Overview
This curriculum unit deals with estimation. It is designed for the fifth grade Math (English as a Second Language) curriculum. It can also be modified for native speakers of English. The main parts of the unit are the following: place value and order of magnitude, relative place value expanded form in relation to rounding off numbers, using area models, and sampling to produce estimates. Benchmarks will be established throughout the year in order to help students meet the promotion standards.
Estimation will strengthen my teaching in mathematics and reading (literature), which are two subjects that I enjoy. Being a teacher in the upper elementary grade level, I like integrating mathematics with literature. Literature presents math concepts in a "friendly" way for my second language learners as well as the few native speakers in my class. When math and literature are combined, I feel that students learn better. Visuals such as pictures and graphs will improve students' understanding of a math concept. Once a math concept is introduced, finding the right book that my students can understand, enjoy and attract their interest will definitely get them hooked. I will also use interactive bulletin boards. I will make one of these for the Estimation unit. Using both mathematics literature and interactive bulletin boards will make teaching mathematical concepts easier.
Since my students have difficulty using their estimation skills in solving mathematical word problems in everyday situations and with their English language skills, I will incorporate the literature books: Take a Guess, Great Estimation, Greater Estimation, Betcha!, and One Million Dots which will enable them to grasp the different concepts of estimation.
I will use the book Take a Guess to introduce estimation. The students will understand that estimation is more than just "taking a guess". It is reasoning to find a useful estimation. I will be introducing estimation using the visual presentation of 10s, 100s, 1000s and 10,000s. The next book I will use is Great Estimations for guessing the order of magnitude of the number of objects in various pictures. The third key concept using the same book will compare pictures with the same order of magnitude. I will use Betcha! to introduce an estimation technique for arrays. It involves using the area (length × width). After that, I will connect Greater Estimations with Betcha! by using grids to think of an area as an array. Finally, the student will learn the expanded form of numbers and estimating relative sizes using single place components.
My estimation unit will be taught the first nine weeks (first quarter) of the school year to find out how much the new fifth graders learned in the previous grade. Then on the last nine weeks (fourth quarter) I will review the estimation concepts again to prepare them for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) standardize testing. The TAKS test will consist of some estimation word problems. The learning focus of my unit is on place value of whole numbers. Estimation will be taught in conjunction with the following key concepts: place value, representation of number and expanded notation, comparison, estimation, ordering, rounding and compatible numbers. I will teach the unit for two to three weeks incorporating it into the math curriculum. Estimation will be taught in compliance with the state standards. One of the main objectives in this unit will be for the students to model, read, write, compare, order, add and subtract whole numbers.
The math and reading (ESL) integration will include hands on activities for the students. They will engage in lessons that will incorporate the skills of estimating, calculating, and reasoning. They will do this through projects, stories, activities and games! Lastly, the fifth grade students will have enough knowledge to be successful on our state standardized math test. When given at the end of the year, the hope will be that all students will pass and in turn be promoted to the next grade level.
Comments: