Alicia Govannicci Dr Bulgar Field Report 3 April 14, 2013 I chose to do the Ice Cream problem with one

of Mrs. Mulshines first grade students. I chose to execute this task on one of the higher-level math students in the class. The students name is Ragov, and the teacher told me that he is actually the best at math in the class. The task took place at 10:30 am, after reading workshop, at a desk directly outside of the classroom in the hallway. The task was implemented by me reading the Ice Cream problem and directions of the problem to Ragov, and then having him solve the problem and show his work on a sheet of paper. After interviewing Ragov, after he was finished working on the Ice Cream problem, I found that this task was difficult for him. He could not explain to me how he came up with the different ways he did. He ended up finding 11 different ways to make the ice cream dessert. When I asked him how he came up with 11 ways he told me that he put them all plain. I could clearly see that he had not put them all plain, so I had to ask him further about his response. After he looked over his work for a while he then realized that he did not put them all plain and told me that he had put some together. He could not explain a pattern he came up with or reasons to why he organized the desserts the way he did. I dont think Ragov could make sense of the work he had done because he usually explains how he comes to an answer and he seemed at a loss for words. The random answer he gave of saying

that he had put some together is a typical answer of a first grader. While observing him work on the problem, I noticed that there was no particular way in which he was coming up with different ways. He was randomly picking and choosing different ways to write them down. He also had trouble understanding the directions because he had written down toppings by themselves and counted them each as a different way. I did not expect Ragov to get the come close to getting the correct answer, but I did, however, expect him to have a better explanation or strategy of how he found the different ways that he did because he is a higher-level learner. During my observations of Ragov in math class, I found that he shows complete understanding of the concepts the first graders are learning. I know this because if I ask him to explain how he came to an answer he tells me in a way that I know he has grasped the concept. When he does make errors it is usually only in his answers and not in his work. This happens often because he likes to be the first one finished and rushes through his work. If I point out that he has an error he always quickly finds it and can tell me the correct answer. When I gave him the Ice Cream problem, I noticed that he rushed through his work again to get finished because after he came up with 8 different ways I asked him if he was sure thats all there was and he said no and continued to write three more ways. I will continue to observe Ragov and his mathematical thinking throughout the rest of the semester.