Revising the Donut Shop Project as a PBL Unit (including computation practice and financial literacy)
Thursday, 6/13—Work with Tammi to develop math lessons that align with the service learning project involving gardening and planting. We think this will mostly be 2-digit and 3-digit multiplication work, and it fits nicely with arrays—rows, flats, and six-packs of plants—just as one small example of how this context supports/enhances and aligns with 4th-grade math standards.
Our plan has changed since the original application for IdeaLab was due. We have decided to work on the Donut Shop Project, a low floor high ceiling task that 4th utilizes during play practice to practice the use of the addition and subtraction algorithms in a way that students can work independently to practice skills in a creative and engaging way.
Math Skills:
Addition of 2 and 3-digit numbers
Subtraction with regrouping
Arrays and area
Multiplication by 10
Multiplication - hourly wage and shopping
Reflecting on our past experience, we found that the project was a success. It was introduced in the math lab and everyone started the project by picking the type of space and price of their donut shop. They went on to budget for furniture, and then this "pre-packaged curriculum" lost its luster. The students were motivated to create their own specialty donuts. This inspired Tammi to create an ordering catalog which included all the ingredients they were coming up with in order to make the specialty donuts. This allowed students who were ready to make conversions, such as if I need 60 cups of sugar, how many 5 pound bags would I need? However, this wasn’t at the skill level of all our mathematicians.
We used the idea lab day to make the entire unit accessible to all, while still allowing for more proficient students to engage in challenging problem solving as well. We modified the basic donut recipe so students could practice multiplying by the powers of 10 (x10 and x100), modified planning sheets so that only arrays would be used in creating their stores, and adjusted prices of the various ingredients so each student would be able to work at their individual levels. We made sure to adjust the packaging of materials for the basic ingredients in cups and ounces, and left varying types of units as conversion challenges for those who are ready (gallons, pints, etc). We left the day with a completely revised, read-to-go unit. The only part that hasn’t been planned yet, is contacting local donut shops (Julaina’s contact on Geary Avenue & the Burke’s parent who works at the donut shop in Larkspur). Being able to visit and speak to donut shop owners will allow the students to also consider wages and how to recruit employees, as well as what is needed in the planning to guarantee that the shop turns over a profit. Angelique and Tammi worked together to add these financial literacy components to this unit. It’s ready for its second iteration!