Comments for Jackie Cooke's K-5 Math Blog

Comment on Math Motivation by Ann McMahon

Ann McMahon — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:32:25 +0000

I am a retired teacher and substitute about 4 or 5 times a month. Needless to say, I’ve been busy in May! For motivation when I substitute, I use a lot of personal stories that involve math. Students seem to enjoy the fact that you are willing to share a part of your personal life with them. I recently traveled to Italy and then to Greece on a cruise ship. I brought my camera and showed pictures on the TV set in the classroom. So I made up stories as we saw the slides. For example, I showed a dinner plate with a typical Italian meal and then a picture of the dining room on the ship. The math problem went like this: There are 2400 passengers on the ship. There are 8 people at a table and 100 tables in the dining room. What questions would you like to ask about this story? Soon students were making up their own math stories about my slides. Of course I have to admit that I’m subbing at the school I retired from, so there’s lots of motivation on my part and I know many of the students! Nevertheless, this time of year requires lots of creativity!

Comment on Another Question Around Computational Fluency by Jackie

Jackie — Tue, 04 May 2010 04:04:03 +0000

Hi Maggie,
Thanks for continuing the question. I hope other teachers will see this and respond. Here’s a great link to a video that speaks about this whole computational fluency issue. I’d highly recommend watching it. It’s only about 7 minutes so it’s not too demanding of your time. I imagine each district will have to decide this for themselves. Having been a child with poor motor coordination skills I’d fall on the side of “less is more”. If 50 problems at 3 minutes will give you close to that same 3-5 seconds per problem, why push for 100 problems. I’d love it if all kids could demonstrate fluency orally to take the coordination issue out of the equation and because you could ask a child what strategies he or she is using, but I know that isn’t practical with the large class sizes and amount of time spent doing individual reading checks like DRA.

Comment on Another Question Around Computational Fluency by Maggie Englund

Maggie Englund — Tue, 04 May 2010 03:19:20 +0000

Our report card committee is trying to come to terms with what constitutes fluency and proficiency for math facts to 20 in second grade. What do other districts do for assessment purposes for math facts in 2nd grade? I have heard everything from “no time tests” to “100 problems in 5 minutes, with 95% accuracy.” We are trying to establish some common assessments with a commonly agreed upon rubric for meeting or exceeding the standard. Any thoughts?

Comment on Another Question Around Computational Fluency by Karen Ashcraft

Karen Ashcraft — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 22:40:24 +0000

I have been using the program that Brent Freeman mentioned last April called Do the Math by Marilyn Burns. This program does teach kids strategies to solve problems using place value instead of counting by ones strategies. The materials are very visually based and help the students see the math as well as do the math. I believe some isolated lessons from her multiplication and division modules would benefit your students. It depends on what you have already tried. In her modules she uses multiple patterns, rectangle and number splitting, and the multiplication chart to help students in multiplication. All my students benefited from this exposure, but I work with 3rd and 4th graders. The modules might move too slow for 6th graders, but some lessons would really help. Also, Burns has a series of books with lessons on different areas of math. Some of the titles are Introducing Multiplication, Extending Multiplication, Introducing Division, Extending Division. I am moving to 5th and 6th grade Title I math next year, and I plan to use this series plus some of the lessons from the Do the Math modules. So, depending on what you have already tried with your students, these materials may be worth looking at.

Comment on Math Homework by Virginia Nelson

Virginia Nelson — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 01:44:39 +0000

Many immigrant families expect plenty of homework, even endless math fact drill pages. Families will use this homework to provide opportunities for older siblings to help younger siblings, and for parents to be able to participate in the children’s schooling. Math becomes more than math; it offers a tool for family togetherness. While parents express consternation about being unable to guide reading at home, they are excited about computation because no English is required.

So there are two ways in which teachers can assist their immigrant students in completing homework. First, Jackie’s idea about rewards for students who submit homework is excellent; it places the decision in the hands of the parents. I would encourage teachers to assure themselves that parents know what homework is available and how much their children are submitting.

Second, teachers have to be very sure that the homework is comprehensible Rule of thumb: Any page with a word on it becomes a word problem if no one in the home can read that word.

Comment on Another Question Around Computational Fluency by Jackie

Jackie — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:18:44 +0000

Yes, I believe computational fluency is a big part of developing mathematical proficiency. I like to use the analogy of thinking of math as a three-legged stool. Conceptual understanding, computational fluency, and application of math concepts to problem solving situations make up the three legs. So my answer to your second question would have to be to do both. First, I would want to do some in depth assessment to find out where the holes are that keep these students from developing fact strategies. My hunch is that they might need more work with understanding place value concepts. I would like to refer you back to the postings of April 2009 where we had a previous discussion around this topic. I'd especially call attention to Brent Freeman's comment found at http://teachertoteacher.com/Jackie/?p=65#comments. I would also integrate calculator use as an ongoing tool for checking accuracy, use the calculator constant to develop number pattern concepts, exploring how the remainder in a division problem relates to fractional and decimal equivalents, using it to solve higher level problem solving, etc.

Comment on Another Question Around Computational Fluency by Jennifer Merry

Jennifer Merry — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:10:54 +0000

Hi Jackie,

The students that Jim is referring to have a learning disability and/or ADHD. I referred him to ask you this question, but I think the above needs to be clarified. I’m also wondering if we should go back to the basics, and focus on calculuation skills or at this grade level (6th and higher), teach calculator skills. It seems that their calculation skills are not fluent. In comparing reading to math, I know that in reading teaching the basics and focusing on the fluency is important, so does this relate to math as well or do we just teach how to solve problems using the calculator?

Comment on Another Question Around Computational Fluency by Jackie

Jackie — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:52:32 +0000

This comment was sent to me via email but I thought the author made a good point that was worth attaching to this post so I’ve forwarded it for her.

Submitted on 2010/03/14 at 7:10pm
Virginia writes:
Do you believe that all of the students on an IEP have a disability? Too often we see English learners misidentified as students with a disability. Their placement in special education initiates a downward spiral in which they begin to operate like the students with whom they have been grouped. Were they to have the computational difficulties you observe, I believe the work you need to do with them differs greatly from that which you might undertake with the students who are legitimately on an IEP.

Comment on Math Interview Assessments by Jackie

Jackie — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:06:04 +0000

Thanks for sharing this with our math community, Karen. I think the more we all share what is working with our students, the better off we’ll all be. I’d love to hear from others about what they are finding as effective resources for intervention.

Comment on Math Interview Assessments by Karen Ashcraft

Karen Ashcraft — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:41:06 +0000

Hi everyone. I just wanted to comment on the Marilyn Burns materials for intervention. I used her addition, subtraction and now I am doing multiplication with kids in my school. I feel it is going very well. Today, one student said to me, ” I know why we are in your class. It is so we will stop counting by ones with our fingers, and use our strategies instead. I have learned some new strategies already.” Boy was that a great comment from a 4th grader. She is so right as Brent is. Too many of our programs only show kids how to deal in ones. When we show them ways to think in tens and hundreds, they understand our number system better, and use these strategies to solve problems. I see my students becoming more comfortable with math after just six weeks.