The synonyms task I tried earlier this week was not as successful as I'd hoped. I had not anticipated two things: the learners misunderstanding the task and the learners not looking up the meanings of words they were unfamiliar with.
I still feel the vocabulary task would have been a valuable task for the learners to engage. Learners would be exposed to both the connections between everyday and mathematical vocabulary, and the nuances between synonyms such as trim and cut.
Ultimately, a positive is that the learners gained a stronger understanding of the meaning of the words addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. However these synonyms will most likely need to be revisited someday.
Saturday 31 March 2018
Tuesday 27 March 2018
Maths Synonyms
Bolstered by my mild success from the basic vocabulary lesson, I decided to try connecting the language of mathematical operations to everyday vocabulary they may already know. The idea was to also expand their vocabulary with related words they may not have already encountered.
In the lesson, learners focused on the core mathematical operations add, subtract, multiply, and divide. In groups, they used beans to demonstrate and explain the actions made by the operations.
The follow up task required learners to make videos demonstrating the meanings of the following words: sum, take, split, count up, remove, withdraw, total, cut, reduce, group, trim, share, tally, decrease. The words and videos were to be organised under the headings of the main operations.
In the lesson, learners focused on the core mathematical operations add, subtract, multiply, and divide. In groups, they used beans to demonstrate and explain the actions made by the operations.
The follow up task required learners to make videos demonstrating the meanings of the following words: sum, take, split, count up, remove, withdraw, total, cut, reduce, group, trim, share, tally, decrease. The words and videos were to be organised under the headings of the main operations.
Tuesday 20 March 2018
Find, Draw, Animate, Act - Maths version
After trying a lesson on the language of subtraction using word problems, I decided to get back to basics.
In this lesson I went back to understanding the vocabulary behind quantity, magnitude, position, and direction. In the lesson, learners looked at the difference between big and tall first, then after discussion, the difference between much and many. Listening to learner discussion, I confirmed that many holes in understanding some of the more basic concepts such as big/small, before/after, first/last.
The task to complete was a vocabulary tool I have used before in reading lessons called Find, Draw, Animate, Act. In this activity, learners complete different tasks to demonstrate the meaning of words they have just looked up. The task is normally an open task for learners to input any new words they have learned from a text, however in this case I deliberately input the maths vocabulary. Selecting the words and tasks the learners had to do for each word lowered the cognitive load, with the intention that learners focused on looking up the meanings of words.
Following are a copy of the learning slide and the list of vocabulary.
In this lesson I went back to understanding the vocabulary behind quantity, magnitude, position, and direction. In the lesson, learners looked at the difference between big and tall first, then after discussion, the difference between much and many. Listening to learner discussion, I confirmed that many holes in understanding some of the more basic concepts such as big/small, before/after, first/last.
The task to complete was a vocabulary tool I have used before in reading lessons called Find, Draw, Animate, Act. In this activity, learners complete different tasks to demonstrate the meaning of words they have just looked up. The task is normally an open task for learners to input any new words they have learned from a text, however in this case I deliberately input the maths vocabulary. Selecting the words and tasks the learners had to do for each word lowered the cognitive load, with the intention that learners focused on looking up the meanings of words.
Following are a copy of the learning slide and the list of vocabulary.
Saturday 17 March 2018
Subtraction language - reflection
The subtraction language task was a almost a dismal failure. Many of my learners were not able to unpack the language in the task. I will have to step back to more of the core concepts and build up language from there. I will also need to ensure tasks are explained and scaffolded better.
Tuesday 13 March 2018
Subtraction language
The first thing I tried for increasing vocabulary was looking at word problems and decoding/ unpacking the language of subtraction problems.
In the lesson, I used two simple word problems to unpack the language with learners. We worked through understanding what a given problem might look like physically by trying to comprehend the sentences.
For the follow up task (click here to view), I used a basic worksheet style task with mixed addition and subtraction problems. Learners had to cut and paste word problems into either the Addition table, or the Subtraction table depending on what they thought the problem was. Learners were then encouraged to solve the problems, but this was not set as a compulsory task because I wanted them to focus on understanding the problem rather than rushing in to try and solve it.
In the lesson, I used two simple word problems to unpack the language with learners. We worked through understanding what a given problem might look like physically by trying to comprehend the sentences.
For the follow up task (click here to view), I used a basic worksheet style task with mixed addition and subtraction problems. Learners had to cut and paste word problems into either the Addition table, or the Subtraction table depending on what they thought the problem was. Learners were then encouraged to solve the problems, but this was not set as a compulsory task because I wanted them to focus on understanding the problem rather than rushing in to try and solve it.
Saturday 10 March 2018
Target Students
My target students for this year are as follows:
What are their learning needs?
- Overall need for oral and numeracy language skills.
- Overall need to understand how situations translate into mathematical problems.
- Students A, B, and C require a lot of basic mathematical knowledge.
- Student D has some knowledge base, but difficulties understanding written problems.
What strategies and skills are most likely to help my students?
- Vocabulary lessons and activities.
- Hands on activities for:
- number sequence
- number bonds
- fractions
- counting in groups
- addition and subtraction strategies using materials
Tuesday 6 March 2018
Oral language activities
This resource for oral language was introduced to me to help with my inquiry into improving maths achievement through vocabulary and oral language development.
There are many strategies for developing confidence and ability in oral communication as well as developing listening comprehension. The strategies have their base in ESOL language support, making them relevant for the learners I will be teaching this year. Many of the learners I will teach maths this year have under developed oral language abilities or are ESOL due to their parents being immigrants to New Zealand themselves.
There are many strategies for developing confidence and ability in oral communication as well as developing listening comprehension. The strategies have their base in ESOL language support, making them relevant for the learners I will be teaching this year. Many of the learners I will teach maths this year have under developed oral language abilities or are ESOL due to their parents being immigrants to New Zealand themselves.
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