Tutoring sessions

The first tutoring session was intended to work on Ethan’s estimation skills. During the
diagnostic it was revealed that his estimations were rarely accurate. Booker et al., (2014)
suggests using everyday objects for measurement lessons when teaching primary
mathematics. Ethan was encouraged to search the house for objects that matched strips of
paper cut to lengths between 1cm and 30cm. He lined the strips up across the table,
beginning with the longest strip and ending with the shortest without being prompted, a
method he had also used in the diagnostic interview. Ethan then took the longest strip and
began comparing it to objects around the house. If he found an object was shorter than this
strip he took note and revisited it later with the next strip. He matched strips to curved
objects such as a banana (figure 1) or a puzzle piece, and objects that were not straight or
had been curled up, such as a belt or a folded up blanket. When questioned what would
have happened if these objects had been straight, he indicated that the result would have
been different, so he would not have selected them. He recognised that this would have
altered the results had he straightened the objects. Ethan is able to identify and compare
lengths of various objects. When measuring, he started at the top of each object and
ensured that it lined up evenly with the bottom before recording his results. This lesson is
linked to FSiM key understanding three ‘to measure something means to say how much of a
particular attribute it has’ (Department of Education WA b., 2013). Ethan organised the strips
into length from shortest to longest without prompting, and devised a plan to know which
object to measure next.

The focus of the second lesson and third sessions began working with formal and
information units (ACARA, n.d). Ethan was asked to measure 7 objects of his choice using
an informal measurement. Again, he estimated each object before measuring. With
assistance and guidance he was reminded to line the ruler up to achieve correct results.
Ethan chose to measure things that were usually less than 30 centimetres long. Key
understanding one; Different attributes may result in different orders (Department of
Education WA b., 2013). His estimations were still not accurate.

The third session began with a recap of how to correctly use a ruler to ensure Ethan had
remembered the process. He was given several different colours pieces of ribbon in different
lengths and asked to arrange them. Ethan first sorted the ribbons into colours then laid the
ribbons out and arranged them from shortest to longest. He explained that he had done this
in case he needed them for measuring. He wanted to know which ribbon was the longest,
and which was the shortest. He called the other ribbons the 'middle length' ribbons.
(ACARA) Ethan was asked to take the ribbons and find objects around the room which
cannot be easily moved and measure them with the ribbon. Again he began with the longest
and worked his way to the shortest. When he was done he complied this information in a
graph to compare lengths of objects around the house. He explained that the bathtub was
the same as the longest ribbon length ways, but only the same as the third shortest ribbon
height wise. Key understanding six; our choice of attribute and unit depends upon what we
are trying to measure and why. (Department of Education WA b., 2013).

Session four focused on string half a metre in length once Ethan became more confident in
measuring using a ruler. Ethan commented that he knew that 50cm is longer than a 30cm
ruler. He estimated beforehand which objects around his house would be roughly 50cm
based on prior tutoring sessions and writes his ideas down. Once complete he repeated the
process with a one metre length of string. Ethan remembered to secure the string at the
beginning of the object before measuring. He was able to find several objects around his
house and garden that fit the correct measurement. When he had finished measuring his
first object he requested to check his answers with a measuring tape to ensure he was
correct. He lined the measuring tape up to correctly measure one metre in centimetres. Key
unit seven Standard units help us to interpret, communicate and calculate measurements.
(Department of Education WA b., 2013)

Ethan had previously demonstrated that he knew that there was 50cm in a half metre and
100cm in a full metre. The fifth session was intended to gauge his knowledge on conversion.
It began with a game of ‘conversation snap’ Ethan was able to quickly convert the most
numbers and successfully won 2 out of 3 rounds. Ethan then working with the idea of
metres, was given two minutes to build a Lego structure of his choice using only 4 by 4
bricks (Figure 5). For the purpose of this task 1 Lego block is equal to 1 metre by 1 metre. At
the end of the 2 minutes Ethan filled out a chart documenting the height, length and width of
each structure in metres. He was able to correctly convert each structure. At the end of the
session Ethan requested to convert his results to centimetres.
Key understanding eight; the relationships between standard units in the metric system help
us to judge size, move between units and do calculations. (Department of Education WA b.,
2013)

The final session reviewed topics that had been covered in previous sessions. Ethan used
his body to discover how he could make one metre. Using some ideas from a video he had
watched about accurately converting centimetres to metres he decided to use his arms and
his feet to discover how long a metre is. He drew a metre line along a piece of paper then
walked beside this to count how many of his feet would make a metre. He used this to
measure the distance around his yard, his bedroom, the kitchen and doorways.

Each lesson ran for roughly 45 minutes. Encouraging Ethan to reflect on what has happened
during each lesson gave him time to question his processes, he was asked to consider his
choices during each session and give his thoughts on why it worked or why it didn’t work

(Jones, 2013). Using a combination of formal and informal units

of measurement throughout the tutoring sessions allowed Ethan to decide which
units to best apply to certain tasks. This gave him the opportunity to decide which materials
he felt would be best suited to each task. Brown et al. (1998 pp.55) states the value of
incorporating the same problem repeatedly. This repetition can allow the teacher to grasp a
deeper appreciation of the students understanding (Jones, 2013). The tasks were designed
to be hands on, and give Ethan the chance to manipulate the materials in order to achieve a
result. Yelland, Butler and Diezmann (1999) states that Mathematical understanding can be
developed through participation and play in everyday life. Having Ethan measure objects
around his own home and garden, and allowing him to pick which object from his world to
measure allowing him to connect his learning to real life experiences and lead to the further
development of mathematical concepts (Yelland, Butler & Diezmann, 1999).

Future tutoring
Ethan has met the achievement year 3 standard ACMMG061 set by ACARA and can
efficiently use age appropriate metric units when working with length (ACARA n.d). He
displayed competencies in FSiM key understandings (Department of Education WA b.
2013). He demonstrated knowledge, understanding and effective application of informal
units of measurement, and was able to accurately integrate both centimetres and metres into
his workings out. He is more confident in his ability, and ensues that his process and
estimations are well thought out and deliberate. Ethan’s Mathematical vocabulary
development includes understanding standard terminology such as long/ longer/ longest;
near/nearer/nearest.

If tutoring sessions were to continue Ethan would benefit from several lessons based on
measurement problem solving. Exploring the relationship between units and lengths and
units of area and selecting lessons that assist with extending Ethan’s ability to judge size
and do calculations as per FSiM key understandings 8 (Department of Education WA b.
2013), linking length with area and volume. Other options that may benefit is to incorporate
mathematics related resources such as story books or videos that link different learning
areas (Hightower, 1997).