I don't know what to say...

[Arcadia]

And for students only just starting multi-step questions, breaking it down into three parts is helpful.

 

Two friends, Sue and Jane each spent part of their day reading.

 

( a ) Sue read her favorite book about dogs from 3:30 pm to 5 pm. How long did she read?

( b ) Jane read a new book about guinea pigs from 8 am to noon. How long did she read?

( c ) Which girl read longer?

 

My 7 year old 1st grader was bored so I asked him to read the OP's original question. He said Jane read longer than 2hrs and Sue read less than 2hrs so Jane read longer. He didn't calculate the exact duration for either Jane or Sue.

 

His re-wording of the problem. His theory is that the pm after the 3:30 is redundant :glare:

"Sue reads from 3:30 to 5pm.

Jane reads from 8am to noon.

Who reads longer?"

[mamabear2three]

this was supposed to be the advanced question, though, right? (Am I understanding the assignment correctly - different leveled questions for second graders, so a hard one, medium one and easy one?)

 

So I think that reworded a little it would be appropriate for an advanced student... then there should be a question that is more on the "average" level, and a question that would be for students who struggle. In my mind, that question should only be given to a student who will be stretched by it, rather than be frustrated by it. So the idea is to ask questions that are not too easy - push each student just enough but not enough to cause frustration.

[mathnerd]

Just out of curiosity, I tried the OP's question with my Ker (5 yo) just now and he gave me the answer as follows: "Jane read longer than Sue because Jane read for 4 hours while Sue read for less than 4 hours" - btw/ he is not very good at telling time yet. I think that the OP's terminology might not be common for most kids to understand unless they have heard that kind of question before. It is not an advanced question in my opinion, just needs to be reworded so that all kids can understand.

[freeindeed]

My older kids could have answered that question in the latter part of second grade.

[goldberry]

My DD was in public school through 4th grade, and still had issues with time even after I worked with her in 5th grade.

 

I read the assignment differently, though. You said "2nd graders studying clocks". That to me means the very basics of telling time, aka reading a clock.. Your question relates to measuring time, not telling time, and then comparing. I would also consider those advanced steps.

 

DD could tell time quite well before she mastered measuring and comparing.

[Lugrita]

I find it hard to take education school classes too seriously though. My experience was just not good... It was a long time ago now, but I don't feel like things have changed much.

 

I agree, and I'm sure that things have changed...for the worse. My experiences in and observations of my education classes had a great deal to do with my decision to homeschool my children and to never, ever put them into public school.

[Tracy]

My dh is a teacher. He has a BS, an MA, and he just got his certification to teach driver's ed. He tells everybody that he bought his degrees from a business called a "college." Education degrees are a big joke, no matter what level you are at. You just have go and do what they tell you. Don't expect to learn anything useful.

 

It was during and because of my dh's undergraduate education that he decided he wanted our kids to be homeschooled.

[LEK]

My dh is a teacher. He has a BS, an MA, and he just got his certification to teach driver's ed. He tells everybody that he bought his degrees from a business called a "college." Education degrees are a big joke, no matter what level you are at. You just have go and do what they tell you. Don't expect to learn anything useful.

 

It was during and because of my dh's undergraduate education that he decided he wanted our kids to be homeschooled.

 

I started an education degree, could not finish it! I cannot believe how bad the education system is. Our decision to HS was largely because of me experiences studying education