Traveling over the last week and preparing for a wedding really set me back in the schedule so please forgive me! It is summer after all.
The next part of the book focused on subtraction, which can be very difficult for children to understand. The book focuses on similar strategies to piggy back off of addition but the part I really paid attention to was this sentence:
"..how important it is to careful about our use of precise language when teachiing subtraction."
The author discusses an example dealing with negative numbers but I also wanted to make note of a few other misconcpetions that we can create when we aren't careful with our language.
For example, when we subtract and use the word "borrow", I think we are doing our students a disservice. What are we borrowing? Are we giving it back? Where are we placing the numbers we "borrow" and does that follow with the place value strategies we have been constructing with the kids?
Instead I like the words bundle and unbundle. When we do not have enough in the ones place, we unbundle a ten so that ten more ones are created. This may sound nit picky but we have just spent a significant amount of time with our students teaching them to compose numbers in many different ways. Let's say a student is asked to subtract 34 - 7. Instead of "borrowing" a ten, we can unbundle a ten so that we have 2 tens 14 ones - 7 ones. This is easier for the children to see 14-7=7 ones and subtract.
That was my take away from the subtraction section.
How about yourself?
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Summer Book Study: Week 1 (Introduction/Chapter 1)
Welcome to the first official week of our summer book study! Remember to post your comments and questions below the blog post. It will also be fun to read and respond to the posts of others if you have a few extra minutes! If you aren't able to post for some reason, please let me know on Facebook or regular email and I'll look into it. Sometimes you have to be logged in to your Google account, etc., to post.
So! I'm SO EAGER for your reactions to this book! Once I started highlighting, I couldn't stop! And that was just in the introduction!
What do we do when the United States is lagging behind in mathematics education? We visit with the country that is doing the BEST job and learn from them! Singapore continues to lead the pack. We can summarize Hazekamp's introduction with the following key points:
1. C-P-A (Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract), or the P can be R for representational
2. Gradual Release
3. Teacher Think alouds (Modeling is important!)
4. Manipulatives are necessary!
5. Place Value is CRUCIAL!
These are simply good instructional practices. Let's move on to the addition chapter, where the real excitement begins!
Chapter 1 - Addition (pages 11-35)
When I first heard the term "number bonds", I pictured a new type of glue stick hitting the market. It wasn't a term I was familiar with at the time and the bubbles looked kind of weird to me, but I realized it wasn't much different than part-part-whole. The neat thing about number bonds is that they grow as the students grow. Kindergarten students will be using number bonds to compose and decompose numbers to 20 and 5th graders can use a number bond to compose and decompose fractions. I like the examples below because I did not see an example in the book of number bonds with more than two parts but it is certainly possible.
Did you notice that the traditional, or standard, algorithm was listed as the very last thing a student does? Prior to that, students need to master the conceptual understanding of the mathematical concept and that means lots and lots of hands-on experiences in the classroom.
Reflection Questions:
What other applications of number bonds did you find interesting and think you might try with your students?
What was the toughest concept for you to think about trying with students?
How does your current math textbook present addition to your students? For example, if you are teaching 5th graders to add fractions or 2nd grade students to add two-digit numbers, how is it presented to students at first? Concretely, pictorially, or abstractly?
So! I'm SO EAGER for your reactions to this book! Once I started highlighting, I couldn't stop! And that was just in the introduction!
What do we do when the United States is lagging behind in mathematics education? We visit with the country that is doing the BEST job and learn from them! Singapore continues to lead the pack. We can summarize Hazekamp's introduction with the following key points:
1. C-P-A (Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract), or the P can be R for representational
2. Gradual Release
3. Teacher Think alouds (Modeling is important!)
4. Manipulatives are necessary!
5. Place Value is CRUCIAL!
These are simply good instructional practices. Let's move on to the addition chapter, where the real excitement begins!
Chapter 1 - Addition (pages 11-35)
When I first heard the term "number bonds", I pictured a new type of glue stick hitting the market. It wasn't a term I was familiar with at the time and the bubbles looked kind of weird to me, but I realized it wasn't much different than part-part-whole. The neat thing about number bonds is that they grow as the students grow. Kindergarten students will be using number bonds to compose and decompose numbers to 20 and 5th graders can use a number bond to compose and decompose fractions. I like the examples below because I did not see an example in the book of number bonds with more than two parts but it is certainly possible.
 |
| What do you think this number bond is showing and for what grade level? |
 |
| 5th Grade Number Bond (decomposing fractions to add) |
Did you notice that the traditional, or standard, algorithm was listed as the very last thing a student does? Prior to that, students need to master the conceptual understanding of the mathematical concept and that means lots and lots of hands-on experiences in the classroom.
Reflection Questions:
What other applications of number bonds did you find interesting and think you might try with your students?
What was the toughest concept for you to think about trying with students?
How does your current math textbook present addition to your students? For example, if you are teaching 5th graders to add fractions or 2nd grade students to add two-digit numbers, how is it presented to students at first? Concretely, pictorially, or abstractly?
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
BOOK STUDY Why Before How: Singapore Math
"They decided to focus on numeracy, rather than literacy, because research shows that mathematics skills are more directly correlated to the economic success of a country than literacy."
Donna Boucher, Mathcoachscorner.com
While I wait for my book to arrive, I am doing a little research about Singapore math and came across this statement. I love it. It's the first time I've heard someone reinforce just how crucial math is for kids. What was your first reaction? To read the rest of her blog post,click here.
Other sites to check out:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/math/math-tips-for-parents/whats-singapore-math/
http://www.mathcoachscorner.com/2013/07/25/teaching-number-bonds/
Do you have a site we should see? Add it to the comments!
Donna Boucher, Mathcoachscorner.com
While I wait for my book to arrive, I am doing a little research about Singapore math and came across this statement. I love it. It's the first time I've heard someone reinforce just how crucial math is for kids. What was your first reaction? To read the rest of her blog post,click here.
Other sites to check out:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/math/math-tips-for-parents/whats-singapore-math/
http://www.mathcoachscorner.com/2013/07/25/teaching-number-bonds/
Do you have a site we should see? Add it to the comments!
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Summer 2015 Book Study - "Why Before How"
Since I need about 8 more hours in a day to accomplish everything I want to do at work, I decided to start an online summer book study. Click here for the book. "Why Before How: Singapore Math Computation" by Jana Hazekamp
In order to give every one time to purchase the book, we'll begin on June 15th. I saw it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and various other places if you search on Google.
Here is the schedule we will follow:
June 15th Chapter 1
June 22 Chapter 2
June 29 Chapter 3
July 6 Chapter 4
July 13 Chapter 5
I will just post on these Mondays and people can comment below when they can and we'll go from there! It's summer so just join in when you can.
Questions? Ask away!
In order to give every one time to purchase the book, we'll begin on June 15th. I saw it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and various other places if you search on Google.
Here is the schedule we will follow:
June 15th Chapter 1
June 22 Chapter 2
June 29 Chapter 3
July 6 Chapter 4
July 13 Chapter 5
I will just post on these Mondays and people can comment below when they can and we'll go from there! It's summer so just join in when you can.
Questions? Ask away!
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