Teaching Mathematics 4 Understanding: How they felt about this...

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

How they felt about this...

October 6^th, 2008

As a follow up activity to asking an open and closed ended tasks, I had my kids to reflect on the two problems I posed regarding comparing fractions and had them to explain which of the two they liked the most and which one they thought showed their thinking more. Most, 8 out of 10, said they preferred the first, open ended question as they could show me their thinking better and they understood it better. I thought this was interesting.

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References

Boaler, J. (2002). Experiencing school mathematics: traditional and reform approaches to teaching and their impact on student learning. Revised and Explanded Ed. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawerence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
Borgioli, G. M. (October 2008). Equity for English Language Learners in Mathematics Classrooms. Teaching Children Mathematics. 15,3. 185-191.
Chin, T., Goh, K., Lau, C., Liu, Y, et al. (2007) TIMSS 2007 Encyclopedia. A Guide to Mathematics. Singapore. [Electronic Version]. 537-550. Retrieved on October 7th, 2008 from http://timss.bc.edu/TIMSS2007/PDF/T07_Enc_V2.pdf.
Leatham, L. and Mewborn, D. (April 2005). Getting started with Open-ended assessment. [Electronic version]. Teaching Children Mathematics. April 2005, 413-419.
Mathematics Grade 6. A curriculum guide (interim edition) (2005). Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Department of Educaiton, Division of Program Development.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2005) Navigating through measurement in grades 3-5. Reston, Va. NCTM.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (2007). Navigating through problem solving and reasoning in grade 5. Reston, Va. NCTM.
National Council of teachers of Mathematics. (NCTM). (2000). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, Va.: NCTM
National Councul of Teachers of Mathematics. (2001). Navigating through algebra in Grades 3-5. Reston, Va. NCTM.
Neuschwander, c. (1998). Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream. A Mathemaical Story. Singapore:Marilyn Burns Education Associates.
Open-ended Assessment in Math. (2008). Retrieved October 7th, 2008 from http://books.heinemann.com/math/about_site.cfm
Small, M. (2008). Making math meaningful to canadian students, K-8. Toronto, Ontario: Nelson Education, Ltd.
Van de Walle, J. and Lovin, L. (2006) Teaching Student Centered Mathematics. Grade 3-5. Boston, Ma. Pearson Education, Inc.
Yee, F. (2008). Using short open-ended mathematics questions to promote thinking and understanding. Retrieved October 7th, 2008 from http://dipmat.math.unipa.it/~grim/SiFoong.PDF//

Welcome

Teaching math for understanding has been a challenge for many years and is a challenge that still exists today. How do you teach mathematics in a way where all students understand concepts and not just merely memorizing a procedure or skill? Teaching Math 4 Understanding is a project that was undertaken by a grad student of Memorial University, Elaina Johnson, which investigates teaching math through a problem-based approach, which has been touted as a method of teaching mathematics for understanding. This blog is a product of this project and will be used as a means of communicating and highlighting the ups and downs, the observations, significant finding and events of using this approach in a Grade Six classroom at Bishop White School in Port Rexton, Newfoundland.

Please note, the specific blog entries you will see here will not match the actual dates posted as the entries were entered after the dates indicated on the specific blog entry. This is due to the necessity of collecting data before any final product (the actual blog) could be created. It must be noted, however, the actual information within each posting is an accurate account of the processes, procedures, observations and findings that were completed at that time specified. It will be beneficial to the reader to begin reading the posts at the bottom of this blog, as the most recent entries are shown on top of the page.

Teaching Mathematics 4 Understanding

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

How they felt about this...

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