Math

1V: Learning attributes with Buttons!
During the study of attribute logic, we read a book called The Button Box by Margarette S. Reid. It describes the many attributes that a boy finds on the buttons in his grandmother’s button box. Those painted with flowers remind him of his grandmother’s china dishes. The brass one with an eagle he calls “Mr. President.” He and his grandmother each pick a button from her box and play a game asking, “Are they alike?” They compare the similarities and differences of their buttons.

After reading the book, the first graders in 1-V played the same game of comparing their buttons with a partner. They discussed the shapes, colors, sizes and number of holes in their buttons. They then shared with the whole group how their buttons were the same and how they were different.

The following day we worked in groups to classify buttons. Each group received a handful of buttons, and they had to determine the attribute by which they would sort their buttons. The most popular attribute was the number of holes in the buttons. Other attributes used to classify the buttons were color and size.

The next activity the class did was to list the attributes that can be used to classify a button and the many adjectives that can describe those attributes. For example, the attribute of size could be described as large, small, tiny, huge, or medium. The colors were red, green, blue, purple, brown, tan, violet, clear, ivory, yellow, pink, copper, gold, and sea green. Thickness, shape, texture, and number of holes were the other attributes listed on the board. Each child then selected a button that he/she thought was most interesting. The students wrote a description of their button and drew a picture of it. All of the words listed on the board supported their writing.

The final day the children played a game to guess another’s button based on their written description. Buttons were spread on a large white paper in the center of the circle. Each child read his/her description of the button without showing his/her picture. Then a volunteer was chosen to find the child’s button in the large group of buttons on the paper. Most descriptions were so accurate that the button was found on the first guess!

This set of lessons was made even more significant for the children after they read the chapter called “The Lost Button” in their literature lesson from Frog and Toad Are Friends.