Mrs. Solomon gives each of her third graders four wooden squares (each 1" by 1") and a piece of poster paper. They identify the wooden pieces as squares and conclude that they're all the same size. She has them put the squares together to form a larger square (2" x 2") and to draw a line around the larger square. They remove the wooden squares, and she asks them how much space the wooden pieces

Question

covered and leads them to conclude, "four squares." She asks them what they call the space and introduces the term area. She then tells them they have an area of "four squares." To reinforce the idea, she then asks them what the area of two blocks is and helps them to conclude, "two squares."
Based on this information, which of the following is the best assessment of the developmental appropriateness of Mrs. Solomon's teaching of the concept area?

a. Her instruction was developmentally inappropriate, because she shouldn't have told them they had an area of four squares.
b. Her instruction was developmentally inappropriate, because she should have also used a wooden space to put the squares on instead of poster paper.
c. Her instruction was developmentally appropriate, because the students had concrete illustrations of both area and square.
d. Her instruction was developmentally appropriate, because she reinforced the concept through teacher direction.

Answer 1

c