Reading Some of Your Blogs

The Card Trick

Today I read several of your blogs. I like the videos on Chujun's. There was one video on geoboard where the narrator said she made an equilateral triangle. Question: Is that possible? Prove it.

Her blog also gives us a glimpse into some theories we discussed in class.

Harlina's entries are interesting - it gives the hard theories in a light-hearted way. Plus the tangram book she unearthed for us may be of some interest to all. Given such interesting read, the three entries do not seem enough to for my pedagogical appetite.

Kelly's blog gives you a clear glimpse into what we did in class. She also included some things she found on the internet. The geoboard video shows a range of problems using the geoboard - by fixing the number of dots inside, number of dots on the perimeter, area and son on. Watch it.

What is really helpful is when the blogger gives readers an idea what to expect in each video. That way I do not need to spend time watching it if that is not what I am looking for. What is also helpful is the concise summary that some of you gave (it helps those who were not in class have a glimpse into what happened). I really enjoyed reading the extensions that some of you make after each lesson.

EDU330 Elementary Mathematics 08/17/13 Session 6

Today, you had fun with Ms Peggy Foo on lesson study and solving a bunch of enrichment lessons as well as to learn about differentiated instruction. From the work you produced, I noticed you have enjoyed yourselves and were thoroughly engaged.

Today, I read Salmah's blog as well as Marina's blog - Marina has a a talent in picking relevant videos to share with colleagues. I found the videos to be the most useful thing in her blog. Salmah's approach of using a question to focus each blog entry is helpful to parents seeking specific answers. So if my child cannot count a set of things, her entry Child Unable to Count ? might be helpful.

One approach to blog to communicate with colleagues and parents is to select a relevant video and you provide a synopsis plus your professional views on the topic discussed in the video.

Another approach is to write blog entries based on frequently asked questions.

EDU330 Elementary Mathematics 08/16/13 Session 5

Quiz 2 - Write a journal entry for each.

Journal 5
Write two story problems to show the difference between 1/2 divided by 4 and 1/2 divided by 1/4.

In case you want more problems to solve, here is another one ...

B                              first line
AN
HAR
BANH
ARBAN
HARBAN
HARBANH
AR ....

Using your own name, which letter in your name appears at the end of 99th line.

EDU330 Elementary Mathematics 15/8/13 Session 4

Today we review whole numbers and fractions as we move on to geometry and measurements.

We review Lesson 10 on 3/4 divided by 1/8 and then we moved on to a series of lessons on word problems involving the four basic operations.

Lesson 11
What is 2/3 divided by 5?

Lesson 12
1/5 of 2 thirds and 2/3 of 1 fifth

Lesson 13
Let's make pentominoes

Lesson 14
Draw a 4-sided figure with one dot inside it.
How large is it?

EDU330 Elementary Mathematics 8/14/13 Session 3

Schedule
1. Review Whole Numbers
- Lesson 7 How Many Monsters?
- Lesson 8 Dice Problem

2. Quiz 1

3. Break - please discuss with your group members the plan for this Friday Museum Activity

4. Fractions
- Revisit Lesson 3 Four Equal Parts
- Lesson 9 Subtracting Fractions
- Lesson 10 Multiplying Fractions

EDU330 Elementary Mathematics 8/13/13 Session 2

"No matter how lucidly and patiently teachers explain to their students, they cannot understand for their students."


Lesson 4 is based on Jack & The Beanstalk

5 + 6 + 7
Think of different ways to find the total of the three numbers.

Method 1 is to make ten. 
How many different ways to make ten?

Lesson 5 
Jack and his two friends share 51 beans equally.
Think of different ways to do this.

We discussed how this leads to long division algorithm. 

We had a discussion based on As I Was Going to St Ives
The song goes all the way back to 1800's and was found among ancient Egyptian artifact - see History

Lesson 6
AB x C = DE 
What are the digits A, B, C, D and E if they are all different?
None of them is 0.

We saw the four ways whole numbers are used and did problems based on the four operations (Lesson 5 - adding, Lesson 5 - dividing and Lesson 6 - multiplying).

We added metacognition and number sense to patterns and visualization as big ideas in mathematics learning.

EDU330 Elementary Mathematics Sample Quiz Item

Quiz

Photograph by a student in Pathlight School

Other than counting objects in a set, we can also count number of ways to arrange objects in a row.

This is one way to arrange the four houses in a row.

Find the number of different ways to arrange the four houses in a row. Show your method clearly.

Students do not learn permutation (counting ways of arrangements) until in their teenage years.

Describe one experience that 5-year olds can make sense of that provides a foundation for the learning of permutation.

EDU330 Elementary Mathematics 8/12/13 Session 1

P/S - if your name is still not listed on the side bar, please resend me the address of your blog and if you are absent for part or all of any lesson, please complete the problems discussed in your absence and submit these with your other journal entries on friday or saturday.

Focus
Creating a Mathematical Climate in the Classroom
1. How Children Learn Mathematics?
> We discussed two perspectives including the CPA Approach (Bruner)
2. What are the Big Ideas in Mathematics?
> We discussed looking for patterns (Lesson 2) and visualization (Lessons 1 and 3),

Schedule
1. Introduction - What's new about school mathematics in Singapore and the US?

2. Lesson 1 - Tangram "Make a rectangle."
The class surfaced three ways of helping children learn - through exploration, through teacher modelling and through teacher scaffolding.

Literature Connection - Grandfather Tang's Story

3. Break

4. Lesson 2 - Name
The letters in my name is counted in a certain way (ask a friend to show you if you missed this one).
Which letter is counted 99th? How about your own name?

5. Course Briefing

6. Lesson 3 - Equal Parts
Make four equal parts.

7. Journal Writing

8. End of Session 1

Photographs are available on my Facebook

One of the students did this for a 7-piece solution