One Grain of Rice

First, as students come in I sit them on the floor and read to them the story One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi. After discussing the difference that one grain of rice made in the story, I share with them how one grain of rice can make a difference in our world.

Second, I introduce the students on my overhead projector the website www.freerice.com. At Free Rice students practice vocabulary questions. With every correct answer students take part in donating 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program.

Thirdly, I give student 10-15 minutes to work on Free Rice to donate as much as they can in the time allotted.

Fourthly, I have set up before class a spreadsheet with a column of each students name and a column for students to enter the amount of rice they personally donated. This column is set up to total the amount of the class. So I have student scome to that computer and amount of their donation. While students are coming by I am playing on the big screen a CBS news video clip entitled FreeRice for African Students, which can be accessed at www.cbsnews.com

Fifthly, we discuss as a class the video and talk about how many grains of rice make up a meal. We then discuss the class total and talk about the powers in numbers. Individually, students may have earned enough rice to feed one person or part of a persons meal, while as a class in that short amount of time we are able to feed several children.