Denzil: I couldn't make the 'D'.
Lea: I didn't know how to make an 'O'.
Daniel: I also didn't know how to make the letter 'D'.
Ms. Alison: What letters were easy to make in your name?
Denzil: 'N'! But the 'O' was too hard.
Ms. Alison: Why was the 'N' easy and the 'O' hard? Let's unlock our thinking with the FORM concept key. What are the letters like?
Denzil: The 'O' is so round. The popsicle sticks are straight and hard.
Ms. Alison: What about the 'D'?
Daniel: This part is round like a moon.
Denzil: To do that part the popsicle sticks need to bend and they don't do that.
Almost everyone: It's all straight!
Ms. Alison: So what you're saying then is that some letters have straight lines and some letters have curved lines?
Everyone: Yes!
Ms. Alison: Now that we know this, do you think you can sort the letters into groups?
So, we made two spaces, divided by our polka dot bench top and started to sort the letters into two groups: curvy and straight. We spontaneously started to test our groupings using the popsicle sticks. If we could make the letters (and numbers) with the sticks, it meant they were straight. Soon we noticed that some letters have both types of lines though! So we put a group in the middle to show letters that use both straight and curvy lines in their formation. What a clever bunch! Good job K1AC! We'll continue our inquiry into curvy and straight letter shapes next week.