Good Idea?!

It seemed like such a great idea this morning.  My class is working on counting (the chapter in our Kindergarten math book is actually counting 0-5),  My class is way ahead of the curve though,  so, what could be better than making Holiday count down chains.  You remember them, alternating red and green paper loops that make a chain.  That would be perfect.  We would all have to count to 24 and make a pattern with our loops.  Fun, engaging, perfect math lesson... NOT!

My para-educator suggested that we have them write the numbers on the strips of paper.  Wow, she is good.  What a fantastic way to tie it all together.  So there we were at math time.  2 experienced Kindergarten educators, pulling our hair out. First of all, getting the paper strips sorted into patterns stopped some of my class.  They had green and red paper strips everywhere.  When we finally got to the part where they were supposed to be writing the numbers they started doing crazy stuff.  No one was listening, no one got what we wanted them to do, and mostly it was just a HUGE mess.  I could hear her at the next table redirecting her group.  "Everyone get a red strip of paper.  Now write the number 1 on it.  No write a 1, on the red strip.  No just on the red strip.  No not on all the red strips..." 

I was faring no  better with my group.  "Make sure you have red, then green, then red, then green.  Remember a b a b patterns from a couple weeks ago.  No not a a b b, just a b a b.  No you don't need a stack of all the red and all the green.  Now turn them like this (I showed them to turn them horizontally) and write a 1.  No, only on the top strip.  No not vertically (we have actually worked on the words horizontal and vertical!)  No don't write 1 on all of them.  Your pieces are all over the floor."

We decided to give up on writing the numbers and just start gluing.  That didn't go well either.  Making the loop and holding it long enough for it to stick was painfully difficult for these five year olds.  We looked across the hall at the perfect chains hanging outside another Kindergarten class and wondered how exactly they had done it.  Finally, we both sort of gave up and said, just make a chain and put it in your mailbox!  So much for a great idea!!!! Tomorrow I am making handprint reindeer, they should be really cute...