One day in the middle of the school week, teacher Tatiana Ivanovna entered class 2 "B", asked for silence, and made an announcement for the students.
Kids, today the school won't have bells because something broke. So you need to sit at your desks, and I'll start the lesson. Today we'll be drawing, and then we'll discuss the work together,
Said the teacher of class 2 "B".
The children hummed approvingly; they loved drawing and discussing.
Tatiana Ivanovna asked the students to be more careful and follow the instructions exactly. She took out a large alarm clock from her bag and placed it on the desk. The clock face had clearly visible large numbers, an hour hand, and a minute hand.
Draw the school yard, and don't forget to watch the clock hands. In three-quarters of an hour, you'll give me your drawings, and then I'll tell you what we'll do next. The teacher sat at her desk and began filling out the journal, while the students were somewhat puzzled by the teacher's words.
Three-quarters of an hour! How much is that?
Lena quietly asked Katya, who sat with her at the same desk.
I think it's three or four minutes, probably, I'm not sure.
Katya whispered back and turned to Petya.
Can you tell me, what is three-quarters of an hour?
We learned about quarters in math class. Tatiana Ivanovna explained how to find the fourth part of a number. You have to divide the number by four. But how can you divide one by four? Would that be four hours?
Vasya joined the conversation:
No, there are sixty minutes in an hour, so you need to divide sixty by four. I solved a problem yesterday and remembered how many minutes are in an hour.
So we need to divide sixty by four? But we haven't learned how to divide numbers like that yet!
I found it!
Katya said happily. While the children were talking, she was flipping through her math textbook. She spoke so loudly that even the teacher looked up from the journal and shook her head disapprovingly.
A quarter of an hour is fifteen minutes.
The other students came to the same conclusion, and now the kids figured out how many minutes were in three-quarters of an hour.
The children's conversation didn't end; they discussed the alarm clock and the hands, which one was the minute hand, and only then started the assignment. The children drew the school yard, watched the clock hands to make sure they submitted their work on time to Tatiana Ivanovna.
The students of class 2 "B" submitted their work on time, and the teacher let them go to recess while she hung the drawings on the bulletin board. After resting for a few minutes, the kids returned to class and, settling into their seats, prepared to discuss the work.
Tatiana Ivanovna suggested that the students choose the most beautiful work, and the children began to look carefully at the drawings. Each thought to themselves that their work was the best and most worthy, so they remained silent, and it was impossible to choose the best drawing.
After a long silence, Lena raised her hand and said:
I like the drawing painted with bright colours, and she pointed to one of the works on the board.
Tatiana Ivanovna nodded, accepting her decision, because she really liked when students explained their choice.
And I liked that drawing over there, where there's a tall tree and you can see the edge of a house.
Petya made his choice.
The tree is lonely and very beautiful.
Even Alesha, who usually stayed quiet and spoke very rarely, said that he liked the work in the lower left part of the board.
Tatiana Ivanovna really wanted to encourage Alesha and asked:
Why?
And he answered again, saying that the drawing had garbage containers. All the kids in the class started laughing, but the teacher didn't laugh. Instead, she began carefully examining the other drawings.
Indeed! Besides Katya, none of the other kids drew the garbage containers that are in the school yard. Why?
Tatiana Ivanovna asked the children.
They're not pretty!
Lena said, wrinkling her face.
That's not true!
Katya objected quietly.
The containers are actually very attractive, new, bright, and different colours. And thanks to them, the school yard is clean.
The class became noisy, and the students began to argue about whether the garbage containers should have been drawn. They agreed that the drawing without them was inaccurate and contradicted themselves, claiming that garbage wasn't a topic for a drawing.
Tatiana Ivanovna gave the children time to discuss the situation and even allowed those who needed to leave the classroom for a moment.
Do you know, kids, that there are special garbage containers in the school yard for separate waste collection?
With these words, the teacher seated the kids when they had calmed down a bit.
They have symbols on them so you can tell what kind of waste goes in each one. One collects food scraps, which will later be made into fertilizer for plants. In another container, they put paper and cardboard boxes, which will be sent for recycling to make new paper products.
A little further away is a container for collecting plastic items and bags, and another container for tin cans. Tatiana Ivanovna explained to the students that separately collected waste isn't just garbage, but secondary raw material, and told them to write down the information in their notebooks.
The teacher took all the drawings off the board, leaving only Katya's work. The children wrote in their Russian language notebooks: "Separately collected waste is not garbage, but secondary raw material, from which useful goods are produced".
Summing up the lessons, Tatiana Ivanovna opened her journal and asked the children a question:
What did you learn in math class and what did you master?
We learned that a quarter of an hour is fifteen minutes,
Petya answered, and the teacher approved of his response.
Then the other kids remembered that in math class they learned how to tell time on mechanical clocks and forever remembered that there are exactly sixty minutes in an hour. And they found out how to divide sixty by four without knowing the long division rule, and learned how to find three-quarters of a number without the teacher's help.
Tatiana Ivanovna was pleased with the students' answers and gave everyone a "five" in math and in Russian language as well, because all the children except Kolya wrote the dictated sentence without errors.
Kolya didn't finish writing two words, so he didn't get a mark in Russian language. The teacher gave everyone an "excellent" in drawing. In environmental studies, only Katya received a "five", and all the kids agreed that this was fair. After all, if it weren't for Katya, they wouldn't have learned soon that separately collected waste isn't garbage, but secondary raw material.
