I like to blame things on the weather because it doesn't make logical sense. I should probably do more research into weather and how it affects human behavior, but the flip flop weather change from yesterday's 65 degrees to today's snow flurries and wind chill are to blame for the odd student behaviors I saw today at tutoring.
In my 5th grade class today, we worked on an assessment work packet with multi-digit division and multiplication problems. The kids were supposed to do most if not all of the work by themselves. After a lot of stalling and seating changes, we finally got down to the work.
As usual, my two more self-motivated students breezed through the packet and only needed to review what factors were. Surprisingly, the other girl in my group wasn't being distracting and worked very hard on her packet. She managed to get ahead of me in our worksheets! Usually it takes a lot of pleading and bargaining to get her to focus enough to work, but she was a superstar today.
My other two students in the group usually have lots of attention issues. The newest addition to our group is very capable of doing work, but he really like distractions and being the distraction for other students in the group. I used a much more serious tone with him today in getting him to stop messing around and to do his work. My last student spent a lot of time goofing off in the beginning of the session and finished last today. It's so frustrating to know that all of these kids are very capable of doing their work, but when put together in a small group, they lose all focus.
On a more positive note: I got a welcome to class hug and teased during my time with the 5th graders.
The 3rd graders were working on patterns, counting color cubes, and deriving an easy way to count certain numbers of cubes. I was working with a few students, but one student in particular just didn't get it. I got pretty frustrated with her, but we slogged through and did our best. One moment she understood and the next she completely regressed and started guessing randomly. I'll work on being more patient next time.
My 3rd grade positive note: the 3rd grade teacher said that I was a big help during math because I could help some of the students while she was focusing on the other students in the class.
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P.S. I finally beat the computer on Ker-Splash! After a few dozen games, I finally won.
x = 7
y = 10
Calculation Nation: 61x + 17y + 15 = 612
Math Rules: 32x + 52y + 39 = 783
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Showing posts with label multiplication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label multiplication. Show all posts
Friday, March 26, 2010
Computer math games
Calculation Nation a website our ED sent to the office. It has eight math games that are pretty challenging. I'd say it's targeted towards middle schoolers because some games involve fractions, factors, multiplication, strategic thinking, and some luck. I've been trying to beat the computer on Ker-Splash, and I haven't even gotten close!
Good luck and may the math be with you!
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Good luck and may the math be with you!
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Friday, March 5, 2010
Multiplication approaches
When I started volunteering in my fifth grade class, we had an exercise that says "Solve this equation in two different ways." I panicked because I had ever only learned one way - the standard algorithm for multiplication.
Luckily, I've been working on enough multiplication tables now that I have a variety of ways to solve multiplication problems! It's great, my students have taught me a thing or two. I'll go over some different ways of multiplying that don't require a good knowledge of DDR.
1) Adding
Yes, it's not the preferred method of multiplication at the 5th grade level, but every once in a while, it may work. I would suggest you convince your students that it's not the most efficient way to do multiplication, especially if you're doing anything higher than one digit multiplication.
2) Partial sums
I've touched on this in my Greg Tang posts, but we can work through this method here. I actually really like this method and I think it works well for smaller two digit multiplication.
To do partial sums, you use several "easy" products and sum them all up to get to the answer. In the case of 83 x 24:
83 x 10 = 830
83 x 10 = 830
83 x 4 = 332
830 + 830 + 332 = 1992
Easy, no?
3) The array
I actually really enjoy this method as well. It's a more involved method of partial sums, but the visual aspect of it helps some students more than others.
You set up by making a box and separating the tens and ones. Multiply through and put your answers in the boxes. Then add everything up.
Make sure you get your students to check their zeros when multiplying the tens. Ask them how many zeros you start with and how many are in the answer. It will help with their self checking later on.
So there you have it, four methods to solving a multiplication problem!
On a side note: leave it to the fifth graders to call me out on my doofy haircut. And I got the most adorable chorus of "Hi Ms. Minh" again when I came into the 3rd grade class. They. are. so. cute. I don't think it'll wear off anytime soon. I hope it doesn't.
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Luckily, I've been working on enough multiplication tables now that I have a variety of ways to solve multiplication problems! It's great, my students have taught me a thing or two. I'll go over some different ways of multiplying that don't require a good knowledge of DDR.
1) Adding
Yes, it's not the preferred method of multiplication at the 5th grade level, but every once in a while, it may work. I would suggest you convince your students that it's not the most efficient way to do multiplication, especially if you're doing anything higher than one digit multiplication.
2) Partial sums
I've touched on this in my Greg Tang posts, but we can work through this method here. I actually really like this method and I think it works well for smaller two digit multiplication.
To do partial sums, you use several "easy" products and sum them all up to get to the answer. In the case of 83 x 24:
83 x 10 = 830
83 x 10 = 830
83 x 4 = 332
830 + 830 + 332 = 1992
Easy, no?
3) The array
I actually really enjoy this method as well. It's a more involved method of partial sums, but the visual aspect of it helps some students more than others.
You set up by making a box and separating the tens and ones. Multiply through and put your answers in the boxes. Then add everything up.
Make sure you get your students to check their zeros when multiplying the tens. Ask them how many zeros you start with and how many are in the answer. It will help with their self checking later on.
So there you have it, four methods to solving a multiplication problem!
On a side note: leave it to the fifth graders to call me out on my doofy haircut. And I got the most adorable chorus of "Hi Ms. Minh" again when I came into the 3rd grade class. They. are. so. cute. I don't think it'll wear off anytime soon. I hope it doesn't.
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Friday, February 26, 2010
Barf, tears, and crushes
I will apologize in advance for this post and the title, but if you read on, it sums up my tutoring today very nicely.
I had the opportunity to help in another classroom today, a 3rd grade Sheltered English Instruction (SEI) class with roughly 20 squirmy third graders doing multiplication word problems. I got a warm welcome chorus of "Hi Ms. Minh!" from 20 eager and excitable children and a speed round of names to memorize in thirty minutes.
The teacher Ms. Ph had the students on the carpet and was asking word problems like "There are 8 dogs, each dog has 6 puppies. How many puppies are there?" and the students would have to repeat the equation and the answer.
No more than five minutes after I got the classroom, a student with some stomach virus threw up on the carpet and made a trail to the trashcan. I'm not even going to sugarcoat this one, it was naaaasty. Nasty.
I was surprised at how well the kids handled the situation though, most of them kept their focus and we continued on with the math. The students finished up with group work, and went back to their desks to do all class multiplication fact families. Ms. Ph would ask and write on the board:
11 x 12 =
To which the students were to compile the fact family:
11 x 12 = 132
12 x 11 = 132
132 / 12 = 11
132 / 11 = 12
I walked around and helped the students. I was about to say "This isn't how Math Rules! works" but I felt I would be more helpful by circulating the entire class and helping to check fact families, I let it go. The students were enthusiastic about math which was nice to see and experience. By circulating I got a good sense of which students needed help, which students wanted attention, and which students wanted someone to check over their answers.
At one point, another student came to inform my class they would have computer class instead of science (or something like that). This student unfortunately disrespected one of the students in my class, which upset her and she started crying. Which is not very nice at all. Ms. Ph handled the situation well, but the upset student wasn't ok. I stepped in and used a mentoring moment to tell the student that it was just probably because the offending student doesn't like herself very much that she has to put others down. I hope it made her feel better, but you can never really tell. I think I'll follow up next week with her. It's a shame because she seems like a very bright student and enjoyed doing math.
Math homework was given out, the students had to copy equations on a sheet of paper and bring back fact families. Two students who were sitting next to each other were bickering, and I asked them what was up as I was circulating. Each time I came by there were new developments. They were teasing each other:
"She punched me"
"He kicked my shin"
"She threw this piece of paper at my face, look what it did!"
I did not point out the fact that this probably means they liked each other, but it was incredibly adorable and amusing to say the least.
I'm extremely excited to be working in the class now, there's a lot of good math potential, positive energy, and interesting characters in this class. I'm looking forward to it.
Have a great weekend everyone!
.
I had the opportunity to help in another classroom today, a 3rd grade Sheltered English Instruction (SEI) class with roughly 20 squirmy third graders doing multiplication word problems. I got a warm welcome chorus of "Hi Ms. Minh!" from 20 eager and excitable children and a speed round of names to memorize in thirty minutes.
The teacher Ms. Ph had the students on the carpet and was asking word problems like "There are 8 dogs, each dog has 6 puppies. How many puppies are there?" and the students would have to repeat the equation and the answer.
No more than five minutes after I got the classroom, a student with some stomach virus threw up on the carpet and made a trail to the trashcan. I'm not even going to sugarcoat this one, it was naaaasty. Nasty.
I was surprised at how well the kids handled the situation though, most of them kept their focus and we continued on with the math. The students finished up with group work, and went back to their desks to do all class multiplication fact families. Ms. Ph would ask and write on the board:
11 x 12 =
To which the students were to compile the fact family:
11 x 12 = 132
12 x 11 = 132
132 / 12 = 11
132 / 11 = 12
I walked around and helped the students. I was about to say "This isn't how Math Rules! works" but I felt I would be more helpful by circulating the entire class and helping to check fact families, I let it go. The students were enthusiastic about math which was nice to see and experience. By circulating I got a good sense of which students needed help, which students wanted attention, and which students wanted someone to check over their answers.
At one point, another student came to inform my class they would have computer class instead of science (or something like that). This student unfortunately disrespected one of the students in my class, which upset her and she started crying. Which is not very nice at all. Ms. Ph handled the situation well, but the upset student wasn't ok. I stepped in and used a mentoring moment to tell the student that it was just probably because the offending student doesn't like herself very much that she has to put others down. I hope it made her feel better, but you can never really tell. I think I'll follow up next week with her. It's a shame because she seems like a very bright student and enjoyed doing math.
Math homework was given out, the students had to copy equations on a sheet of paper and bring back fact families. Two students who were sitting next to each other were bickering, and I asked them what was up as I was circulating. Each time I came by there were new developments. They were teasing each other:
"She punched me"
"He kicked my shin"
"She threw this piece of paper at my face, look what it did!"
I did not point out the fact that this probably means they liked each other, but it was incredibly adorable and amusing to say the least.
I'm extremely excited to be working in the class now, there's a lot of good math potential, positive energy, and interesting characters in this class. I'm looking forward to it.
Have a great weekend everyone!
.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Catching up
Hi there, I've been working on the logistics of the blog. I'm trying to get it cleaned up and ready to be put up for people to actually comment and give input.
Last Wednesday I went to two of my schools and worked with small groups again. I got a first hand experience of frustration and another experience of groups not working well together.
At my first school, small groups were reviewing for a quiz by doing Jeopardy-style team work problems on regular polygons. At first it was hard to insert myself into a group and assume that the kids knew what they were doing, but I found myself giving small hints that would prompt them along. Some of the groups responded well to my hints and I even challenged a group's answer. Asking them to clarify the question helped them see if their answer was right or wrong. The question was similar to: "Draw a quadrilateral that has four right angles." Asking the group "What's a right angle?" and "What has to happen with the lines for an angle to be a right angle?" are leading questions I asked them.
One group didn't work as well together as a group because none of the students were listening to each other. I tried to get them to listen to each other, but as the game progressed this group got more and more frustrated they weren't getting the right answers. It was certainly tough to convince them they just needed to keep trying and to work more as a team to get points. I tried positive reinforcement "You guys got this, you were close last time, just keep trying" but when it was time for me to leave, the group was still struggling.
Like I've said before, some competition is healthy for students to have something to work towards, but often, I wonder if competition is detrimental to learning.
At my second school, I was working with my small group of kids. We started off well, I asked them how things were going or if they had a good story to share. We jumped into unit reviews of multiplication and division. Some of the questions asked to show work for two approaches to the same problem. For example: "Solve two ways: 35 x 27"
Not being raised on different approaches to multiplication or division (long form was all I was taught) I had to rely on the students to help each other. Some of the students started with a box method that I suggested to the others, and I walked through long form multiplication and division for the kids. I would also like to argue that estimation is a valid solution for division.
One of my kids got really frustrated with a second solution for a division problem and shut down. I felt really bad that I couldn't get him to refocus on his work. I suggested he skip the problem and continue on to the next problem, but it took a quick word from his teacher to snap him out of it.
If anyone's reading this later on: suggestions?
Last Wednesday I went to two of my schools and worked with small groups again. I got a first hand experience of frustration and another experience of groups not working well together.
At my first school, small groups were reviewing for a quiz by doing Jeopardy-style team work problems on regular polygons. At first it was hard to insert myself into a group and assume that the kids knew what they were doing, but I found myself giving small hints that would prompt them along. Some of the groups responded well to my hints and I even challenged a group's answer. Asking them to clarify the question helped them see if their answer was right or wrong. The question was similar to: "Draw a quadrilateral that has four right angles." Asking the group "What's a right angle?" and "What has to happen with the lines for an angle to be a right angle?" are leading questions I asked them.
One group didn't work as well together as a group because none of the students were listening to each other. I tried to get them to listen to each other, but as the game progressed this group got more and more frustrated they weren't getting the right answers. It was certainly tough to convince them they just needed to keep trying and to work more as a team to get points. I tried positive reinforcement "You guys got this, you were close last time, just keep trying" but when it was time for me to leave, the group was still struggling.
Like I've said before, some competition is healthy for students to have something to work towards, but often, I wonder if competition is detrimental to learning.
At my second school, I was working with my small group of kids. We started off well, I asked them how things were going or if they had a good story to share. We jumped into unit reviews of multiplication and division. Some of the questions asked to show work for two approaches to the same problem. For example: "Solve two ways: 35 x 27"
Not being raised on different approaches to multiplication or division (long form was all I was taught) I had to rely on the students to help each other. Some of the students started with a box method that I suggested to the others, and I walked through long form multiplication and division for the kids. I would also like to argue that estimation is a valid solution for division.
One of my kids got really frustrated with a second solution for a division problem and shut down. I felt really bad that I couldn't get him to refocus on his work. I suggested he skip the problem and continue on to the next problem, but it took a quick word from his teacher to snap him out of it.
If anyone's reading this later on: suggestions?
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