Teaching Strategies
Pre-launch
Before a new unit takes place, I like to use a strategy that is, in essence, a pre-assessment. I call it pre-launch with my students. (My school mascot is the Grissom Stars and we are named after Virgil “Gus” Grissom—consequently the space vernacular.) Students are presented with an initial set of tasks to determine their background knowledge and use of strategies. I have them cut out and paste the tasks presented in their notebook and then they proceed to work out the problem(s) individually using whatever strategy they think is appropriate to arrive at an answer. This pre-launch allows me to set the stage for our upcoming learning and to also assess their familiarity with or misconceptions about our study. Many times gifted students have mastered some content that is above their age/grade level peers, but they may have some misconceptions that need to be addressed, or a student may need more depth of exposure than provided by my original plan. This first day procedure gives me a chance to ensure that my unit is targeted to meet their academic needs and provides the structure for us as a learning cadre to pique interest in the topic. Students will also re-visit these same tasks later in the unit to use new-found strategies in solving the problems. A pre-launch is like the pre-launch in the space program, it assesses our course and ensures that the entire group of learners is on board ready to launch the unit.
Demonstrations
Many times demonstrations are relegated to science classrooms, but math lends itself to using hands-on manipulatives as well. During the course of this unit, both students and I will be engaging in using supplies from the kitchen to work on our estimation skills. I will start each segment, anchored to a picture book, with a demonstration using household food. These demonstrations will also help make the direct connection between these very large numbers and everyday life. It will also help them internalize that estimations need to be close to a real number and that choosing a range of appropriate answers is also necessary. (E.g. should this be to the nearest one hundred or the nearest one thousand?) I will discuss with students the number of significant digits required in their estimations and what order of magnitude is their estimate. The overall message should be that the order of magnitude is good, the first digit is great, and two correct leading digits is terrific (and perhaps lucky). This can be reinforced by the work with locating numbers on number lines, and probably also with the work with measuring cups.
Small and whole group discussions
Whoever is doing the most talking is doing the most learning. Discussions amongst students is a strong indicator of their level of understanding. When students are sharing with their peers or discussing in whole group how they arrived at an answer, all of the learners in the room, including the teacher, benefit from hearing. As Jo Boaler says, “Children should also be encouraged to ask questions of themselves and others.”(10) Students’ talks must be centered on explaining how they arrived at their answer. Small group and subsequently whole group discussions will allow all learners to “see” mathematical methods used and hear the reason backing up their use. This will give me an opportunity to hear how students are engaging with the content, see their strategy usage, untangle their misconceptions, or probe to go deeper into making connections to other concepts. Some specific prompts that I may use are:
- How did you think about the problem?
- Why did you do it that way?
- Can you think of another way to do the problem?
- How do the two ways relate?
- What could you change about the problem to make it simpler or easier?
Having students talk throughout the course of the unit will deepen their knowledge and strengthen their number sense. This will contribute to their abilities moving into other areas of math instruction.
Note-booking
The format that I will use will be an interactive format. Students will use their notebook each day to keep track of our pre-launch activities, work on demonstrations, as well as the problem-solving component of this unit. Students will be encouraged to represent all of these activities in ways that make sense to them. They can use drawings, problems, words, or any combination of the above items. This allows them to refer back to their own notes throughout the unit. It can also help them discover patterns in our activities and connections between the larger themes. The interactive portion will be where students will save space at the bottom of each page for me (approximately one pinky length measuring up from bottom of the page) to jot down questions, ideas or notes to them on a weekly basis. I pick up the notebooks a few times per week to look through their notations. I use this discovery time to assist me in planning for our next steps, and to ensure that I am not leaving any students behind in their understandings. Note-booking is also a simple way to share with parents the path of learning that their child is on at the present time. It is a built in record of their interaction with the content and a way to teach students to take notes for themselves. Taking notes is listed as a key strategy for positively impacting student learning in Building Academic Vocabulary. I can also use the note-booking to have direct instruction in note-taking and organization of those notes.
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