Number Wall Project

Nature Walk Find

Every week, Ms. Marrella and I take our students on a nature walk around the neighbourhood of our school.  The students usually find fallen leaves, branches and little rocks.  A few weeks ago, the students came across four large piles of branches that a neighbour had put on their front curb.  Though we didn't know what we wanted to do with these branches, we were very curious about them.  We took two piles of branches back to class for further exploration. 

Ms. Marrella and I thought it would be a great idea to use some of the branches to create a number wall in the classroom.  We organized a group of 10 students to participate in this project.  First we asked the students to sort through the pile of branches.  We needed to separate the branches from the leaves, pine cones, and other debris.

Each student was then responsible for a number.  Their task was to pick out the correct number of branches from a pile, glue them onto a piece of construction paper, and then write the number on another piece of construction paper. 

Once the project was completed, we used the left over branches for wondering and critical thinking.  All our students were invited to explore the pile of branches by estimating how many branches were in the pile, in addition to writing/drawing about what they thought the pile of branches could be used for.