Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Testing progress
Math curriculum has a very complex format when it comes to testing learning. Once a chapter test is given the students move on to new material and a different series of tests. The material is always changing and previous information is not retested. So, how do you test growth? With each test the student is showing understanding of new material, but not growth or comprehension of original material.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Visual Math
I have been trying to use visual manipulates when teaching multiplication to my third grade students. I'm finding believe that they need to see the concept in order to understand the process. I started with a small group of five students and asked, "If I don't give you any blocks, how many blocks do you have?" 5 students x 0 blocks=0 blocks. "Now I'm going to give each of you one block, so 5 students x 1 block=5 blocks." I kept this same thread until all students had 5 blocks, for a total of 25. By the end of the lesson, the students had a better understanding of multiplication and one student in particular had increased his understanding dramatically.
The following lesson I used the same block manipulatives and showed how 10 tiles can be broken into 2 piles of 5 or 5 piles of 2. I repeated the same strategy to the small group adding one block at a time, until I reached 20. To my delight, the student that was successful the prior week with visual manipulates shouted "I get it!" He started rearranging the tiles and writing both multiplication equations and division equations on the whiteboard to support his thinking.
When I checked his math homework in the other day, he wrote all of the multiplication equations with the complimentary division equation. This solidified my belief that he had a break through using visual Math!
The following lesson I used the same block manipulatives and showed how 10 tiles can be broken into 2 piles of 5 or 5 piles of 2. I repeated the same strategy to the small group adding one block at a time, until I reached 20. To my delight, the student that was successful the prior week with visual manipulates shouted "I get it!" He started rearranging the tiles and writing both multiplication equations and division equations on the whiteboard to support his thinking.
When I checked his math homework in the other day, he wrote all of the multiplication equations with the complimentary division equation. This solidified my belief that he had a break through using visual Math!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Strategies
One of the activities that appears every few weeks is story organization. The teacher reads a story to the class and then asks them to retell the story by placing the events in sequential order. The students receive two pieces of paper, one with a list of sentences from the story and one blank piece of paper. The students cut out the sentences and then glue them in sequential order on the blank piece of paper.
In my classroom, the papers are handed out together and the students work independently to reconstruct the story. The results tend to vary greatly. Some students complete the order correctly while others glue the events onto the blank paper with out cutting or placing in sequential order.
In another classroom, the same assignment was handed out in two parts. The students were asked to cut apart the sentences and place them in order on their desk. They were able to consult the students around them to complete the task. Once they read the final story out loud, they were given the blank page to glue the completed story.
The third classroom used a different technique all together. The teacher grouped the students in threes and gave the students larger font sentence to arrange in sequential order as a group. Once complete, the groups took turns telling the whole class the sentences they placed in sequential order. The small groups not only discussed the story in depth, the whole class discussed the clues that they used to find the appropriate order of the events.
In my classroom, the papers are handed out together and the students work independently to reconstruct the story. The results tend to vary greatly. Some students complete the order correctly while others glue the events onto the blank paper with out cutting or placing in sequential order.
In another classroom, the same assignment was handed out in two parts. The students were asked to cut apart the sentences and place them in order on their desk. They were able to consult the students around them to complete the task. Once they read the final story out loud, they were given the blank page to glue the completed story.
The third classroom used a different technique all together. The teacher grouped the students in threes and gave the students larger font sentence to arrange in sequential order as a group. Once complete, the groups took turns telling the whole class the sentences they placed in sequential order. The small groups not only discussed the story in depth, the whole class discussed the clues that they used to find the appropriate order of the events.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Expectation
As I was teaching Math to two different groups last week, I had something interesting happen when setting expectations. When I sat down with "Group A" I set expectations for behavior and guidelines for interactions with each other. I set this standard because I knew they needed reminders to listen to their peers and control their behavior when working in small groups with manipulatives. They understood what I was asking of them and most students received additional warnings about staying within set expectations.
When I transitioned to "Group B," I didn't set up expectations because they have never required them in the past. As a group they work well together and are respectful towards materials and each other. The interesting part was that "Group B" went wild! They had giggle fits and performed impersonations when having discussions with their peer group. The whole discussion went sideways and there was no set expectation to remind them. Now I know...setting expectations plays a huge role in the classroom.
When I transitioned to "Group B," I didn't set up expectations because they have never required them in the past. As a group they work well together and are respectful towards materials and each other. The interesting part was that "Group B" went wild! They had giggle fits and performed impersonations when having discussions with their peer group. The whole discussion went sideways and there was no set expectation to remind them. Now I know...setting expectations plays a huge role in the classroom.
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