Math Parent Forum
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The document discusses math education for grades 3-5 at Rashi School for the 2016-2017 school year. It describes the teacher's goal of collaborating to adapt the curriculum to develop higher-order thinking skills in students through data-driven and flexible instruction. It provides examples of how teachers work in teams to analyze student data and design enrichment plans. They use various teaching methods like whole class instruction, small groups, partner work and independent exploration to differentiate instruction for diverse learner needs. Teachers connect the math goals to the school's initiative of using essential questions to deepen mathematical discussions and stretch student thinking.
Math Parent Forum
- 1. Math at Rashi Grades 3-5 2016/2017 1
- 2. My Goal as a Teacher Leader: Be a Catalyst for Change in Math at Rashi ● Collaborate with the teachers to adapt the curriculum to develop higher order thinking in all of the students ○ Data driven ○ Feedback - teachers and students ○ Flexible groupings 2
- 3. Grade Level Teacher Teams… Meet..A LOT! Email...A LOT! 3
- 4. Teacher Response to New Model: The weekly meetings are productive in supporting the diverse needs of the students. We brainstorm and collaborate as a team. We not only talk about how various students are doing, but we create plans aimed toward their success. We figure out which students would benefit from enrichment by analyzing data, such as unit pre-assessments, and design materials to accomplish this. 4
- 5. THE STUDENTS EXPERIENCE IT ALL... ● Whole class instruction ● Small group instruction ● Small group exploration ● Partner work 5
- 6. Grade 4 Engaged in whole class instruction! 6
- 7. Partnerships Students learn how to work effectively together AND bring math to life through conversation! 7
- 8. Grade 5 Data Analysis Project ● Interpersonal work, then independent work ● Multi-step ● Building math skills 8
- 9. Grade 5 ← First...guided instruction to enrich the learning. Then...exploration without a teacher to deepen understanding. → OR the reverse order! 9
- 10. Differentiation The same content is delivered in the classroom using a different methodology. 10
- 11. Grade 3 Small group instruction allows for more opportunities for students to express their knowledge and for teachers to push student thinking. 11
- 12. Discover and Share! The answer is not always the piece to share… Students share various strategies and their thought processes… Discussion (being able to express one’s thinking) is a large part of math. 12
- 13. Connecting Math Goals to Rashi’s Initiative ● Math Goal: Meet diverse math needs, particularly the higher order thinking ● Rashi’s 2016-2017 initiative: Integrate essential questions into curricula ● ALIGNMENT: Essential questions open the doors to deepen mathematical discussion and stretch student thinking 13
- 14. Connecting Essential Questions & Math ● 5th grade ThinkMath! unit 2 - Patterns ○ EQ: Where do you notice patterns in the world? Why is it important to notice patterns? ○ Share student responses/discussion ● 4th grade ThinkMath! unit 6 - Multi-digit Multiplication ○ EQ: Does order matter? Why? 14
- 15. Students are proud when they push their thinking: Math is not about one single result or limited to our four walls, it is about discovering how it works and how it connects to the world around us. 15
- 16. A Math Joke 16
Editor's Notes
- #3: -What is a teacher leader? → Someone who supports student and school success and helps build the school’s capacity to improve. -Discuss initiative and action research project. → Collaborate with the teachers to meet all learners where they are; focus on the use of data as a representation of student abilities -Survey teachers AND students. → reactions to new structure of small group instruction.
- #4: -A LOT of thought is put into how students can be at the pace that works best for their thinking style.
- #5: -Despite the extra time and work that goes into the new model, here is a teacher response.
- #6: -Each structure of learning lends students the chance to either share their individual expertise or enhance it.
- #7: -New model provides a brief frontal segment to introduce the salient points of the lesson. -Students are thoroughly engaged as they need to know the essentials in order to learn more in their small groupings.
- #8: -Gerald Aungst- a writer, teacher, supervisor of gifted and elementary mathematics - Speaks to the “magic of math” happening when problem solving is embedded in daily practice -Students have opportunity to demonstrate their individual understanding of mathematics and banter back and forth their various approaches to problem solving.
- #9: -Skills: data analysis vocabulary, such as mean, median, mode, range, maximum, minimum -Students had the option to choose the medium in which they presented their data, one of the tools was of course technology (googlesheets).
- #10: -Followed by group discussion for the teacher to hear student mathematical thinking and for the students to hear and learn from each other
- #11: -Carol Ann Tomlinson (renowned educator, author, speaker) says students achieve maximum growth when teachers actively plan based on their students’ profiles.
- #12: -Teachers can individualize instruction, particularly for students to extend. -SPR example: sums to 10: basic, then with fractions, then with decimals. -Haven’t been exposed to decimals yet, but I thought I would give it a try. Some got it, some didn’t. If they have number sense and language skills, it is yet another pattern.
- #13: -One of the hardest components of math I’ve noticed thus far is student ability to articulate one’s mathematical thinking in a coherent manner so that is one area I really push students to do.
- #14: -Essential Questions = Questions that are not answerable in a single lesson or a brief sentence—and that's the point. -Aim is to stimulate thought, provoke inquiry, and spark more questions→ including student questions, which often leads to more ownership over their learning.
- #15: -Share 5th grade journal response. -Share socractic discussion.
- #16: -Share 4th responses - 2 part enrichment: a math activity to extend the content then an essential question to extend their thinking.