1.

Reciprocal Teaching/Cooperative Learning

Bag a Problem: Each pair receives an envelope with a word problem taped to the front. The pair solves the problem and places the solution in the envelope. When a pair finishes, students find another pair that is also finished and trade problems. When time is up, pairs open the envelopes they have in front of them, take the solutions out, and compare the strategies and solutions. Pairs may share the varied solutions wit the class.
Think-Write-Pair Share: Ask students to first think about your question; after a brief think time, ask students to write their answers (e.g., a list of items that might weigh one pound or a list of polygons). Next, have students combine their lists with their partners lists. Then provide time for some whole-class sharing. Writing their own list of answer ensures that all students are engaged in the task and allows you to monitor their thinking as you move throughout the classroom. Writing makes their thinking visible! A few suggestions: What ways could you make 15 cents? What did you learn about fractions today? What can you measure with a meter stick? When might you need to multiply? Mix and Match: Students are given two sets of index cards: one with answers and one with questions, or one with words and the other with definitions, or one with equations and the other with solutions. Students work with partners to match the correct cards. (E.g. pentagon matches a polygon with five sides and five angles 15 matches 11 +4). Numbered Heads: Students are grouped in teams of four and are numbered 1,2,3, and 4. The teacher poses a question or problem for the teams to solve. After work time, the teacher calls a number and that person must explain the answer or solution to the class. Only students with that number can respond and earn points for their team. The technique can be uses as a review session in which teams coach each other to learn material. This technique promotes collaboration and peer tutoring because team members recognize that all of them must understand the solution since they do not know who will be chosen to report for their group.

Student Teacher

Questioning: What are you doing now? Why? Do you know what ___________ is? How did you get ______? Whats the problem asking us to find out? How do you know the answer is correct? How do you explain that? Did you do it differently than me? How did you use that formula? Is there an easier way? Could you draw me a picture to show ____________? How did you get your answer? Questioning: Will Allisons plan work? Do you agree with Jason? Can you summarize what we learned? What are the key ideas? What do you think the answer would be if ________?

2. Story Telling
Show It: Use manipulatives during demonstrations to provide a visual as you explain ideas. There are a wide variety of transparent manipulatives that are perfect for demonstrations on an overhead project. Having them organized and close to the projector so that they are available for spontaneous demonstrations is important. Slow It Down: Allow sufficient wait time (3-5 seconds) after asking questions. The quality of answers improves and the quantity of students who respond increases with proper wait time. Be willing to wait for students to formulate ideas and give them time to finish their thoughts before commenting. Create Math Story Problems: After reading a literature story, students write and/or act out math problems tied to the story. Identify the math Ask the students to put themselves in the position of the character in the story: What math did the character need to know? Why? Act out the story using manipulatives: o Grandfather Tangs Story by Ann Tompert o Monster Math by Grace Maccarone o Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst Pose comprehension questions: Continue the investigation: o Using the stories theme, present students with an investigation to further explore it. McSquares and the McTriangles by Marilyn Burns Write a similar story and act it out.

3. Metaphor/Analogy
Analogies: Simple analogies challenge students to test their thinking. Posing some analogies and then asking them to discuss their answers with a partner will give students opportunities to talk about the connections between words and the subtleties of word meanings. Addition is to sum as subtraction is to ________________. Five is to pentagon as ________ is to octagon. Inch is to mile as _______ is to kilometer. Degree is to temperature as pound is to ___________.

Use Metaphor to Understand Large Numbers Draw a line approximately 4 inches long. o Label the left end of the line one million. o Label the right end of the line one trillion. o Mark a mark on the line indicating where 6 billion, 200 million would fall. o Give students the following metaphor: If we had 10,000 dollar bills and we stacked them one million dollars = approximately 4 inches. One billion dollars = 300 feet or about 1 block; One trillion dollars = 63 miles.

4. Simulations/Role Playing
Body Counts: As students develop number sense, an important building block is for students to understand the relative magnitude of numbers. In Body Counts students use their bodies to express the size of different numbers. This uses many of their learning modalities, including kinesthetic, auditory, and visual to reinforce learning. Probability Ties: Students use situations from the real world and stories/movies to explore probability on a number line from 0 to 1. Prior to the lesson, on a large sheets of paper write the following, one per page: -0 -1 - A tossed penny will land on tails. - You have type D blood. - It will rain in Kansas today. - The average (mean) age in this room is ___. - A card drawn from a deck is a heart. - You will live to be 100 years old. - You will miss a day of school this year. - The sun will rise in the east tomorrow. - People will eat turkey on Thanksgiving. Adding On a Number Line: Students develop the concept of adding and subtracting using a number line. Once students have a firm understanding of adding and subtracting positive numbers, older students can experience adding and subtracting integer numbers. The key is to remember that negative is the opposite of positive. Yarn Shapes: During this cooperative group exploration, teams of 4 - 6 students use a concrete object, a piece of string, to explore characteristics and properties of two-dimensional geometric shapes by making with string the geometric figure suggested by the teacher. Although naming shapes is important, it is even

more important for students to observe the characteristics of these shapes. These attributes should include: - the number of sides and vertices (corners) - parallel sides, equal or not equal sides. Step Right Up: Give students a set of ordered pairs to represent. When given a card, student steps right, then up to represent the location of the ordered pair. Give students many opportunities to practice the physical movement.

5. Reflect/Write/Review
Word Splash: After reading a prompt to the class, such as We have been studying geometric shapes, what are some vocabulary words we have learned?, ask students to suggest some words that might appear in their written response. Record a few vocabulary words on the board. As students construct their written responses, they can use the words splashed on the board. This technique helps students focus on the key vocabulary as they develop their responses. Is He Right?: Teacher creates problems in which the answer of a student is also given. The students goal is to justify/disprove the students answer. This can be done in writing or in presentation. Convince Me: Many times students are asked to justify their math solutions. In doing so, they must come up with supporting information, math data and or logical reasoning to prove the correctness of their answers of their thought processes. Justifications should convince the reader that the answer is correct or that the method is appropriate. Pose problems for students to solve and ask them to convince you of their answers. There are tremendous benefits to doing this orally because all students are able to hear your comments as you ask for more detail. What is the correct answer to this problem? Convince me! Which is greater 2 feet or 2/3 of a yard? Convince me! Which is greater: the number of sides on a hexagon or the number of angles on a pentagon? Convince me! Which is the best buy: 5 CDs for $25, 3 CDs for $10, or 10 CDs for $43? Convince me! Pinch Cards: All-pupil review technique in which each student is given and index card that displays grade-level appropriate operation signs, ABCD, 1234, etc. The teacher poses a word problem and students pinch the part of the card that indicates the operation that should be used to solve the problem. This process provides teachers with a quick check on students understanding.

Writing Tasks: Illustrate (and label) a Problem or Concept: Draw more than 3 kites. Write the number to show how many are in your picture. Draw a picture to show 12 + 5 = 17 Illustrate area and perimeter. Draw a picture to show the difference between 3 tens and three tenths. Give Examples/Make Lists: List numbers that are less than 1,000 List things you could measure with a ruler. Give examples of times when you might need to know how to count money. List things that are packaged in a cylinder. Make a list of things about 5 cm long. Write a Word Problem: Write a story to go with this picture (choose from pictures in a piece of literature, a newspaper, or a magazine) Write a problem that can be solved using this equation: 4 x 12 = 48 Write a problem that can be solved using multiplication. Predict/Estimate an Answer or Outcome: Predict how many paper clips will fit from one end to the other end of your desk. Why did you predict that number? Estimate the average (mean) age of children who are 9, 11, 12, 16, and 17. Explain your estimate. Predict the most frequently used letter of the alphabet. Explain your prediction. Describe/Define: Describe how to find the area of a triangle. What is a pattern? What is surface area? Explain a Process: Explain how to tell time. Imagine you are buying new carpeting for your room. Explain how you will figure out how much carpeting to buy. Compare/Contrast Concepts, Processes, or Solutions:

 How are fractions and decimals alike? How are they different? Compare/contrast a square and a triangle. How are a penny and a nickel alike? How are the different? Justify a Process or Solution: Would a dog be 2 feet tall or 20 feet tall? Justify your answer. Why is repeated subtraction another name for division? Why do we need 0 in the number system? Which problem-solving strategy did you use to solve this problem? Why did you choose this strategy? Reflect on Learning: What was difficult/easy about todays activity? During todays math lesson, I felt What can you do today that you couldnt do yesterday? Today I made this mistake I learned

6. Rhythm, Rhyme, Music and Rap

Buzz: This multiplication activity is played aloud with the whole class or in a small group. The teacher states a number and students begin to count off, each saying one number; however, they cannot say any number that is a multiple of the number stated by the teacher. When there is a multiple, the student must say buzz (E.g. 1, 2, buzz, 4, 5, buzz, etc.) Students continue in a round robin format. Bizz Buzz: When students are getting proficient at Buzz, the teacher adds another multiple and students must say bizz for that one. If the number is a multiple of both, the student would say bizz, buzz. Writing Music: There are several patterns in music. In Writing Music we use those patterns to explore, extend, and identify repeating patterns. Students use their own creative minds to create music that can then be played using musical instruments. Ron Brown Math Songs:

http://www.songsforteaching.com/mathsongs.htm
Play appropriate classical, jazz, or another type of calming music as participants enter the classroom. Participants march around the room to high-energy, fast-paced music. When the music stops, each participant recalls one major concept covered in the minilecture and discusses it with the person standing in close proximity.

8. Projects and Problem-Based Learning

The Toothpick Problem: Give each pair of students four toothpicks. Students determine all the different ways the four toothpicks can be put together. The criteria is that any angles are right angles and that toothpicks must touch end to end. 2. Give students ample amount of time to find the 16 different ways. Students record on dot paper all the solutions, one solution per grid. Group Projects: http://www.wested.org/pblnet/other_gp.html http://ozpk.tripod.com/pbl.html

http://web.mac.com/khoneycuttessdack/Kevin/21st_Century_Collabora tive_Projects.html http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/school/group_projects.html http://kids.discovery.com/ http://www.sustainableliving.com.au/getinvolved/pastwinners http://www.lhup.edu/dtyson/math_group_project.htm

The Diversity of Cultures in the United States and the Presence of Media Forces The project was designed to help students think critically about media, understand the relationship between media and culture, and identify the characteristics of subcultures.

How do members of a given subculture find meaning in life? What are their values and fears? Given that knowledge, how could government policy-makers, the media, and advertisers successfully manipulate the subculture?

Real World Geometry This is a different way of investigating math - not just with numbers and facts, but by creating an imaginative, informative, interactive geometry journal that will give students a new appreciation for the fascinating and innumerable applications of geometry in the world around them.

Addresses 7th - 8th grade standards in Geometry, Language Arts, Visual Arts, Social Science, and Technology. Student Information Catalog A small hall catalog listing each individual's major, interests, and personal data may be used to involved the withdrawn or shy students in hall programs.

"Design a Museum" at your school This is a favorite activity in many schools that combines research, history, social studies, and the arts, as well as involving a major public exhibition element. A particular school-wide theme may be selected for the year, thus enabling participation across different classes and grades. This project may be combined with a local history fair, folktales, art, archeology, dinosaurs, technology, or many other topics. The Up to Par Project
Students work in groups to design a hold for a miniature golf course. Each hold had to allow for a hole-in-one, which was constructed using a compass and the law of reflection. This project takes a hands-on approach to learning by having students experiment with a ball bouncing off of a wall, make observations about the rebound of the ball, and formulate a conclusion about the angle at which the ball leaves.

How can we design a miniature golf course and construct the path for a hole-in-one using reflections and angle measurements?

Visuals/Graphic Organizers
Vocabulary Posters (Math Wall): Students are each assigned a vocabulary word. They are to design a poster using the following guidelines: o 1. All posters must be done in color no pencil or blue ink. o 2. The vocabulary word must appear correctly spelled on the front of the poster. o 3. The dictionary definition of the word may NOT be directly stated on the poster. o 4. Characters on the poster may be conversing, giving an indirect definition. o 5. Computer drawings or artwork may be used as well as magazine and newspaper clippings. o 6. Posters will be presented orally in front of the class. Word Webs: In this easy to implement activity, students work in pairs of groups to brainstorm and record words related to a math term. For example the key word may be measurement. Younger students might add feet, yards, miles, pounds, ruler, scale and measuring cup. Older students might add volume, linear, thermometer, etc. Student then make a word web using the words they created by grouping and categorizing them. Word Boxes (Frayer Model): Students fold a piece of paper into four sections. Label each section: My definition, A real-world use, An illustration of what it is, and What it is NOT. Perceptual Judgment Measurement Tasks: Worthwhile measurement tasks: Indirect Comparisons: (optical illusions) Measuring Out: (when you cant imagine what that measurement looks like) Recipes or constructions (sewing/building) Broken ruler measurements Created Rulers used to make objects (giant inch) Manipulatives (Squares on a Geoboard) Worthwhile Tasks (tennis can task, wheelchair ramp, measurement olympics)

Scale Relationships (student in a doorway, designing a vacation) Vocabulary Practice (Mental Models, Graphic Organizers) Derived Formulas This website is a paid subscription site.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizers/math/

9. Mnemonics
Mnemonic instruction is a set of strategies designed to help students improve their memory of new information. It also links new information to prior knowledge through the use of visual and/or acoustic cues. These strategies have been proven effective with students at a wide range of ability levels and at all grade levels. Mnemonics are particularly helpful in teaching students with difficulties who have difficult recalling verbal and content-area information, as they are effective with any type of verbal content. 3 Basic Types: Keyword A keyword is a familiar word that sounds similar to the word or idea being taught. Dont Be Mean Fair Share Median Mode most Pegword Refers to a set of rhyming words that are used to represent numbers. Helpful when using information that needs to be in a certain order. Peg Word System to link and recall items in sequential order.

Letter Letter strategies include acronyms and acrostics. Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally Work in groups to create their own acronyms and acrostics, which will assist them in recalling course content.

10. Hands-On Activities

http://michellef.essdack.org/?q=node/6
Just Say No To Worksheets by Michelle Flaming

11/23/09 5:57 PM

Be Prepared: Organize group baskets or plastic bags with all the necessary supplies for the activity. Assign a student in each group to pick up the basket or bag for the group. This student will also be responsible for returning the materials to a central classroom location after the activity and may be asked to inventory materials to be sure all have been returned. Have a Signal: Have a zero-noise signal (e.g. the flickering of classroom lights, a clapping pattern, and odd noise) to quiet students temporarily in case whole-class discussions or further directions are needed. Guard Against Mix Ups: Distribute materials so that students next to each other have different colors. Institute a Class Clean Up: Spend a few minutes at the end of that task having students help put manipulatives back in proper order for the next use. Organize It: Find a system to organize your classroom or school manipulatives so that they are readily available. Classroom teachers often store manipulatives in clear plastic bins or clear plastic bags so that the contents can be seen easily. Small pieces can be stored in tool or sewing boxes that have small compartments. Sticky Notes: Following manipulative tasks, many teachers jot down observations and ideas regarding manipulative use to guide the next manipulative investigations. Placing reminder sticky notes in your plan book, teachers

manual, or manipulative bags or containers will help you remember key management or activity ideas next time the manipulative is used.

11. Brainstorming and Discussion

Exploring Ideas: Conduct a class session with the major purpose of exploring ideas related to a course topic or having participants offer input into the course objectives and strategies for implementation. Students come prepared to generate questions for discussion prior to teacher or participate in dialogue related to the topic. Multiple Answers: Participants are given a question to which there may be multiple answers. They participate in a brainstorming session generating the multiple ideas. Class Assignment: Students work in groups to explain their answers to a class assignment as well as the method by which their answers derived. When answers very, students defend their answers until convinced to change them. Seasonal Partners: Students make dates with seasonal partners in the classroom; one date for each season of the year, winter, spring, summer, and fall. At four appropriate times during the class, partners discuss pertinent course content with a seasonal partner. Two Minutes And Counting: Students are given two minutes to brainstorm as many concepts as they can remember from a previous class session. They then compare their list with the list of one of their classmates. Each student receives one point for every concept recalled that is not on their partners list.

12. Drawing and Artwork

1/4 x 1/3 =

3 1/2 divided by 3/8 =

Singapore Math

13. Fieldtrips

14. Games

15. Technology
Computer Resources: Math Links from my page

http://michellef.essdack.org/?q=links http://del.icio.us/michellemath
BAIP

http://baip2.elearndesign.org/
Quick and Easy Calculator Activities: Counting Up or Back: Have students practice their counting skills by counting forward or backward from a designated number. Have them record their guess for the next number and then use the calculator to check the guess. For example: Start at 24, count by tens. Start at 4,678, count backwards by hundreds. Mystery Numbers: To work on patterning and number sense, have students skip-count using the constant function on the calculator and try to find the mystery number. Skip count by 30s I am between 130 and 160. My tens digit is 5 Skip count by 300s. I am greater than 4400. I am less than 5000. My hundreds digit is 5.

16. Maximizing Parent Involvement

Interactive Open House Parents can be engaged in playing games to review basic facts or use geoboards or other manipulatives. The activities will be fun and may give them insight into ways they might work with their children at home. Family Game Night Read Math Send home a list of childrens books that support the math ideas being explored in class. Encourage parents to read with their children and then discuss the math from the story. Math Backpacks Develop some take-home kits for students to check out for parent-child use. Backpacks should contain materials and directions for a hands-on activity. They might contain a small clock with moveable hands and some cards with various times for students to show on the clock, or a ruler and a list of items to estimate and then measure. Math Interviews Involve students in talking to their parents about the math they use each day at home and at work. Parents may be surprised at the many ways they use math, and students will gain insights into the applicability of the math they are learning. Math Websites for Parents See technology strategy

17. Problem Solving As the Focus of Math Instruction

At the fair, there are 36 children in line to ride the roller coaster. The roller coaster has 10 cars. Each car holds 4 children. How many children can sit 3 to a car, and how many have to sit 4 to a car? Solve in two different ways.

Personalize Your Problems CGI is a GREAT strategy for this approach Use real data from newspaper, travel brochures, menus, etc. Do Fewer Problems Assign fewer problems, but conduct thoughtful discussions. More discussion and reflection time is the key to developing problem solving skills. With less problems to do, students have opportunities to slow down, think through the situation, discuss options, and evaluate their thinking. Problem of the Week o Assign a problem of the week (POW). On Monday, review the problem and discuss necessary directions. Throughout the week students can work on the problem as they have time. On Friday, the class engages in discussion of the POW with students sharing various methods. You might chart the different ways that students solved the problem.

18. Singapore Math

8 Step Model Drawing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Read the entire problem Decide who is involved in the problem. Decide what is involved in the problem. Draw unit bars of equal length. Read each sentence, one at a time. Put the question mark in place. Work computation to the side or underneath Answer the question in a complete sentence

Addition Guided Practice: Kate read 2 books. She also read 3 magazines. How many books and magazines did she read altogether?

Alicia had $6 more than Bobby. If Bobby had $10, how much did they have altogether?

Try one on your Own: On Friday night my family picked 8 pumpkins. On Saturday we picked 12 more pumpkins. How many pumpkins did our family pick in those two days?

Subtraction Guided Practice: Mia had 14 baseball cards. She gave 5 away and kept the rest for herself. How many cards did Mia have left for herself?

Try one on your Own: Christine has $24 in her piggy bank. If she spends $8 on a gift, how much money will she have left in her piggy bank?

Multiplication Guided Practice:

Joe has 3 plates of cupcakes. There are 4 cupcakes on each plate. How many cupcakes does Joe have?

Try one on your Own: At lunch recess Karen passed out 3 times as many cookies as Vito did. If Vito passed out 35 cookies, how many cookies did they pass out altogether?

Guided Practice: Pedro purchased 5 shirts and 3 pairs of pants at the department store. All the shirts were the same price, and each pair of pants cost $1.20 more than each shirt. If Pedro spent $163.60 on all of the shirts and pants, how much did each shirt cost?

11/23/09 5:57 PM