Guided Math
Moving From the Drawbacks
“When a teacher begins a math lesson with direct instruction they completely disregard and ignore their students’ background knowledge and strengths. Resources that promote this approach contradict a focus on equity and access.” So tweeted Drew Polly, an associate professor at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Wow! That is quite an indictment of direct…
Read MoreWhy You Need to Stop Overdosing on Whole Group
Most of us that were educated since the 1970’s (yes, I am that old!) remember sitting in a classroom with the teacher at the board (with chalk), and we dutifully followed along page-by-page, problem-by-problem. We can also remember classrooms where we really didn’t follow along…we passed notes, doodled, and talked. Times in classrooms have not…
Read MoreMath Picture Walks
During guided reading sessions, we work to stimulate the curiosity of our students by going through a “picture walk.” Even before we open a book, we show the children the cover, read the title, and ask them what they think the text might be about based on what they see. We work to pique their…
Read MorePromoting Questions through Math Stretches
Have you ever watched runners stretching before a big race? They are preparing their bodies, warming up their muscles, so they will perform at optimum levels. Just like those runners, our students need to warm-up to get their brains focused and ready for quality thinking and learning. Math Warm-ups, or Math Stretches, are an important…
Read MoreLaying the Foundation for Critical Thinking in Math
“Environments rich in mathematical opportunities for children are essential if we want our children to develop a thorough understanding of mathematics.” -Laney Sammons Evidence has shown that our nation has been struggling with mathematical literacy. We have many children who just don’t “get it” and it is time to make a change in the instructional…
Read MoreCommunication is at the Heart of Mathematical Literacy
Mathematical literacy has become a serious problem in the United States. Computation, drill and practice have often been the means to a less than stellar mathematical end. Mathematician Keith Devlin says, “The problem many people have with school arithmetic is that they never get to the meaning stage; it remains forever an abstract game of…
Read MoreEstablishing an Environment for Mathematics
Look around most elementary classrooms, and you’ll see evidence that language arts learning is taking place. The question then becomes do you see evidence that mathematics is just as important. Probably not. Most classroom environments are literacy rich and mathematics poor. A mathematics rich classroom is a place where students are surrounded by math…a place…
Read MoreMath Talk = Deeper Understanding
Creating a classroom environment where students are immersed in real life math tasks and quality math talk is essential for creating deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. The first Standard for Mathematical Practice is to Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Daily math talk puts this standard into practice and creates a safe setting…
Read MoreFlexible Math Groups – Flex Math Muscles
Successful math students are the ones who have developed a deep understanding of concepts, are fluent at computation, and are able to use what they know to solve real problems. Flexible math groups allow students the chance to flex the math muscles that build these skills in meaningful ways. Teachers can effectively differentiate instruction using…
Read MoreDifferentiating in Math
For years mathematics focused on finding the correct answer. How students arrived at that answer was not addressed. This has begun to change. Teachers are starting to confer with students one-on-one to see their thinking, and more emphasis is being placed on a student’s individual problem solving methods. Conferring with students in any academic area…
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