in the Wall" project?

After you watch this video you will have learned the natural curiosity in children will support them in learning just about anything if something engages them to try.

The children in the "Hole in the Wall" project did not have the necessary school readiness skills educators feel are so vital to early success. They were children from the slums in India and they had never been to school. They didn't have a teacher breaking tasks down into little bits, prompting reflection at each stage of their learning. The natural curiosity and collaboration skills the children possessed guided them in tackling the computer they found in the wall and they made it work. Is there a lesson for us here??

My instructional leaders, along with myself, are burning up lots of brain cells trying to figure out how we can help our students to be more successful in Math. Most of our students, for a variety of reasons, don't come to school with the necessary school readiness skills either and Full Day Kindergarten isn't proving to be enough of an equalizer. When I was reflecting on this problem last week I wondered what would happen if we replicated a "hole in the wall" type experience for our kids. Would their natural curiosity, and the draw of technology, help our students to make gains in math that currently they do not seem to be making? I don't know the answer to that question but I am going to take a risk and try. The plan is this:

1.  Using a Math Games site, something like Sumdog, that has some incentives built in, I am going to pair students up to solve math problems. My hope is the engaging and challenging format of gaming will intrigue the students and promote the grit necessary to help them persevere.

2.  As the pairs solve the math problems, they will be asked to explain their strategy to the rest of the class orally. The teacher will scribe their explanations using google docs or some other format, posting the explanations so the rest of the class can see as well as hear.

3.  The other students in the class will be coached to give the pairs one complement on their strategy and then ask a probing question.

4.  After a few months, pairs will scribe their strategies on chart paper, post for the other students to see and then explain their strategy orally as well.

Target group - grade one

My hope, hypothesis, belief - this strategy will make the introduction to Math and numbers fun, engaging and will build the childrens' abilities to explain their thinking for an audience.

I know there is an If/Then statement here so: If we introduce grade ones in pairs to math problems using computer games, then their engagement and natural curiosity will build a love of math at a very early age.

Comments??