Math Toolbox

STUDENTS AS TEACHERS If you have a suggestion for a video to help parents and students learn a

CCSS conceptually, please contact your math specialist.

NCTM Article: www.nctm.org

Math Empowers3 Middletown Board of Education

THIRD GRADE SEPT./OCT. 2014

WARN!NG S!GNS! “Recognize three common instructional moves that are

generally followed by taking over children’s thinking”

Attached is an article from NCTM that focuses on engaging students in rich and meaningful problem solving as depicted in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics without leading them towards the answer. Students must be given the opportunity to explore their own ways of reasoning and understanding, not mimic their teacher’s thinking. How do teachers support and extend their students’ thinking while watching them struggle? The table below highlights the warning signs that you are thinking for your students and the article extends on these warning signs with examples of student-teacher interactions.

GO Math! Resources

GO Math! Support Bar Model (Thinking Blocks)

On the iPad or online, students can use interactive Thinking Blocks to model number relationships similar to strategy used in Go Math! Students explore part-part-whole situations that can be solved with addition and subtraction, which later can be applied to multiplication and division. Use the modeling tool on the website for real-world problem solving scenarios. Download the free iPad app or visit:

Problems of the Month

As you know, we are supplementing our GO Math! curriculum with the “Problems of the Month” from Inside Mathematics in order to increase rigor as we prepare students to take the PARCC assessment this school year. Our first Problem of the Month is titled “Tri-Triangles.” It has five levels of complexity and you should start your students at level A then challenge them to go as far as their understanding and skills will take them as they continue to work through the following levels. Remember the purpose of this problem-solving activity is to allow your students to struggle and develop perseverance, which is essential to their learning. As a facilitator of Problems of the Month, it is essential not to lead but rather to guide by posing clarifying questions and questions that require the students to reflect on their work. A good method is to have students share processes they have tried. It is important they learn how to share thinking without sharing answers. Be careful not to emphasize one solution method over another as students share their ideas. Students should share complete solutions only at the conclusion of the problem solving activity. See the attached documents for more information on “Problems of the Month”.

www.mathplayground.com/thinkingblocks.html

MATH TALK: Check  out  the  “Math  Talk”  sections  in  your  GO  Math!  Textbook  as  well  as  the  interactive  white  boards!    Some  of  the  suggested  questions  make  a  great  springboard  for  a  Number  Talk.   QR CODE: Show your class how to scan the QR code with an app on your phone or tablet to open the “On the Spot Video” aligned. Most codes are found in the “On Your Own” section of Go Math! Download a QR reader in the App Store for free.