Showing posts with label Mathematics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mathematics. Show all posts

Sunday, September 2, 2012

special studying Strategies For Elementary Mathematics

No.1 Article of 3Rd Grade Math Practice

Many children caress anxiety associated to mathematics to a confident extent, and this may begin as early as kindergarten. This anxiety can succeed in poor academic operation in math, many misunderstandings in math content and procedures, and negative attitudes toward math. Obtaining a math tutor may be helpful for many students, but often, parents who have a normal insight of learning strategies for mathematics can contribute equally productive help. The following facts can help parents, teachers, and tutors contribute a basis for mathematics learning for elementary school students.

Understanding the learning Progression

3Rd Grade Math Practice

First, we need to think how children best learn. Think about very early learning for children and the idea of "cat". When toddlers see a cat, their parent says, "cat", and pats it, to give the child the name for that object. Soon, the toddler knows what a cat is, from finding it, touching it, and hearing the name for it. Later, the child draws a picture, points to it, and says "cat". Eventually, as a child grows, he is able to associate the spoken word "cat" with a thinking photo of the animal. This learning progression, from concrete (the real cat) to semi-concrete (the picture) to abstract (the spoken word) is an example of how children learn mathematics as well. To teach a child about triangles, first they need to interact with real triangles - touch them, trace them, see them. This is where manipulatives play a large part in mathematics instruction. Children use hands-on manipulatives to learn the characteristics of math concepts (like a triangle), or use them to show procedures (like adding 4 blocks and 3 blocks). The first learning strategy to use when teaching children new mathematics content, therefore, is to go to the manipulatives.

special studying Strategies For Elementary Mathematics

Learning the underlying Rules

A second strategy that is helpful for students when learning mathematics is to memorize principal facts, vocabulary, and rules. Much time is spent in the 1st and 2nd grade with students learning expanding and subtraction facts, and an equivalent whole of time is spent in the 3rd and 4th grade with learning multiplication and division facts. Even with this practice time at school, many students have mystery committing these facts to memory. It is critically leading that students memorize these, however, as most later mathematics learning is dependent upon the quick and correct recall of math facts. Think how difficult it would be for children to add 358 to 472 if they did not have a firm grasp of expanding facts? Likewise, how would a trainee find a common denominator for two fractions if they could not recall basic multiplication facts? There are many, many ways that these facts can be practiced. One way is the "tried and true" flash cards. A variation of traditional flash cards is 3-sided flash cards. When learning multiplication facts, for example, write one factor in one corner, one factor in another corner, and the product in the final corner. When using these flash cards, cover up the product with your finger, so that the child can see the two factors, and practice multiplying them together. When learning division facts, put your finger over one of the smaller numbers, so they can see the large whole and one of the smaller numbers. They have to divide to decree which whole is covered. For example:

On your triangle, write 2, 3, and 6 - one whole in each corner. When practicing multiplication, cover the 6, so that the child sees 2 and 3, and multiplies them together to get the sass of 6. When practicing division, cover the 2, so that the child calculates 6 divided by 3, to decree the sass of 2.

Helpful Shortcuts

Another strategy that is productive is teaching students the steps of a course by using mnemonics. For example, the first letters of Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally stand for the steps of the order of operations (parentheses, exponents, multiply, divide, add, subtract). The "family list" of Daddy, Mother, Sister, Brother, Cousins, Relatives indicates the steps for long division (divide, multiply, subtract, bring down, compare, repeat or remainder). Strategies such as these help students remember procedural steps so that they can accomplish them consistently.

For conceptual learning, like "What is an equilateral triangle?", children learn through the processes of explain, elaborate, illustrate. In this situation, a child should define the equilateral triangle (explain), tell what that means in his own words (elaborate), and draw a photo of it (illustrate).

As with any other type of learning, mathematics strategies can only be learned through consistent application and many opportunities to practice. You will know that children have come to be proficient in the use of the strategies when they are able to independently apply them to mathematics problems they encounter in school.

breaking news special studying Strategies For Elementary Mathematics

Friday, August 3, 2012

Teachers - Formative estimate - Informal estimate of Students' content Knowledge in Mathematics

--3Rd Grade Math Word Problems of Teachers - Formative estimate - Informal estimate of Students' content Knowledge in Mathematics--

go to the website Teachers - Formative estimate - Informal estimate of Students' content Knowledge in Mathematics

While there can be overlap in the middle of some types of formative and summative assessments, and while there are both informal and formal means to compare students, in this article, I will primarily offer suggestions for informal, formative evaluation for the mathematics classroom, particularly in the first of the three categories recommend by Clarke & Wilson:

Teachers - Formative estimate - Informal estimate of Students' content Knowledge in Mathematics

The student's mathematical content knowledge. The student's mathematical processes, such as reasoning, communicating, question solving, and manufacture connections. The student's mathematical disposition, such as attitudes, persistence, confidence, and cooperative skills.

If you agree with the idea that words are labels for concepts, then you will want to use the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 idea shown below:

Indicate your knowledge of each word by writing a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 in front of the word. The numbers signify the following five statements:

I've never even seen the word/phrase. I've seen the word/phrase, but I don't know what it means. I know the word/phrase has something to do with... I think I know what it means in math I know the word/phrase in one or several of its meanings, including the meaning for mathematics.
------------ Unit 2:  Using Measures and Equations -------------

continuous opposites line length of a segment ray central angle of a circle complementary angles vertical angles right triangle solving an equation rational number perfect square discrete scientific notation endpoint midpoint angle right angle further angles acute triangle equation equivalent equations irrational number perfect cube absolute value segment congruent segments vertex of an angle straight angle congruent angles obtuse triangle solution quadrate root real number cube root

I prefer to use this as both an informal pre- and post-assessment. At the beginning of a new unit or part (and again at the end), I give students a sheet similar to the one shown above, with vocabulary terms for the unit listed.  [The first time you use this idea, it is necessary to go over the five distinct levels of word knowledge, but students beyond doubt understand the idea that there are words they have never heard of and words that they know in several ways (and all things in in the middle of these two).]  It is leading to claim the words as the students read them and rate their own level of knowledge of the word because there are words that students recognize when they hear them but don't recognize when they see them. Then, to compare content knowledge, for all words that the students rated as 4's or 5's, ask them to write their best insight of what that word means in mathematics. This is not used for a grade but rather, as formative evaluation to give an idea of students' understandings of the concepts before and after the unit of instruction.

A second way of assessing students' content knowledge, is giving students a sheet with 5 rows and 4 columns at the beginning of the week. Then, each day, whether as students enter class, or as the closing action for the day, four problems from a previous day's part or homework are given, and students enter each question (and solution) in the four spaces for the day. The teacher can check these swiftly or have a row grader check them. These may be collected each day or at the end of the week, depending on the teacher's plan for using the evaluation information.

The third suggestion for formative evaluation of content knowledge is execution assessment.  whole articles (and books) have been written on the next suggestion for formative evaluation of mathematical content knowledge, but even though I cannot fully by comparison it in the context of this article, I would be remiss not to mention the idea of execution assessment. execution assessments are assessments "in which students demonstrate in a collection of ways their insight of a topic or topics. These assessments are judged on predetermined criteria" (Ascd, 1996, p. 59).  Baron (1990a, 1990b, and 1991) in Marzano & Kendall (1996) identifies a number of characteristics of execution tasks, including the following:

are grounded in real-world contexts involve sustained work and often take several days of combined in-class and out-of-class time deal with big ideas and major concepts within a discipline gift non-routine, open-ended, and loosely structured problems that need students both to define the question and to manufacture a strategy for solving it need students to settle what data are needed, obtain the data, article and portray them, and analyze them to discuss sources of error necessitate that students use a collection of skills for acquiring information and for communicating their strategies, data, and conclusions (p. 93)

Begin exploring assorted formative evaluation tools with your students to settle their content knowledge in mathematics.  You will learn a great deal - and then be able to help your students learn even more!

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