Friday, 8 April 2016

WEEK 5 - PRE-NUMBER AND EARLY NUMBER

THE BIG IDEAS
One of the important points this week was the five principles that are involved with counting. These include:


  1. One to one correspondence (one number for each object)
  2. Stable order (the correct order of numbers e.g. one, two, three)
  3. Cardinal principle (the last number counted tell us how many there are altogether)
  4. Abstraction (There are things that can be counted such as the number of blocks in the toy box, and other things that can't like the number of sand grains on the beach)
  5. Order irrelevance (no matter the order the objects are counted the number will always be the same unless more is added or removed) 

Helping children learn mathematics (2012) discusses the intricate natures of counting on page 150 where it states: 
"What is counting? It is a surprisingly intricate process by which children call number values by name. A close look at the counting process shows that finding how many objects are present involves two distinct actions. A child must say the number-name series starting with one, and point to a different object as each number name is spoken." 
These principles are important to note as all principles must be demonstrated by a child before they can be considered as knowing how to count. This means for me as a teacher, interviewing children in my foundation class at the beginning of the year is necessary to fully understand the stages of development the children are currently situated and gain insight into how to further assist this development. 

This may be an assessment piece in a school setting, however in a prior to school setting, this could be a checklist to be revisited over an extended period of time to demonstrate the child's progress. 

VIDEO: Counting interview This video is a recording of a child that demonstrates the cardinal principle, stable order and is in the beginning stages of one to one correspondence. This interview does not address abstraction or order irrelevance, however additional questions may be added to include these aspects. 


THE CONCEPT, SKILL, STRATEGIES AND SUPPORTING RESOURCES
Focusing on pre-number, there is a group of six concepts and related skills that fall under this group. These concepts include:

  1. Determining attributes
  2. Matching by attributes
  3. Sorting by attributes
  4. Comparing attributes
  5. Ordering attributes
  6. Patterning
For this section, only 'sorting by attributes' will be dissected and explored further. 


Concept 
For sorting by attributes, the concept is that we are taking a large group of objects and splitting them up into smaller groups based on one or more attributes. The concept of sorting can be taught using discussions starting with the questions "Can can we make smaller groups?". Children begin to recognise that objects can be catagorised, this can begin simply by showing the child objects that can be catagorised by strong and obvious differences and slowly move into other groups of objects that require more thinking. 

VIDEO: Class recognising different attributes they can sort by In this video the children are demonstrating the concept of sorting by explaining what attribute the shapes have been sorted by.  

Skill
The ability to move objects into groups based on an attribute. This skill can be practiced using any objects that share one or more attribute. 
VIDEO: Child sorting rocks by what it reminds him of
VIDEO: Child sorting keys in various groups

During these videos, the children are seen grouping various objects differently. This is practicing the skill of sorting. 

Strategies 
In sorting, the thinking strategy used is planning how to complete the task. Strategies used may be a sorting chart, separating into groups (as shown in the videos in the 'skill' section) or placing each group in a different cup or container. 











 THE LANGUAGE MODEL
The language model is used to display the relationship between the visual, verbal and symbolic elements of mathematics and forms 'stages' of learning. 


Student language - During student language, all language used should be familiar to the child and accompanied with familiar objects. This may vary depending on the 'story'. For example, 'Three bird families were sitting in a tree and they decided to go home to their nests. Can you help them go to the right nest?'. In this situation, an image of a tree, three separate nests and groups of three different birds would be used. 
Materials language - At this stage, there is still no introduction of mathematical terms. The language is very similar to student language however the visuals used have become more abstract. For example, 'Can we separate these counters into groups? What makes each counter in this group the same?'

Mathematics language - Moving away from 'stories', this stage introduces mathematical terms. For example, 'How can we sort these objects? What attributes can we sort by?'

Symbolic language - Pre-number and early number does not use symbolic language or symbols. 





THE LANGUAGE MODEL FOR SORTING




THE MISCONCEPTION

A misconception children may have with sorting is misinterpreting the attribute being sorted. This is particularly prominent when sorting more than one attribute (an example of this is in the link below). This can be remedied by using a table for a more visual representation of what attribute is being sorted.   


THE ACARA LINK
Sorting is first introduced in the foundation year. 
Strand: Number and Algebra
Substrand: Patterns and algebra
Code: ACMNA005
Content descriptions: Sort and classify familiar objects and explain the basis for these classifications. Copy, continue and create patterns with objects and drawings
Elaborations: 
  • Observing natural patterns in the world around us
  • Creating and describing patterns using materials, sounds, movements or drawings
Scootle resource ideas:
1. Kitchen Stacker: Sort and Label is an online game that allows students to sort a large number of different objects by a variety of attributes. 
2. Clean up time is a video that sorts toys by a number of attributes (colour, type and shape). This could be used as an introduction to a lesson as it ends with the open-ended question 'Can you think of anything we can sort?'
3.  Letter Detective: Letter Case allows students to sort upper case an lower case letters

  1. 'Sorting Game' by My First App is an app designed for the ipad used to introduce sorting using one attribute during pre-number.
  2. ABCYa Educational Games: Rainbow fuzzbugs counting, sorting and comparing is an online game that introduces sorting as well as names of different attributes (such as largest and smallest)
  3. Sesame Street has a video that can be used to teach sorting by multiple attributes - in this video, two characters are sorting blue squares and stripped circles when they come across a stripped square. This shape doesn't fit in either group so they make a new group for it. 
  4. Sort it out! by Barbara Mariconda and illustrated by Sherry Rogers is a children's story that uses rhyme to explore attributes such as colour, size, texture, shape and material. 


THE TEXTBOOK SUMMARY
  • Number development is not a finite entity that a students either has or has not, it's development is a life long process.
  • The stages include pre-number and informal number; early number development; number development and counting
  • These stages form the basis of whole-number development and provide the underpinnings for basic facts as well as mental and written computation involving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole numbers
  • Early number content descriptors can be found in the Australian curriculum in the foundation year
  • Young children have vast amounts of early number experience, many experiences of which do not rely on numbers but provide the basis of early number concepts and foundation for later skills. Such experiences are called pre-number experiences.  (Reys, Lindquist, Lambdin, Smith, Rogers, & Falle, et al., 2012)
THE REFERENCES
ACU,. (2016). Learning Environment Online. Leo.acu.edu.au. Retrieved 3 March 2016, from http://leo.acu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=18458

Australia, E. (2016). Home - Scootle. Scootle.edu.au. Retrieved 3 April 2016, from https://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/p/home

Australian government,. (2016). Home - The Australian Curriculum v8.1.Australiancurriculum.edu.au. Retrieved 3 April 2016, from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/

Reys, Lindquist, Lambdin, Smith, Rogers, & Falle, et al. (2012). Helping children learn mathematics. Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons.

YouTube. (2016). Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 April 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/

Posted by at No comments:

Friday, 25 March 2016

WEEK 4 - DIVISION

THE BIG IDEAS
The first discussion for week four surrounded a child's prerequisites for division:

  1. An understanding of the concept of division - As discussed in previous weeks, a comprehensive understanding of a concept (in this case division) is crucial to have the ability to preform the task successfully.
  2. An understanding that division is the inverse of multiplication - this is important as the main strategy for division is 'Think multiplication' and therefore the child must understand the relationship between these operations.
  3. An understanding of the symbols - Unlike addition, subtraction and multiplication, division has various symobls. As discussed in the textbook, meaning for symbols is created through exposure (Helping children learn mathematics, 2012 p.196). With this understanding it can be concluded that students must be provided with the time and oppertunity to created meaning for all division symbols.
  4. Have a quick and accurate recall of the multiplication facts - This is important because of the inverse relationship between multiplication and division. 
  5. An understanding of and the ability to write the turn-around facts for multiplication and division - This is important because of the inverse relationship between multiplication and division. 
The second idea this week is that division questions fall under two catagories:
  1.         Partition is basically sharing a large number into groups to see how many there are in each group. For example, "I have ten lollies and I share them between five friends. How many lollies does each friend get?"
  2.         Quotition is repeated subtraction where a small quantity is repeatedly subtracted from a larger amount in order to find the number of groups needed to divide up the total. For example, "I have ten lollies and give two lollies to each of my friends. How many friends do I have?"
Resources and strategies for teaching these categories are discussed below. 

Thirdly, we looked at the properties of zero. This is a concept that must be discussed with 
students because the previous operations were compatible with zero when division is not. 
For example, zero cannot be divided into three groups and three cannot be divided into
 zero groups. To explain this to children, it is best to use real world examples such as "I 
have zero counters and want to share them fairly between my fives friends, how many 
counters does each friend get?". It is important to note that the answer for this example is 
not zero, the answer is that it cannot be shared. 

Video: Multiplication and division - an inverse relationship
Video: Partition and quotition division
Link: Why can't I divide by zero?

THE CONCEPT, SKILL, STRATEGIES AND SUPPORTING RESOURCES
Helping children learn mathematics (2012) states on page 217 that: 
"Just as 'think addition' is an important strategy for subtraction, 'think multiplication' is the primary thinking strategy to aid children in understanding and recalling the division facts. Division is the inverse of multiplication; that is, in a division problem you are seeking an unknown factor when the product and some other factor are known. The multiplication table illustrates all the division facts; you simply read it differently." 
Concept 
In division, the concept is that we are separating a number into equal parts. The concept of division can be taught using division mats. As there are two types of division, some mats are used specifically for one type while others are multi-functional. Using division mats gives students a visual representation of what is happening when they divide. 





Skill
The ability to separate a number into equal parts. This skill can be practiced using resources such as the addition mats discussed above and addition stories. Addition stories are stories that use addition throughout the plot of the book. Teachers can use this resource to allow children to practice the skill of addition in a way that seems new and exciting. 


 Strategies 
As the main strategy for division is "think multiplication", we use the same strategies as multiplication. These strategies can be practiced using the division mats. 

Link: Leo - Other examples

THE LANGUAGE MODEL
The language model is used to display the relationship between the visual, verbal and symbolic elements of mathematics and forms 'stages' of learning. 

Student language - During student language, all language used should be familiar to the child and accompanied with familiar objects. This may vary depending on the 'story'. For example, 'There were six birds in two trees, If each tree had the same amount of birds how many birds was in each tree?'. 
Materials language - At this stage, there is still no introduction of mathematical terms. The language is very similar to student language however the visuals used have become more abstract. For example, 'there are 12 counters and three counters in each group. How many groups are there?'

Mathematics language - Moving away from 'stories', this stage introduces mathematical terms. For example, 'What does six divided by two equal?'

Symbolic language - This is the only stage where symbols (including symbolic numbers) are used. An example of a question from this stage would be '6 / 2 =' 





THE LANGUAGE MODEL FOR ADDITION



THE MISCONCEPTION

  1. The student sees multiplication and division as discrete and separate operations. His conception of the operations does not include the fact that they are linked as inverse operations. If I came across this situation, I would demonstrate this inverse relationship to the child using family facts. 
  2. The student knows how to divide but does not know when to divide (other than because she was told to do so, or because the computation was written as a division problem). The child may not fully grasp the concept of division, it may be beneficial to go back to the childrens' language stage. 
Link: Misconceptions and errors in mathematics

THE ACARA LINK
Division is first introduced in year two.  
Strand: Number and Algebra
Substrand: Number and Place Value
Code: ACMNA032
Content descriptions: Recognise and represent division as grouping into equal sets and solve simple problems using these representations
Elaborations: 
  • dividing the class or a collection of objects into equal-sized groups
  • identifying the difference between dividing a set of objects into three equal groups and dividing the same set of objects into groups of three
Scootle resource ideas:
1. Number Line helps students visualize number sequences and illustrate strategies for counting, comparing, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing whole numbers. The number line can be labeled with multiples of any whole number from 1 to 100.
2. The divider is an online game that helps students link division and multiplication using array models. 


THE TEXTBOOK SUMMERY
  • Teaching division has traditionally taken a large proportion of time in the primary school curriculum. Now with the increased use of calculators, many educators advocate reducing that attention accorded to it. Nevertheless, children still need an understanding of the division process and division facts. The facts help them to respond quickly to simple division situations and to better understand division and its relationship to multiplication. 
  • Just as 'think addition' is an important strategy for subtraction, 'think multiplication' is the primary thinking strategy to aid children in understanding and recalling the division facts. Division is the inverse of multiplication; that is, in a division problem you are seeking an unknown factor when the product and some other factor are known. The multiplication table illustrates all the division facts; you simply read it differently.
  • Thinking strategies for division are more difficult for children to learn than the strategies for other operations. There is more to remember and regrouping is often necessary. However, 'think multiplication' is an extremely efficient strategy for division which avoids the difficulties that other division strategies involve.  
THE TEXTBOOK SUMMERY
ACU,. (2016). Learning Environment Online. Leo.acu.edu.au. Retrieved 3 March 2016, from http://leo.acu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=18458

Australia, E. (2016). Home - Scootle. Scootle.edu.au. Retrieved 3 April 2016, from https://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/p/home

Australian government,. (2016). Home - The Australian Curriculum v8.1.Australiancurriculum.edu.au. Retrieved 3 April 2016, from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/

Reys, Lindquist, Lambdin, Smith, Rogers, & Falle, et al. (2012). Helping children learn mathematics. Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons.

YouTube. (2016). Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 April 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/
Posted by at No comments:

Friday, 18 March 2016

WEEK 3 - MULTIPLICATION

THE BIG IDEAS
The first big idea this week surrounded the concept of multiplication (repeated addition) with an emphasis on the importance of understanding and successfully completing addition before beginning multiplication. This is important because the concept of addition is only extended for multiplication. This means that before you begin to teach students multiplication you must first assess their understanding of addition to ensure they have a solid foundation to build upon. 

 Secondly, unlike addition and subtraction their is only one 'type' of multiplication. However there are four different ways to display or model multiplication. These include:

  1. The set model - This is the most common multiplicative structure where you are dealing with a certain number of groups, all the same size. Both the number and the size of the groups are known but the total is unknown. An example of a question using the set model is: "There are three acorns on each of the two plates. How many altogether?"
  2. The array model - Area and arrays are typical examples of multiplicative structure. The area of any rectangle (in square units) can be found  either by covering the rectangle with unit squares and counting the all individually or by multiplying the width by the length. Similarly, in a rectangular array - an arrangement of discrete, countable objects - the total number of objects can be found by multiplying the number of rows by the number of objects in each row.
  3. Measurement model - The measurement model is used when dealing with measurement. An example of a question using this model is “I bought 4 hair ribbons each 2 metres long. How many metres of ribbon did I buy?” 
  4. Combination model - Combination models involve two factors representing the sizes of two different  sets and the product indicates how many different pairs of things that can be formed. An example of this is "I have 3 different coloured shirts and 2 different coloured pairs of trousers. How many different outfits can I make?" (Helping children learn mathematics, 2012)

Video: Multiplication as repeated addition
Video: Set model
Video: Array model
Video: Combinations model
THE MATHEMATICAL PROPERTIES
Null factor
When a number is multiplied by 0, the product will be 0
e.g. 3x0=0 and 0x3=0

Identity property
Any number multiplies by 1 remains the same
e.g.  3x1=3 and 1x3=3 

Commutative property
Also known as 'Turn arounds', this states that two numbers multiplied together have the same total no matter the order of the addends
e.g  3x4=12 and 4x3=12

Associative property
Used when multiplying three or more numbers together, it states that the problem can be solved out of sequence and still arrive at the correct total
e.g.  3x(4x5) is equal to (3x4)x5

Distributive property
Allows us to break up larger multiplication problems into smaller multiplication problems
e.g. 4x7 is equal to (4x5)+(4x2)


THE CONCEPT, SKILL, STRATEGIES AND SUPPORTING RESOURCES

Concept 
In multiplication, the concept is repeated addition. This concept can be taught using a set up as simple as pens in cups, gems in trays or acorns on plates - using a system such as this allows children to see the relationship between addition and multiplication as 3 x 3 is equal to 3 + 3 + 3. 




   

Skill
The ability to successfully complete repeated addition. This skill can be practiced using resources such as the ones suggested above and multiplication stories. Multiplication stories are stories that use multiplication throughout the plot of the book. Teachers can use this resource to allow children to practice the skill of multiplication in a way that seems new and exciting. 














Strategies 
For multiplication, there are four main strategies:

  1. Use counting (for 5x and 10x) - Using our hands, rods or MAB blocks to add groups of  5 or 10
  2. Think real world (for 0x and 1x) - Showing real world examples of '0 groups of' and '1 group of' to demonstrate
  3. Use doubles (for 2x, 4x and 8x) - similar to the addition strategy of doubles, for 2x the number is doubled, for 4x it is double doubled and 8x is double double doubled. 
  4. Build-up (for 3x and 6x) and build-down (for 9x) - For 3x, we build up from 2x (e.g. 3x3= 2x3+3), for 6x we build up from 5x (e.g. 6x3= 5x3+3) and for 9x we build-down for 10x (e.g. 9x3= 10x3-3). 
A resource to assist with the development of these strategies (particularly use doubles and build-up/build-down) with children is to use folding addition cards. These cards allow the teacher to demonstrate each strategy to the children.
THE LANGUAGE MODEL
The language model is used to display the relationship between the visual, verbal and symbolic elements of mathematics and forms 'stages' of learning. 

Student language - During student language, all language used should be familiar to the child and accompanied with familiar objects. This may vary depending on the 'story'. For example, 'There were three birds in three different trees. How many birds were there altogether?' in this story we may use an addition mat, toy birds, puppets, etc.
Materials language - At this stage, there is still no introduction of mathematical terms. The language is very similar to student language however the visuals used have become more abstract. For example, 'There are three counters in each of these three trays. How many counters altogether?'

Mathematics language - Moving away from 'stories', this stage introduces mathematical terms. For example, 'What does three multiplied by three equal?'

Symbolic language - This is the only stage where symbols (including symbolic numbers) are used. An example of a question from this stage would be '3 x 3 =' 





THE LANGUAGE MODEL FOR MULTIPLICATION
"The same sequence of experiences used for developing understanding of addition and subtraction - moving from concrete to pictorial to symbolic - should also be followed for multiplication and division. 


 THE MISCONCEPTION
  1. The student may have overspecialized his knowledge of multiplication and restricted it to “fact tests” or one particular problem format. If I was to come across this issue I would take the student back to the childrens' or materials language stage and give examples for all methods of multiplication. To avoid students overspecializing, I will ensure I am providing equal amounts of questions using each format.
  2. The student knows how to multiply but does not know when to multiply (other than because he was told to do so, or because the computation was written as a multiplication problem). This student may not understand the relationship between addition and multiplication and may benefit from spending more time and the childrens' or materials language stage with scaffolding and discussion. 

THE ACARA LINK
Addition is first introduced in year two. 
Strand: Number and Algebra
Substrand: Number and Place Value
Code: ACMNA031
Content descriptions: Recognise and represent multiplication as repeated addition, groups and arrays
Elaborations: 
  • representing array problems with available materials and explaining reasoning
  • visualising a group of objects as a unit and using this to calculate the number of objects in several identical groups
Scootle resource ideas:

  1. The array game is an online, interactive game that introduces children to the array model.
  2. The share and group biscuit factory is an online, interactive game that explores the relationship between multiplication and division at the childrens' language stage.
  3. The making arrays game is an online, interactive game that allows children to create arrays using the set number given.
Link: Australian curriculum - Year two
Link: The array game
Link: Share and group the biscuit factory
Link: Making arrays game

 THE RESOURCES AND IDEAS

  1. Pipe cleaner and beads - used for the set model. Each colour has a certain amount of beads (purple has two, green has three, etc). An example of a question where this resource can be used is finding four groups of three. A child would look for the pipe cleaners with three beads (green), pick up four pipe cleaners and count how many there are altogether. 
  2. Chocolate chip cookies - another resource used for the set model, felt circles or the "cookie" represent the group and felt "chocolate chips" represent the number in each group. So, four groups of three would be displayed as four cookies with three chips on each cookie. 
  3. Dice and a grid - used to introduce the array model, one die represents the rows and the other represents the columns which is then coloured in on the grid. The opposite can the be drawn to demonstrate the commutative nature of multiplication (for example, four rows of three and three rows of four).











THE TEXTBOOK SUMMERY
  • There are four distinct types of multiplicative structure:

  1. The set model - This is the most common multiplicative structure where you are dealing with a certain number of groups, all the same size. Both the number and the size of the groups are known but the total is unknown. An example of a question using the set model is: "There are three acorns on each of the two plates. How many altogether?".
  2. The array model - Area and arrays are typical examples of multiplicative structure. The area of any rectangle (in square units) can be found  either by covering the rectangle with unit squares and counting the all individually or by multiplying the width by the length. Similarly, in a rectangular array - an arrangement of discrete, countable objects - the total number of objects can be found by multiplying the number of rows by the number of objects in each row.
  3. Measurement model - The measurement model is used when dealing with measurement. An example of a question using this model is “I bought 4 hair ribbons each 2 metres long. How many metres of ribbon did I buy?” 
  4. Combination model - Combination models involve two factors representing the sizes of two different  sets and the product indicates how many different pairs of things that can be formed. An example of this is "I have 3 different coloured shirts and 2 different coloured pairs of trousers. How many different outfits can I make?" 
  • Before children tackle written strategies for multiplication, they must first have a firm grasp of place value, expanded notation and the distributive property. 
THE TEXTBOOK SUMMERY
ACU,. (2016). Learning Environment Online. Leo.acu.edu.au. Retrieved 3 March 2016, from http://leo.acu.edu.au/course/view.php?id=18458

Australia, E. (2016). Home - Scootle. Scootle.edu.au. Retrieved 3 April 2016, from https://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/p/home

Australian government,. (2016). Home - The Australian Curriculum v8.1.Australiancurriculum.edu.au. Retrieved 3 April 2016, from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/

Reys, Lindquist, Lambdin, Smith, Rogers, & Falle, et al. (2012). Helping children learn mathematics. Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons.

YouTube. (2016). Youtube.com. Retrieved 3 April 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)