Why Are There so Many Words in Math?: Resource #5

https://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/VM/0201-sep2012/VM0201Why.pdf

This is sort of a long read, but if you want to save it for later, it has some really good information that you can use for your math class in the future. This article talks about how kids have a hard task in math of trying to learn mathematical concepts while also trying to understand the discipline specific vocabulary used to describe these concepts. For example, will students be able to understand linear functions, if your example problem includes a description of the German Autobahn? What if they don’t know what the German Autobahn is? To help the teachers stay focused on building conceptual knowledge while supporting word learning and decreasing the vocabulary in the curriculum, the 5 C’s strategy was created. The 5 C’s are Concepts (What mathematical words are in this lesson), Content (What subject-matter words in this lesson), Clarify (Which words should I mention or clarify), Cut (Which words should I rephrase or eliminate), and Construct (Which words should I teach).

-165

Synthesis Blog: Differentiation

One thing that I noticed that Ms. M did in terms of differentiation, was that she asked questions at different cognitive levels because she understood that she had kids in her class that were at different learning levels. She asked higher leveled questions, but she also asked questions on all levels so that all of the kids in the class could understand and form their own answers. They were also discussing the questions and answers amongst their group to hear other student’s answers and thoughts. She had some students in her class that were “life skills” kids and others who are more advanced, so she catered to all of them by the types of questions that she asked. She also stated that she provided the class with vocab cards with pictures, so that the kids in her class who struggled to read would have a visual representation of what they were learning, so that they wouldn’t have to struggle with the words. She even found the pictures to be more fun and that all of the kids actually loved them, which led her to make the puzzle activity. She also used differentiation by the activities that she had the kids do. There were kids reading questions and discussing their answers with the group. They were also experimenting with hands on equipment and even going up to the interactive smart board to manipulate certain variables to see what the effect was. So, she was getting the students engaged by incorporating different activities that helped provide visual, verbal, and physical learning styles for kids who learn in different ways. There were also multimodal skills that had to be used as the kids operated the smart board. With all of these activities, there were different levels of questions and different activities being performed so that all kids were able to learn and engage in a way that best suited them, so that each and every one of them could understand and engage with the material to learn it.  

-335

Asking Effective Questions: Resource #4

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_AskingEffectiveQuestions.pdf

Have you ever wondered which types of questions you as a teacher should ask your students to encourage classroom discussion about math problems? Well, this link is for a journal article that talks about the types of questions that you should ask. The types of questions that we ask is important because the “right” questions help to excite student curiosity, provoke critical thinking, elicit reflection, and help students to construct their own meanings when problem solving. The article discusses 8 tips that math teachers should use, to help construct the right types of questions that they should ask their students when leading a classroom discussion. As well as, other tips and tricks to help create more effective questioning skills. 

-119