Operations+Meanings+and+Basic+Facts





[|pascal's triangle][|teaching operations] Great article on CGI []

Nice job on the responses. You folks get it! So many ways to say "It's not important to know a lot of 'stuff'. It's important to understand a lot of 'stuff''. See you all Thursday. Mike R

Children should understand not only //how,// but //when// to use problem solving methods. Our text tells us that children encounter the four basic operations in natural ways when they work with many diverse problem situations (p189). By utilizing the concrete, representational, and then symbolic sequence of activities, teachers can guide their students to operational mastery. Lindsay Zahner

Class-

I think problem solving is crucial but I think too often praise is placed for one way of solving over another. I think it is important to ask children, How did you get that, adn what were you thinking, but not to force one way over another. I liked the slide that spoke to maturity and counting. there are some children that will count onthier fingers far longer than others. Maybe they need to. I appreciated the achknowledgement of that.

Nikki

Class, Our reading emphasizes that computational proficiency and understanding of operations are the desired outcomes of mathematics instruction. (Chpt. 9, p. 189) Operations and basic facts are like the chicken and the egg. You can’t have one without the other! As our power point explains, teach them both simultaneously and help students make real life connections for success in both! (Ppt) Jan Reys lindquist lambdin smith. (2009). Helping children learn mathematics. Hoboken, NJ: John wiley & sons, inc. Rospenda, Mike. (2011). How to teach place value, Ideas for preschool and beyond

Hi All,

Great power point! It was a perfect summary of the chapter. One key point that stuck out for me was that every new concept should be taught in this sequence: concrete, representative, and symbolic! Using a different color for each function (addition, subtraction, etc.) is also helpful, especially with a student with a math LD.

Thanks! Silena

Class, Hold onto... - those 21st Century Skills with emphasis on problem solving, a questioning mind, and open ended questioning. - discovery through variety. - the chicken or the egg (operation/basic facts), not concerned with which one came first simply knowing they both need to be and are relevant. - learning styles vary so exposure to drawing, writing, explaining and touching math are critical. Thank you for sharing this summarizing, thought provoking power point. Sarah

I think that the emphasis on asking questions and figuring out how the children get to their answers has been stressed so much in our reading and lecture but rightfully so. It seems like common sense but I often don't see it being done in class. Making connections is so important to because one a child has mastered addition you can easily teach them multiplication at the same time if they really udnerstand the concepts like they should. Really interesting powerpoint with great ideas. -Tess

Class, I found it interesting the different ways subtraction was described: separation, comparison, and part-whole. It never occurred to me that by using a term like "take away" could limit a students understanding of the many facets of multiplication. On a side note: the mention that there are 100 addition facts (and another 100 for multiplication) from 0+0 to 9+9 was an eye opener. It is no wonder that kids need time and variety to practice all of their facts to become proficient. It is our job to make it interesting, challenging (just enough!) and creative to keep our students engaged and excited. Amy

Class

Understanding of basic operations is extremely important. Children must have an understanding of numbers and be able to basic calculations before they can move up to higher level math. It is important for us to find ways to make numbers interesting for our students so they will want to learn about them. Ray

Class, I think that if the students learn the operations and can answer the question "how did you come up with your answer?" then they will be successful in math. As the power point stated you can't have one without the other between facts and operations. And finding a variety of ways to teach the concepts will hit every learning style in the classroom. Rachel Blohm

Hello again,

I took away from this PowerPoint a couple of facts. First, explain the concepts in as many ways as possible. This will reinforce the learning of the concepts as well as reach those students who may need a different explaination. Second, another method of reinforcement is to have the children explain their understanding. This was a prominent theme throughout the slide show. Math is more than merely numbers; there needs to be understanding as well.

Eric

Class, Place value PPt Power point gives numerous suggestions on how to keep the idea of place value in front of students throughout the year. The ideas are endless. Add popsicle sticks in a container of ones and check periodically for tens for days of the year as they go by. A Logic Game I played this in class and thought it would be kind of fun for students, especially students that could strategize. As discussed in class one could go thru numbers in order (ascending or descending) to quickly figure out digits/place value. Once place value is figured out there is a little luck in guessing the digit as you might have to go thru all digits if you started at one and needed nine. Bob

Class, Some things that really made sense to me in both our text and the ppt. were, firstly, to always ask, "How did you do that?" even when the answer is correct. I asked this of a student who had correctly solved a problem in a recent fractions lesson and he gave me a method of his own that was better than the book! It was a great lesson for the class. Secondly, under your heading, "How to Develop Operational Sense," 2. Make sure they understand the properties...this is important because the chapter made the case that often mental calculations are best. If students understand the properties they will more easily be able to do the mental calculations. Lori

Hi everyone, One aspect that I think really helps students learn to understand math concepts is the general sequence of activities, or to apply concrete methods, then representational methods, and finally symbolic methods. After these steps, I agree with the idea that it's crucial to ask the kids, "How did you get that?" Stephanie

Hello All, One of the things that appeared to me was a very simple example of how to look at the processes of addition, subtraction, mulitiplication, and division as forward, backward, skipping and grouping. THis goes hand in hand with the question that is brought up in the Power Point, the book and in almost everyones post, "How did you get that?" the ability of the students to be able to tell us with words or show us with pictures. This is emphazised in the book with all the models they show that demonstrate just that, that addition is moving foward, subtraction is in reverse, multiplication is skipping all those numbers in the number line, and division is nothing more then grouping whole series of numbers...I think this might actually make me like math! David

Hello All, What this power point I think is talking about is basic math. All students should have an understanding of what processes that they need to go through to get an answer, after they are able to learn the basics of the lessons. One important thing is that the students get the practice that they may need to understand the different steps that are involved to get the answer. I think that even if the students get the wrong answer; as long as they know how to work out the problem that is much more important. Jim