Math Blog

Count Around the Circle

Northwest AEA — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:11:11 -0600

Count Around the Circle

Count Around the Circle is a number sense routine that is easy to implement. Jessica F. Shumway described how to establish the Count Around the Circle in her book Number Sense Routines: Numerical Numeracy Every Day in Grades K-3.

Students/Teacher stand in a circle and the teacher designates what will be counted by. At the beginning and in lower grades you can count by ones, fives, twos, threes, etc., starting at zero. Then move to starting at various points other than zero. Counting backwards, fractions, whole numbers, decimal numbers, mixed numbers, hundreds, and thousands are other ways to count as it progresses into older grades.

The fun part for the teacher is incorporating some estimation into the counting. Ask students questions like, “If we start counting by ones and go all the way around the circle, what number to you think we will say last?” (Do students make a connection with the number of people in the class?) or, Count by tens around the circle once, then ask, “If we go around again, what number will be said last?”

Teachers can also look at patterns. In this video from the Teaching Channel, https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-number-patterns?fd=1 this 3^rd grade teacher records the counting sequence (instead of counting in a circle) and the students look for patterns using number sense.

This is one of many number sense routines Jessica F. Shumway discusses in her book. There are also many great examples of lessons teaching the Iowa Core on the teaching channel. I encourage all teachers to check them out.

Common Core Progressions Documents

Northwest AEA — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 11:36:03 -0600

The authors of the Common Core State Standards in mathematics are in the process of writing progressions documents that will supplement the core standards. The progressions documents explain why standards are sequenced the way they are, point out cognitive difficulties and pedagogical solutions, and give more detail on particularly knotty areas of the mathematics.

The following is a quote from the Progressions for the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics: 3-5 Number and Operations-Fractions (draft):

“It is not necessary to find a least common denominator to calculate sums of fractions, and in fact the effort of finding a least common denominator is a distraction from understanding algorithms for adding fractions.”

(CSSWT, n.d., p. 10)

As we work to implement the Iowa Core in our classrooms we will be examining the standards and working to interpret their meaning and teach them accordingly and the Progressions documents act as a resource for the standards unpacking process. The question that teachers and districts need to ask themselves is, “Are the standards the floor or the ceiling of our expectations?”

An article regarding this was just published in the March 2013 edition of the Mathematics Teacher. Links to the article as well as the Progressions documents are provided below.

Progressions Documents: http://ime.math.arizona.edu/progressions/

Article Link: Least Common Denominators and the Common Core

Inestigating the Standards: Iowa Core Mathematics 2013-2014

Northwest AEA — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 11:26:25 -0600

Investigating the Standards:

Iowa Core Mathematics

2013-2014

What work have we done so far?

In the Spring, 2012, Northwest AEA offered several 1-day sessions called “Investigations” for K-12 math teachers in several locations. In the Fall, 2012, Northwest AEA again offered Investigations in two locations. This 1-day session was required for teachers to attend before they could come to the 2-day session called “Deeper Investigations”. Deeper Investigations was offered in the Winter and Spring of the current school year.

Same thing, different structure

Northwest AEA will continue to offer Investigating the Standards: Iowa Core Mathematics. However, it will now be a 3-day session instead of 1-day Investigations plus 2-day Deeper Investigations. In contrast to ELA, Mathematics only has 3 days of investigations. Once a teacher has attended this work, they will not need to attend again. If a teacher has already attended a 1-day Investigation either in the Spring or Fall, 2012, they will not need to come the first day but then will attend the second two days.

Schedule

K-5	First Sessions
9:00-3:30	Sioux Center	Sioux City
Day 1	Monday, November 18	Wednesday, November 20
Day 2	Monday, January 13	Wednesday, January 15
Day 3	Monday, February 3	Wednesday, February 5

6-8	First Sessions
9:00-3:30	Cherokee	Sioux City
Day 1	Monday, December 2	Tuesday, December 3
Day 2	Monday, January 20	Tuesday, January 21
Day 3	Monday, February 10	Tuesday, February 11

9-12	First Sessions
9:00-3:30	Cherokee	Sioux City
Day 1	Monday, November 11	Tuesday, November 12
Day 2	Monday, December 9	Tuesday, December 10
Day 3	Monday, January 27	Tuesday, January 28

K-5	Second Session
9:00-3:30	LeMars
Day 1	Wednesday, March 5
Day 2	Wednesday, April 2
Day 3	Wednesday, April 23

6-8	Second Session
9:00-3:30	LeMars
Day 1	Monday, March 3
Day 2	Monday, March 31
Day 3	TUESDAY, April 22

9-12	Second Session
9:00-3:30	LeMars
Day 1	Monday, February 24
Day 2	Monday, March 24
Day 3	Monday, April 28

Registration

Registrations will continue to go out to schools through the AEA Manager from Penni Kistner. Please read these messages carefully to help eliminate any confusion. Penni will also be sending out registration confirmations and reminders of materials you need.

Northwest AEA Math Team

Please contact any of the Math Team members with any questions:

Sue Chartier schartier@nwaea.org

Shari Collins scollins@nwaea.org

Steve McHugh smchugh@nwaea.org

Caroyln Smith casmith@nwaea.org

Janelle Schorg jschorg@nwaea.org

Resources to support Iowa Core Mathematics

Northwest AEA — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:22:57 -0600

·            Iowa Core Mathematics Support site

o   http://educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2118&Itemid=2761

·            Tools for the Common Core State Standards (Bill McCallum)

o   http://commoncoretools.me/tools/

·            Core Math Tools from NCTM (free software)

o   http://www.nctm.org/coremathtools

·            Illustrative Math Project

o   http://illustrativemathematics.org/

·            Inside Mathematics

o   http://www.insidemathematics.org/index.php

·            Mathematics Assessment Project

o   http://www.map.mathshell.org.uk/materials/index.php

·            Progressions Documents for the Common Core Math Standards

o   http://ime.math.arizona.edu/progressions/

·            Standards Insight Tool

o   Demo: http://misic.ia.standardsinsight.org/,user=IowaCore, pass=demo

o   District site: Go to your district site or get the information from your district.

·            Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium

o   http://www.smarterbalanced.org/

·            Leadership in Mathematics Education: Network – Communicate – Support – Motivate

o   http://www.mathedleadership.org/

Video Resources

·            Hunt Institute Videos

o   http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHuntInstitute

·            NYSED.gov Bringing the Core to Life Videos

o   http://usny.nysed.gov/rttt/resources/bringing-the-common-core-to-life.html

·             Teaching Channel Videos

o   https://www.teachingchannel.org/

Sixth grade Math Bee details

Northwest AEA — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:46:50 -0600

DATE:    January 8, 2013

TO:        6th Grade Math Teachers and Principals

FROM:    Janelle Schorg/ Math Consultant Educational Services

RE:        Northwest AEA 6th Grade Math Bee

The 6th Grade Math Bee will be held Wednesday, March 6, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at Northwest AEA in Sioux City. Parking lots are available at the rear and the north of the building. Or in the northern territory, it will be at at New Life Reformed Church, 232 16th Street SE, Sioux Center. Check with Janelle Schorg if you are not sure which site you should be at that day.

Each school district may enter at least one team of four students, plus an alternate (optional), per elementary or middle school building. It is possible for a team to compete with just three students or if you have only one or two students interested, they may participate in the individual competition.

After you have registered your teams and volunteers online you will receive a confirmation letter including your students, volunteers, and volunteer job for the day of the competition. We will need 18 checkers, 4 sorters and 2 proctors. All alternates will take the individual tests but scores will not count toward individual or team standing. The top four teams and individuals will receive trophies. The top 20 individuals will receive medals. The State Math Bee will be held May 3, 2013 in Fort Dodge.

Please register your teams starting at 8:30 a.m. and receive your packets including nametags for students and volunteers, programs, and participation certificates. At the conclusion of the competition you will receive an envelope with a clean copy of tests, answer key and students tests, you may pick them up in room G (Scoring Room). We will send you the results of the Math Bee electronically within a week.

In buildings where the 6th grade numbers 50 or more, additional teams may be entered in accordance with the table below with no more than three teams per school:

Building 6th Grade Population        # Teams Allowed

0 – 50        1 Team
51 – 100        2 Teams
101 – and up        3 Teams

Please remember the purpose of the Math Contest is to reward good math students. It is not meant to be a burden to students or teachers or to reflect on the math programs of participating schools. Teachers do not have to be present. Adults accompanying students may be asked to help with different jobs during the contest.

We will be doing the registration electronically again this year. To register your students go to: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDctN05kWmRhcm5rTnhtRTl5RzEwbVE6MA
If you have problems opening this link copy and paste the url into your browser.

If you have any questions, please contact Penni Kistner at 712-222-6083 or by email pkistner@nwaea.org

Faster Isn?t Smarter: Messages About Math, Teaching, and Learning in the 21st Century

Northwest AEA — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 10:38:00 -0600

"Ten Kinds of Wonderful" is a book excerpt from Faster Isn’t Smarter: Messages About Math, Teaching, and Learning in the 21st Century written by Cathy L Seeley. The article identifies ten metaphoric roles a math teacher plays in the classroom.

Critical thinking in Math

Northwest AEA — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:58:19 -0600

Essential to students' success in school and at work is their ability to think critically. Higher order thinking skills like problem solving, application, synthesis, and evaluation are vital to students' intellectual growth. Our expectation should be that students engage in high levels of cognitive work as often as possible. They should have multiple opportunities per class period to complete tasks that are cognitively demanding.

All levels of students can (and should) engage in critical thinking. Language deficiencies and limited knowledge of subject matter should not restrict students from this important work. Critical thinking is a vital component to 21st century skills and the foundation to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). In order to ready all student for college and careers, we need to teach them how to think on their own. We need our young learners to be responsible for making meaning. We need to push our students to the highest levels.

Here are some resources to help you in this process:

http://www.literacyta.com/critical-thinking

http://reading-sage.blogspot.com/2011/10/blooms-taxonomy-math-questions-stems.html

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.bisd.us/curriculum/04_high/HS%20Math/2006-2007%20apendix/Higher%20order%20thinking%20skill%20question%20stems.doc&sa=U&ei=s2GqULGVPIiHrAe2mYHwBQ&ved=0CAgQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNENzQF6z7aFoNB_IxA4z7T5klV7dQ

Take part in the Northwest Iowa Sumdog contest

Northwest AEA — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:36:40 -0600

Join the Northwest Iowa Sumdog contest beginning November 23rd. Registration is free and details can be found at http://www.sumdog.com/regions/ia.

Last year, over 5,000 schools took part in Sumdog's free math contests. Now they are working with educational professionals nationwide to run the largest series of contests the country has ever seen.

Also on Sumdog, students learn math by playing short games against classmates. Students work hard to earns coins to buy gear for their avatar. Games are not tied to specific topics, so students can practice a topic repeatedly without getting bored.

Smarter Balanced performance tasks released

Northwest AEA — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:35:07 -0600

On October 9, Smarter Balanced released sample items and performance tasks to help teachers, administrators, and policymakers implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and prepare for next-generation assessments. While the sample items and performance tasks are not intended to be used as practice tests, teachers can use them to begin planning the shifts in instruction that will be required to help students meet the demands of the new assessments. These sample items and performance tasks showcase the variety of item types being developed by Smarter Balanced, including technology-enhanced items that take advantage of computer administration. However, they represent only a small fraction of the more than 10,000 items and tasks currently in development to support the Pilot Test beginning in February 2013.

The sample items and performance tasks are displayed using a simulated test platform. This does not include accessibility tools and accommodations options that will be available when the assessments are administered to students in the 2014-15 school year—such as Braille, translation options, highlighter tools, and the ability to change font size or magnify portions of items. Smarter Balanced welcomes comment and feedback on the sample items and performance tasks. Educators and interested stakeholders can view and submit feedback on the sample items beginning October 9 online at the web address below.

http://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks/

First In Math

Northwest AEA — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:55:32 -0600

First In Math

Overview and Program Content

First In Math® Online
First In Math (FIM) offers comprehensive content—ranging from single-step addition to complex algebra—in an engaging format. Students progress at their own pace to master basic and advanced math skills. This dynamic online program encourages students to practice through IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK. "Game" activities ensure that students engage in active practice required for skill retention, and motivation is fueled by reinforcement in the form of electronic award stickers when students solve problems correctly. No penalties are levied for incorrect responses, and students become encouraged to take ownership of math learning and practice.

FIM employs a brain-based learning technique known as DEEP PRACTICE, where skills that normally take months of regular practice can be mastered in a matter of weeks, or even days. Along with rapid increases in computation, problem-solving, critical thinking, pattern recognition, and other math skills, this type of practice causes myelin to grow thicker around the axons in the brain. More myelin means greater retention of skills.

The program can be used 24/7 on any computer with Internet access. Students will advance at different rates, according to their individual skill levels, but ALL players should experience improvement in numerical fluency, and increased speed. Studies show that students who play the 24® game on a regular basis see measurable improvement in math skills. (See Case Studies)

Check out the Overview and Program Content found below. If you are interested in piloting First In Math in your school this year, please contact Shari Collins scollins@nwaea.org for more information.

Overview

First In Math® Online is a groundbreaking approach to technology education and is committed to constant improvement of the program. Many improvements and additions come directly from suggestions made by educators and students. If you have a comment, constructive criticism or idea that can make First In Math® Online even better we would love to hear from you. Use the Contact Us form to share your thoughts.

FIRST IN MATH complements any curriculum, in any learning environment. Studies show that use of the program for minutes a day—in the classroom or at home—can increase math success. The more children use it, the more their skills improve.

There is no software to install, games play on a PC or Mac, and new modules and updates are automatically available. The site offers broad content, with an open-ended, self-pacing design that is great for differentiated instruction.

Implementation is scalable; employ First In Math in one grade or an entire district with equal ease, and no extra load on teachers.

The program includes a “competition” component, which offers sustained, positive motivation. As students play, they earn award “stickers” that accrue to their personal and classroom score.

Program Content

The backbone of the First In Math® Online Program is the 24® GAME—a classroom staple since 1988. Online games range from Addition to multi-step Algebra, and are organized into SKILL SETS®. Each Skill Set is comprised of three sequential 24 Games, labeled 1, 2 and 3. Each game builds upon the skills acquired in previous games. more detail

A Pre-test/Post-test module called JUST THE FACTS records each student’s proficiency with basic facts, so you will never have to check another fact sheet! Includes assessment of each student’s skill improvement. more detail

Three KNOW & SHOW modules provide a unique way for students to experience the type of problems found in standardized tests. Students solve problems from nine categories that tie to national standards. more detail

WORKOUT GYMS build automaticity with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts, and progress to include fractions, decimals and integers. more detail

After completing certain Skill Set requirements, students can play BONUS GAMES. Serving as incentives that encourage students to continue to achieve, these games offer various types of skill-building activities, such as sequencing and working with tens. Bonus Games are targeted to skills students need to master at each grade level, based on national standards. more detail

MEASUREMENT WORLD showcases games and activities that focus on Money, Time, Length, Distance, Area, Volume and Weights. more detail