Summer Math Ideas

In Houston, the thermometer is already pushing 90 and it's beginning to feel a lot like summer.  I love the blog Mind Shift and first read this NY Times blog article on that site.  These are great ideas for summer OR sparks for ideas using current events during the year, especially after testing.  Enjoy!

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/these-days-are-numbered-eight-summer-math-ideas/

How Would You (or your class) Draw This?

David weighed 240 pounds on Earth and 40 pounds on the moon. How much would Steven weigh on the moon if he weighs 180 pounds on Earth?

This problem was presented to an 8th grade class.  I think model drawing makes it much more accessible to students in a lower grade.  Here's how I solved it!  

A Model Drawing Schedule

Model Drawing, also called Bar Modeling, is the most commonly used problem solving strategy in Singapore Math.  Our students struggled with it in the beginning.  When we reflected on our teaching, we decided they needed more practice with one model before we moved on.  This is a sample of what our schedule looked liked as our students became more successful.  I mention in this video that we wrote 10 versions of each problem.  In a two-week span, we used 6-7 of them.  The rest were saved to be review problems other weeks.

Working on Math Facts

Trying to solve problems without knowing your math facts is like trying to read for comprehension and having to sound out every word!  However, our kids need strategies to learn their facts and lots of games to practice them.  If we depend on flash cards and parents, it's not going to happen.  Here's how I teach kids to learn their facts...and as an added bonus, how to simplify fractions using a multiplication chart!

Model Drawing with Rate and Speed

Before break, a participant asked me to show how I'd use model drawing to show rate and speed problems.She was good enough to send examples.  Thanks!!

  Since the unit bar is labelled with Mrs. G's time, I put her miles above the bar.  I could have done a running total below the bar, but chose to do an ellipsis instead.  It's a great tool to use when the numbers are larger.

This problem clearly shows the relationship to multiplication.  After all, model drawing is turning a word problem into a visual representation so the student can find what to do next.

For more explanations, I recommend Char Forsten's Step-By-Step Model Drawing for grades 1-6
step-by-step-model-drawing

Or Lorraine Walker's Model Drawing for Challenging Word Problems for grades 6-Algebra 1.
Model-drawing-for-challenging-word-problems

Check out my Livebinder!

Live Binder is a great way to keep your bookmarks "in the cloud."  I love my Livebinder.  First, I installed the widget on toolbar so if I find a site I like, I just click on it and it adds it to my livebinder.

Check out my livebinders!

http://www.livebinders.com/edit?id=133702  Ricky Mikelman's Singapore Math Live Binder

http://www.livebinders.com/edit?id=195368 Math and Technology

Happy New Year!

Model Drawing at the Middle Grades Conference in Louisville, KY