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In-service program documentation
Acquainting teachers with the supportive materials for the illustrative units (D6.2)
Facilitator's plan (by Raffaella Borasi)

Rationale for this session: we want to provide a space for the participants to share their thoughts and questions generated from reading samples from the various materials we have prepared on the Area unit for several reasons:

• to value the reading assignment by "doing" something with it the next day;
• to get feed-back on the various types of documents assigned to read, and ideas for possible modifications, elaborations, etc.;
• to get information about HOW the participants read these documents, both for our own sake and to help other participants to think of different ways of using each kind of material most productively;
• to allow the participants to raise some first questions they may have about these units to the teachers who already implemented them and/or the people who put the units and materials together;

(Note: this discussion is also intended to transition smoothly to a discussion of the elements common to all three units and to a first articulation of key elements of an inquiry approach -- see "Rethinking Math Teaching" component)

1. Introduction (5')

• Begin by reminding the participants of the different kinds of materials they have sampled in their reading assignment for today on the Area unit, [maybe also sharing some of the reasons why we wrote these different materials, i.e.:
• goals and overview of each unit, so as to show the scope and nature of the unit
• "math" section, so as to highlight some interesting mathematical aspects of the topic in question that are worth taking into consideration when thinking about the goals for the unit and deciding among alternative options
• the overview of various experiences, to have a first idea of how different teachers interpreted and adapted in very different ways our ideas and materials to suit their own instructional goals and instructional situations
• the daily account of these experiences, so that teachers could see in more detail how that overall design played out
• a detailed story of a classroom experience, so as to capture students' responses and reactions, classroom environment, teaching practices, etc.]
• remind of our decision of starting each day with some time where they could share their thoughts about the readings and ask questions that these readings may have raised to teachers who implemented them in their classes and/or the people who designed the units themselves; remind why we are interested in this kind of information -- we don't know if the material we have put together is what they really need; we believe they can help each other make the best use of the material by knowing different ways in which people have gone through it; we believe that people don't just "read" something, but read things in different ways depending on their purposes
• start by inviting participants to share their thoughts as well as questions; point out that, though I am facilitating the discussion, they should feel free to address their comments and questions, as appropriate, to Connie and any of the year 1/2 teachers who have actually implemented these units in their classes -- briefly remind of who these teachers are, and who implemented the area unit, and with what students audiences; I will also have available the newsprint where we recorded what they would like to know/have to implement our units, so that I can refer to it to remind them that this, as all the other materials we have prepared, are intended to address at least some of their "wish list", and sessions like this one may help them know where some of these things could be found and in what form;

2. Discussion on reactions and questions from the readings ('55 minutes):

• After the participants have raised any questions about the readings, and those have been addressed, begin the discussion by asking what they read last night and why, and also what they would like to read with more time at their disposal; ask some follow-up questions to those who volunteer this information, about their reasons, what they got from it, how they read it, etc.
• Keep it open and led by participants' input as much as possible; however, be ready to stir the discussion by means of some direct questions to the participants as necessary if some important points are not spontaneously addressed. Possible prompt questions:
• What does reading a document of this kind [i.e., math discussion; overview; goals; daily report; etc.] do for you? What did you get from its reading?
• Some people said earlier that they read the Tessellation texts ... [by going right to the teacher's reactions and then reading backward...] did you do the same?
• How did you actually read this kind of document? What were you trying to get from it? Any suggestions of what seemed to work for you that other people could use in their own reading of this kind of document?
• Which of the "things" listed on our newsprint did this kind of document help you with? What did you need to do/ how did you need to read it, in order to get this information?

MATERIALS NEEDED:

• newsprint on "what do you like to have/know about the T. unit we have tried to develop in order to support the design of a Tessellation unit for your OWN classroom?", generated in the Tuesday session on presenting the project supporting materials
• slide with list of our supporting materials
• slide with key steps of inquiry cycle

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