Reflect:
- Video Link: Part 3: Math Experiences that Build Fluency
- Spend some time looking at the Number Routines, Fluency, and Differentiation Pages of our Math Sites. Think about which math games and math experiences help to build math fluency. Here are the links:
- What math games are your favorites for building math fluency? (Remember fluency is more than just fast & accurate. Fluency also means FLEXIBLE).
- What strategies do you use for building number sense in kids?
- What caused you to pause and think during this video?
Respond:
After watching the video and exploring our Math Site, please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above.
Interact:
Read your colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight, or interesting possibility.
I am really enjoying these videos. Definitely a great way to pause and reflect. I really enjoy math games as well! I notice sometimes as the math gets more complicated, it can be a little harder to build it in to classic games we play, but if I am intentional, there are ways. I like using Shut the Box, Bingo, among others. I also really like doing fun activities as a class. For example, tomorrow, I am doing something like what she mentioned. I am having them convert a recipe (converting fractions to the least common denominator). Then, we are making the recipe! I find that these “real world” connections make math fun and feel more meaningful. I think the part that caused me to pause and think most was the part about the textbook more being a guide. Sometimes this can feel tricky because we have a lot of standards we are supposed to teach, common assessments to give, etc… We also are provided with a curriculum to teach that with. While I do use the other resources on the site and enjoy them, it can take A LOT of work/time to do both use the curriculum as a tool and then build all your lessons with the other games/manipulatives/etc… Especially when they are not directly called out in the lesson/pacing guide. I think it can be overwhelming as an elementary teacher to try to balance 5+ subjects and recreating curriculum to make it innovative in each subject.
ReplyDeleteIt's never been harder to be an elementary teacher, Michelle! Trying to feel skilled at all content areas while successfully dealing with all the other things that take a teacher's time, thoughts and energy is so exhausting. Please don't feel like you need to use everything on the math sites, but also don't feel locked into teaching the curriculum page by page. Creating experiences where students are making meaning of the math by talking about it and engaging in some productive struggle (whether in the curriculum, in a math routine, or within a rich task) is what is important!
DeleteOne of the strategies that I already use for building fluency is games. in Kindergarten we have to make EVEYTHING fun or we lose their attentions so quickly. Even playing chutes and ladders during free choice is an easy way for me to sneak in those number relationships, especially with bigger numbers up to 100. I don't use much of estimation in kindergarten but I always throw it in a few times during the year and it always cracks me up the guesses they come up with! Anything over 20 just seems like so much to them and their guesses instantly go to 100+. I see the value in using that to build number sense and will start to include more purposefully during the year.
ReplyDeleteI use some story problems, but not a ton. We can really only do story problems as a group because most cannot read them on their own, but I think a good challenge for me would be to try to include them more as a group problem solve during the year. I see a lot of value in talking it out as a group and hearing all the different ways we could solve it. That will be one of my goals this year!
I love this about kindergarten! Everything is so new and there is such a love for the manipulatives. I really didn't think about how challenging story problems would be in younger grades, but I love how you use other methods for getting them thinking. The games, visuals, and all of that are so powerful!
ReplyDelete