Doing Math with Teddy Grahams

Yesterday a package arrived in the mail from Gather.  It was a large carton that was addressed to me.  Inside the box were Teddy Grahams.  Several weeks ago, Stefanie Plum had written the following :


"Are you in search of a fun yet wholesome snack for the little ones? Look no further! Gather is looking for 40 moms and/or dads to sample and review Teddy Grahams snacks. Here's how it works:

   1. In the comment field below, tell us about your child who would like to try Teddy Grahams.
   2. Gather will select 40 participants to receive 24 single-serve (1.2 oz package) samples of Teddy Grahams. They must be shared and distributed to your children, family, and friends.
   3. Gather members who are selected to receive samples must come back to the site to publish their product reviews to themanicmommies.gather.com.

Tell us about your child who would like to try Teddy Grahams.

Stefanie asked that if you wanted to participate all one would have to do is leave a comment on the article.  And so I left this comment:

"I think I should be chosen. Today I greeted my 22 kindergarteners for the first time. They could test the Teddy grahmns ...we could create a graph in math...and do a writing exercise"

I was elated when I got an email from Stefanie saying I would be one of the 40 reviewers.  I was even more elated when the package arrived.  Today I went into class early and put the box in the middle of the circletime rug and then on graph paper I wrote the following question:  "I wonder what is in the cardboard box?"  When the children finally arrived, my question elicited a variety of answers:








After writing all their predictions on the chart (strategy for teaching young children concepts of print: writing goes from left to right, return swoop, etc), I opened up the box.  Oh my goodness, four packs of Teddy Grahams:  The Variety Kind. 


We labeled them.




I explained that there were 12 packets in each box and asked if there would be enough in one pack for all the children in our class to get one packet.  Ryan said immediately one pack would not be enough because there were 22 children in our class.

Meanwhile, Azelin noticed that not all packets were the same.  I posed the following question:  "What's different about the packages?"

"There's three different colors", said Cara. 

"We could put them in groups", said Azelin.


She sorted the first pack according to color.  I explained there were three different varieties. 

"Did you notice Mrs. Evans that there are four of each flavor", said Cara. 

"They're the same", shouted Dylan.

"Yes, each flavor has 4 packs.  They have the same number of packs.  When there's the same amount, we say they are equal. That's a math term.

Just then Ryan said, "Do you think the second pack will also have 4 of each kind".

"Let's find out".

 
After sorting the second box, we went around the circle, each child choosing the kind they wanted.  After 10 children had picked, there were no chocolate flavored package left.
(8 children had chosen chocolate, 1 had chosen honey and 1 cinnamon).

"I wanted chocolate, but there isn't any more", said Dan.

"We still have more packs...two more."

Cora sorted the third pack and soon the chocolate ran out  once more.



And so Maeve sorted the last pack.




After everyone had chosen their favorite, we made a human graph holding the kind we chose over our head.  Then we sat down and ate our snack.  Ummmmm....good.









After filling our tummies, with the empty packages we recorded our findings:




It is apparent from the graph more children of the kindergarten age prefer chocolate then any other flavor. 

After creating our graph, we talked about the sequence of events.

All in all, I think we had a fine, yummy math lesson!


After recess, we regrouped at circle and I explained that Stepanie from Gather wanted a review of their experience.  These were some of the responses:

Mathew:  "Good."

Cara:  "We liked them...the flavor."

Dylan:  "Kinda good."

Isbella:  "I loved the chocolate ones."

McKenzie:  "It's the sugar that makes the chocolate ones so good.  It's good sugar, though."

Hannah:  "I liked the chocolate ones because they melted in my mouth."

Robbie:  "When can we have the rest?"

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So, Stefanie....out of the mouths of kindergarteners (perhaps your targeted audience) thumbs up for chocolate Teddy Grahams.  I want to thank you for providing a wonderful, eatable math lesson.  All the children were engaged!