Wow. Has technology ever come a long way since I was in elementary school. Today's class really proved to me how interactive and visual math can be for students. With an endless supply of online learning activities, students can apply their knowledge in a fun, hands-on way. Although this new way of learning is incredible, I am still convinced that it is important for young math learners to have a grasp on concepts via the old concrete ways of using paper and pencil to demonstrate understanding. Like with most things in life, I believe in a balance. Political answer, I know, but it is important for students to represent understanding in various ways i.e via writing, orally or visually. As the shift in modern life continues to lean towards technological advances, I can predict a stronger dependence on technology in the classroom. I am fairly confident in my basic tech skills; however, I am nonetheless very thankful for simple and easy-to-navigate web resources!
The use of virtual math activities will definitely enhance learning in my future classroom. The McGraw Hill Manipulatives site would have been perfect for my Grandma Lena activity. I chose to base the story around a lesson in the grade 3 measurement unit. As previously discussed, students would utilize calendars to demonstrate their understanding of the passage of time. With this site, students would be able to build their own calendar and mark the passing days on it. I would likely pair this with a pencil-and-paper multiplication activity in order to incorporate more detail. For example, if seven weeks have passed, students would compute 7 X 7 to get the number of days.
Students would benefit from this site for this activity in particular because it would enable them to use a visual aid. By creating calendars and then being able to visualize the passage of time on them, students also have the opportunity to develop a greater sense of understanding when computing calculations to determine the number of days/weeks that have passed.
After exploring and investigating numerous math sites, we played a few rounds of 4-player game. I like the notion of adding some friendly competition in the classroom. Not only do students get to apply their knowledge, they must do so effectively in order to win. I think that incorporating a few activities like this every once in a while would be a nice treat for students.
After exploring and investigating numerous math sites, we played a few rounds of 4-player game. I like the notion of adding some friendly competition in the classroom. Not only do students get to apply their knowledge, they must do so effectively in order to win. I think that incorporating a few activities like this every once in a while would be a nice treat for students.
The game that we played focused on mental math. As adults, I think that we often take this skill for granted. We tend to forget how we arrive with the answer - we do not play attention to the strategy that we used. The chapter reading does a nice job of going into detail about the importance of introducing strategies that young math learners can adopt in order to develop their mental math skills and master basic facts.
I like that the author explained the difference between practice and drill. If students have not had sufficient time to learn and do not understand the concepts, drill basically becomes ineffective for the student. I can just picture a little student that does not completely understand subtraction being bombarded with flashcards... not the best idea. It will be my duty as a math teacher to ensure proper instruction and sufficient practice activities so that drill activities will be a breeze for my students!
Having students identify and come up with strategies as well as elaborate on other classmates' strategies is a great concept. The class becomes involved with the strategies and students understand the strategies because they are able to explain them to other students.
The activities included in this chapter were insightful for me because they reminded me of the types of activities that I completed back in the day. Although 7+8 requires next to no thought for me, it is important to remember that young math learners still need to develop the speed and ease needed to solve the question. I particularly like the strategy of near double facts and the use of the ten frame in developing number sense relationships. The ten frame provides a visual for the students and with practice, they will be able to see the ten frame in their head and complete drill activities promptly.
It was neat reading about the division strategies because the author questions whether students are practicing multiplication or division when completing a page of division facts. When I think about it, I rarely use division because I tend to solve the problem from the multiplication perspective. Interesting.
All in all, the usefulness of mastering basic mental math extends far beyond the classroom. Students can practice mental math in every day situations without even knowing it! I certainly do.
I like that the author explained the difference between practice and drill. If students have not had sufficient time to learn and do not understand the concepts, drill basically becomes ineffective for the student. I can just picture a little student that does not completely understand subtraction being bombarded with flashcards... not the best idea. It will be my duty as a math teacher to ensure proper instruction and sufficient practice activities so that drill activities will be a breeze for my students!
Having students identify and come up with strategies as well as elaborate on other classmates' strategies is a great concept. The class becomes involved with the strategies and students understand the strategies because they are able to explain them to other students.
The activities included in this chapter were insightful for me because they reminded me of the types of activities that I completed back in the day. Although 7+8 requires next to no thought for me, it is important to remember that young math learners still need to develop the speed and ease needed to solve the question. I particularly like the strategy of near double facts and the use of the ten frame in developing number sense relationships. The ten frame provides a visual for the students and with practice, they will be able to see the ten frame in their head and complete drill activities promptly.
It was neat reading about the division strategies because the author questions whether students are practicing multiplication or division when completing a page of division facts. When I think about it, I rarely use division because I tend to solve the problem from the multiplication perspective. Interesting.
All in all, the usefulness of mastering basic mental math extends far beyond the classroom. Students can practice mental math in every day situations without even knowing it! I certainly do.