Quick Images

I have never used the quick imaging activity before, but it is a great way to see how our students are thinking about numbers and patterns. This activity helps children to subitize (the ability to see a small amount of objects and know how many are there without counting) because the teacher only shows the dots for a total of 6 seconds and then the children have to figure out how many dots are there. When this activity was done with a group of 4-3rd grade students all of them were successful in coming up with a number close to the actual answer.


While administering this activity, I noticed that the students had a sense of patterns based on things they had seen before. For example, when they were shown the pattern below most students knew that this pattern was 5 because this pattern is on dice, dominoes, and cards. The picture below shows one boys strategy in solving this quick image. He likes even numbers, so he took one dot from one group and added it to the top group to make 6 dots and 4 dots then he added 6+4=10. He knew that the pattern was the same on the other side so he took what he knew and applied it to the other side. He did 10+10=20. This boy is understanding patterns, but I think the teacher needs to begin to help him see odd numbers like he sees even numbers. This boy likes counting by 2's (which is fine), but he needs to start counting by other numbers too. 


Quick Images is a great way to see how our students are thinking in terms of patterns. I am so excited to administer this activity in my main placement on Wednesday 1/25/12! Check back to see how it goes and to see if I have any "crazy" ones!