Free Essay

Developing Math Skills

In:

Submitted By shinfivestar
Words 549
Pages 3
Since play is integral to a child’s world, it becomes the gateway to engaging in mathematical inquiry. Sarama and Clements suggest that mathematical experiences can be narrowed down into two forms, play that involves mathematics and playing with mathematics itself (2009, p. 327). Further, it is the adult present during the play who is able to recognize how the children are representing their mathematics knowl- edge and then build on their understanding through prompting and questioning. Sarama and Clements stress that “the importance of well-planned, free-choice play, appropriate to the ages of the children, should not be underestimated. Such play … if mathematized contributes to mathematics learning” (2009, p. 329).
Educators also provide experiences in playing with mathematics itself by using a repertoire of strategies, including open and parallel tasks that provide differentiation to meet the needs of all students and ensure full participation. Moreover, students do not have to see mathematics as compartmentalized, but instead as it mirrors their life experiences through other subject areas like science and the arts. As such, “high quality instruction in mathematics and high quality free play need not compete for time in the classroom. Engaging in both makes each richer and children benefit in every way” (Sarama & Clements, 2009, p. 331). This equity of opportunity is essential so all students can fully develop their mathematical abilities.
A carefully planned mathematics environment enables the use of manipulatives whether commercial products or found objects, sometimes brought in by the students themselves. Ideally, manipulatives serve as learning tools to help students build their understanding and explain their thinking to others. Research has shown, however, that “manipulatives themselves do not magically carry mathematical understanding. Rather, they provide concrete ways for students to give meaning to new knowledge” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2003, p. 19). Students need the opportunity to reflect
3
upon their actions with manipulatives, and through discussion, articulate the meaning they generate, so that the link between their representations and the key mathematical ideas is apparent (Clements & Sarama, 2009, p. 274).
Computer manipulatives can sometimes be more powerful than concrete manipulatives. For example, some applications offer flexibility “to explore geometric figures in ways not available with physical shape sets” (Clements & Sarama, 2009, p. 285). However, “effectively integrating technology into the curriculum demands effort, time, commit- ment and sometimes even a change in one’s beliefs” (Clements, 2002, p. 174). In their three-year study of the use of computers in primary classrooms,Yelland and Kilderry found “that most of the tasks the children experienced in early years mathematics classes were unidimensional in their make-up. That is, they focus[ed] on the acquisition of specific skills and then they [were] practised in disembedded contexts” (2010, p. 91). Such tasks were comparable in complexity to traditional pencil and paper mathematics tasks, were teacher directed and anticipated correct answers with narrow solution strategies. In other words, while technology was being used in many classrooms, its potential to promote student thinking was being greatly underutilized. Yelland and Kilderry recommend that technology in primary classes should offer multidimensional mathematical tasks ensuring both student input into the direction of their learning and supporting more varied learning outcomes (2010, p. 101). Such an approach to technology enables students to use powerful yet familiar media to express and extend their learning

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Developing Mathematics Learning Skills

...Developing Mathematics Learning Skills Sharon Kidd College Algebra – MTH1090XB Instructor – James Baldone November 19, 2010 Developing Mathematics Learning Skills Introduction Mathematics skills play an important role in our lives. To understand math we must read our math books, and understand the use of technical terms like equation, integration and many more. Understanding terms is only part of learning mathematics skills. Comprehension and analysis is needed to understand math concepts. You cannot learn mathematics by being a spectator; you must perform the calculations yourself. Reading a solution in a book and watching someone else solve the problem is not sufficient, although it helps, you must use your brain to solve the problems and write out the full solution. If you are provided with the answers to a math problem or problems you may be able to see how each answer fits, but it is very different working out the problem yourself. The real understanding is if you can do the necessary work yourself or not. Mathematics Study Skills Knowing mathematical principles and concepts can help you to succeed in school and work. It is important to use study skills that apply well to math. The following are some study skills that should be utilized: * Study math everyday during the semester. * Have a specific time and place to study with few distractions. * Keep up to date with homework. * Find an...

Words: 1460 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Science and Math

...Science and math integration unit I chose a culminating activity to use after the students had completed learning about fractions, ratios and percentages in math and in life science learning about the ecosystems and inquiry and observations to solve problems. The activity I chose has students looking at trees within a forest near the school. My rationale for selecting this project is that students in this area do a lot of hunting this time of year and are outside in the wilderness a lot during the month of October. I thought that this lesson would make them more aware of their environment and provide them a different way to look at their surroundings before they went off to the mountains for hunting elk and deer. I believe the students will be very interested in this unit of study and also it will help them to be more observant as they are hunting this next month. I tried to write a unit of study that students in this area would enjoy doing, one that would fit with their lifestyle and have a meaningful positive outcome upon completion. This is a summary of a culminating unit for science and math. Students will measure off a section of the forest and count quaking aspen trees and lodge pole pine trees within the measured off area. Students will then use the 12 processes of science and math skills to answer questions and complete investigations to solve the science question. The students need to collect data, chart it and analyze it to answer questions using math skills including...

Words: 1018 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Significance of Education

...Significance of Education ENG 101 December 2, 2012 Significance of education Elementary education focuses on the basic academic learning as well as socialization schools that introduce children to a great deal of knowledge, skill along with behavioral adjustment that they require for a successful life. The education is crucial in laying basic foundation of learning to the young learners while employing different techniques of reading foundation. Inherently, despite the fact that the authority of regulating education lies in the Constitution, there is also notable indirect authority that is exercised through federal funding of national programs, together with block grants. The purpose of education is to provide skills, knowledge and wisdom to prepare our children for their future. Essentially, phonics, blending, as well as letter recognition are some of the basics method of teaching that is offered to the developing learners’, particularly in an elementary school. More important, letter recognition is the first step in reading and mostly it is done during elementary education. Smith (2008) defines phonic as a method of teaching, reading and writing English language through developing learners’ capacity to hear, categorize as well as manipulate phonemes with a reason of teaching correspondence that exist between the sounds and spelling patterns that represent them. Inherently, phonics plays a significant role in assisting the beginning readers to be in a position to...

Words: 2138 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Mtap

...“THE EFFECTS OF DEPED MTAP PROGRAM TO REGIONAL SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL FOR FIRST YEAR SCTION AMETHYST” A Research Project presented to Ms. Loreta Figueroa In Partial Fulfilment of Requirement In Research I (Technical Writing with Basic Statistics) By Ellah Kim D. Reyes April 2011 “THE EFFECTS OF DEPED MTAP PROGRAM TO REGIONAL SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL III FOR FIRST YEAR SECTION AMETHYST” By Ellah Kim D. Reyes Regional Science High School III April 2011 ACCEPTANCE AND APPROVAL This Research paper entitled, “THE EFFECTS OF DEPED MTAP PROGRAM TO REGIONAL SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL III FOR FIRST YEAR SECTION AMETHYST”, in partial fulfilment of the requirements in Research I (Technical Writing with Basic Statistics) is here by prepared and submitted. Ellah Kim D. Reyes Researcher __________________________________________________________________ ACCEPTANCE AND APPROVAL, in partial fulfilment of the requirement in Research I (Technical Writing with Basic Statistics). Ms. Loreta Figueroa Research Adviser April 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, to God be the glory, a grateful thanks to Him. For all the wisdom and knowledge that He has given to me. And also thank you, for giving e the strength and health to do this project work until it done. Not forgotten to my family for providing everything, such as money, to buy anything that are related to this project work and their advice, which is the most needed for this project. Internet, books, computers...

Words: 1700 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Feeling Hungry

...1 A User’s Guide to Learning Styles and Math Tools T he journey of developing this book began almost five years ago. After over sixty combined years of service in schools, two of us—John R. Brunsting and Terry Walsh—were coming to the end of our careers as mathematics instructors and administrators. For most of those sixty years, we had the pleasure of working together in Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale, Illinois, where we met Harvey Silver and were introduced to the Thoughtful Classroom professional development model he designed with Richard Strong. What we quickly came to learn is that the Thoughtful Classroom really works. Whenever we implemented Thoughtful Classroom strategies in our classrooms or worked with other teachers to help them implement Thoughtful Classroom strategies in their own classrooms, the effect on student learning was palpable—students became more engaged, discussions got richer, student thinking went deeper, and test scores went up. There was, however, one particular Thoughtful Classroom text that always seemed to make the biggest difference in classrooms in the shortest amount of time. That text was Tools for Promoting Active, In-Depth Learning (Silver, Strong, & Perini, 2001; Silver, Strong, & Commander, 1998). The idea behind Tools for Promoting Active, InDepth Learning is simple. It is a collection of classroom-tested tools, or simple teaching “moves,” that teachers can use to foster active, in-depth learning. These tools are based on the...

Words: 6303 - Pages: 26

Premium Essay

Low Socioeconomics

...Many students that are involved in the arts have been found to experience gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill. New National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) research shows that low socioeconomic students who had art experiences in high school were ten percent more likely to complete a high school calculus course than low socioeconomic students with low arts exposure, which is 33 versus 23 percent. Students with access to the arts in high school were three times more likely than students who lacked those experiences to earn a bachelor's degree. When it comes to participating in extracurricular activities in high school, high-arts, low socioeconomic students are much more likely also to take part in intramural...

Words: 1055 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Preparing for the Workplace

...in our schools and instead spur a race to the top by encouraging better standards and assessments… And I'm calling on our nation's governors and state education chiefs to develop standards and assessments that don't simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and creativity. That is what we'll help them do later this year -- when we finally make No Child Left Behind live up to its name by ensuring not only that teachers and principals get the funding that they need, but that the money is tied to results.” President Barack Obama Remarks to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce March 10, 2009 Last year, the President challenged states to develop standards and assessments that will help America’s children rise to the challenge of graduating from high school prepared for college and the workplace. Today, the President applauds Governors for their efforts to work together in a state-led consortium – managed by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) – to develop and implement new reading and math standards that build toward college- and career-readiness. With many states well positioned to adopt these standards, the Governors initiative is an essential first step in improving the rigor of teaching and learning in America’s classrooms. RAISING THE RIGOR OF ACADEMIC STANDARDS In today’s global economy, a high-quality...

Words: 2252 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Art of Conversation

...Nine Ways How do we help floundering students who lack basic math concepts? Marilyn Burns aul, a 4th grader, was struggling to learn multiplication. Paul’s teacher was concerned that he typically worked very slowly in math and “didn’t get much done.” I agreed to see whether I could figure out the nature of Paul’s difficulty. Here’s how our conversation began: P MARILYN: Can you tell me something you know about multiplication? PAUL: [Thinks, then responds] 6 x 8 is 48. MARILYN: Do you know how much 6 x 9 is? PAUL: I don’t know that one. I didn’t learn it yet. MARILYN: Can you figure it out some way? PAUL: [Sits silently for a moment and then shakes his head.] MARILYN: How did you learn 6 x 8? PAUL: [Brightens and grins] It’s easy—goin’ fishing, got no bait, 6 x 8 is 48. connects to addition. Paul wasn’t the only student in this class who was floundering. Through talking with teachers and drawing on my own teaching experience, I’ve realized that in every class a handful of students are at serious risk of failure in mathematics and aren’t being adequately served by the instruction offered. What should we do for such students? Grappling with Interventions My exchange with Paul reminded me of three issues that are essential to teaching mathematics: I It’s important to help students make connections among mathematical ideas so they do not see these ideas as disconnected facts. (Paul saw each multiplication fact as a separate piece of information to memorize.) I It’s important to...

Words: 3526 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Curriculum

...education professionals have developed alternative educational methods, or suggestions for teaching a traditional curriculum in a more expanded way. In the sense of an entire curriculum, a traditional curriculum includes core subjects and electives. Core subjects usually include topics like math, science, history, and English. Students may also take courses in the social sciences, and can expand their curriculum with topics like art, foreign languages, music, acting, and so forth. The curriculum is designed in a progressive way, with each level being slightly more challenging than the last, requiring students to build skills and use them as their work their way through the curriculum. In an individual classroom, the traditional curriculum involves the presentation of information in the form of blocks or units which are broken into smaller units of information and presented by the teacher to the students. Traditionally, exchange between students and teachers is less encouraged, and the facilitation of class discussion is also not a part of the traditional curriculum. These are seen as shortcomings by some educators, who feel that students are more likely to develop critical thinking skills and to internalize and apply the information if they have discussions with the class, present projects which allow them to expand the material, and so forth. Increasingly, such activities are being accepted into curricula around the world. The traditional...

Words: 440 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

School Improvement

...certainly become a way to implement change and set procedures for improving student success. The plan component has allowed our team to develop a series of questions that address our student concerns. The tool that is used to improve STAAR testing scores consists of benchmark scores, teacher and student feedback. The step is to provide surveys and review data to achieve desired results. The initial cycle will be implemented during benchmark TAKS testing. The plan is to involve all staff members in a committee process to improve STAAR testing results. This will require all staff members to get involved in the selection of objectives, goals, and collaborative decision-making process. The goal is to increase STAAR testing scores by developing a collaborative team to utilize innovative ways to motivate students and improve student success. These procedures will increase the role of community members in becoming a key component in improving STAAR testing results and improve student learning by selecting and rating qualified teachers. Our campus will also establish a site-based committee to provide key information and implement a plan with outlined procedures to improve student learning. The steps required to execute our plan will hold open discussions with community stakeholders, superintendents, staff members and inform them of steps required to improve STAAR results. The second step will allow STAAR results to get reviewed by teachers, stakeholders, community members...

Words: 763 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Early Child Observation

...Also I think the way the questions are asked, it is more structure a child that has reached the concrete operational stage. By learning and having the capacity to understand conservation they should be able to master their problem solving. Due to stereotypes many people believe that math it is really hard, but by during this observation I was able to see that we used math and logic at an early age naturally. For example; I did not tell the boy that their where the same amount of pennies and he was able to understand by himself. Which I believe by using Skinner’s Theory and reinforcing this mathematical logical thing we can end up with the stereotype of how hard math could be. Also, the littler girl even when she wasn’t able to used her logic she was able to count the numbers in each rows. Which, it means that even when she is using the measurement part she is using mathematical...

Words: 471 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Ja Kevia Case Study

...2018-2019 school year. Her favorite colors are pink and purple. Math is her favorite subject. Ja'Kevia attends school on a regular basis. She very seldom misses a day of school. Ja'Kevia has mastered her behavior goals. She is very focused and concerned about her education. At home, Ja'Kevia states" she is responsible for washing dishes, cleaning her room and caring for a younger sibling". Hanging out with her friends is her favorite activity to do outside of school. She enjoys playing basketball. According to Parent Questionnaire, Ja'Kevia's mother wants her to finish the 8th grade and graduate from high school. Also, she states that Ja'Kevia's attitude towards school has changed. She has a more positive attitude about school and actually enjoys coming to school. According to Student Transition Planning Survey, Ja'Kevia states that she is punctual most of the time. She enjoys working with others and learning new tasks. Her mom is very involved in Ja'Kevia's education. She assists Ja'Kevia with her homework and helps prepare her for weekly tests....

Words: 763 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Bullying

...to have a good awareness of heath and safety because you will be working in a lab. If you want to become a laboratory technician you have to have 4 GCSEs including maths, English and science. Some employers ma y want you to have an A level grade or a degree. As a lab technician, you will be in, measuring levels of pollution, diagnosing diseases, and developing new products. Your duties are: * Setting up experiments or investigations * Carrying out risk assessments for lab activities * Collecting and analysing samples * Recording and presenting data * Ordering and controlling stock * Making sure that equipment is clean and in good working order. * In an educational setting, you would also set up equipment and demonstrate experiments. You will be working with other scientist, which requires good team working skills. Working hours As lab technician you may have to work for 37 hours full time. Salary Your starting salary is around £13,500 a year. If you have a experience and a qualification your salary will raise between £20,000 and £25,000 a year. If it is a small company that you are working for you may get less salary. Curriculum Vitae CJ B Nasir 26 Milford Road London IG1 5ND I have many skills such as creative skills, organisation skills, team working skills, I am independent and also I can work with other people. I can listen to...

Words: 589 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Influences in the Teaching Methods of Junior High School Mathematics Teachers in the District of Orani: an Investigation

...THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Introduction Caring classroom communities that are focused on mathematical goals help develop students’ mathematical identities and proficiencies (file:///D:/effective%20pedagogy.pdf). That’s why it is important that the school must have teachers using an appropriate method of transmitting knowledge and skills to the learners. Mathematics is the most international of all curriculum subjects, and mathematical understanding influences decision making in all areas of life either private, social, and civil. Mathematics education is a key to increasing the post-school and citizenship opportunities of young people, but today, as in the past, many students struggle with mathematics and become disaffected as they continually encounter obstacles to engagement. It is imperative, therefore, that we understand what effective mathematics teaching looks like—and what teachers can do to break this pattern (file:///D:/effective%20pedagogy.pdf). Negative attitudes and poor achievement in mathematics are not created simply because of the nature of the subject. Poor teaching strategies such as skill and drill, copying from the board, and memorizing formulas create low motivation in students which in turn leads to low academic performance. Teachers need to avoid these monotonous...

Words: 1052 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Common Core Math Standards

...The math department I met with consists of a variety of teachers from various backgrounds, education experience, and years of experience. At LGA our teacher see ongoing professional learning as a high priority. Amongst our staff, there has been a rise in teachers continue higher education with more than half of ours teachers holding at least one Master’s degree. Our faculty consists of twenty-eight teachers with eight of those teaching making up the math department. The majority of our staff consists of veteran teachers with fifteen or more years of experience in the professional. Within the math department, three of the teachers are relatively new to the profession. While teaching is unusually an overwhelmingly caucasian female occupation,...

Words: 923 - Pages: 4