I watched Betsy Weigle's videos with ideas of how to easily push our students past the standard's expectations. Sounds difficult, but she makes it seem so easy. She uses charts for multiplying multiple digit numbers. I wish my teacher had taught me this! It makes it so much easier to multiply larger numbers such as 11 x 2,312. She breaks down the number into 2,000, 300, 10, 2. And multiplies each by 11. She mentions that students love doing this because once they get their math facts memorized they can complete it fairly easily and feel confident about it.
She also explains the importance of teaching algebraic reasoning with function boxes. This allows students to easily see the variable and then determine an equation from the function box. I totally agree with her that teachers should start teaching this method sooner than later because I can remember being in 6th grade and having no idea why I was mixing letter with numbers now. It was so confusing to me and I really struggled with understanding this new concept. However, if we can get students used to seeing equations and understand what variables mean and why we are mixing letters and numbers then our students will be more successful with math in later grades.
I also liked the use of ten blocks to help with subtraction. I could definitely see this method being useful, especially for hands on learners. I liked how he used the terms"borrowing" and "trading." These are terms that students are generally familiar with in life and can also be applied to math. Base ten blocks are a great visual aid for students to really understand why they are borrowing and trading when subtraction. It is much more beneficial to show students this versus just telling them this is what we do because we have to.
Hey Amy,
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way when I watched these videos! I was like, "Now that was a breeze!" She made multiplication so easy. And its not even about making it easy, it is about learning and comprehending those vital foundational steps that will later lead to knowing more in depth concepts. I never had anything organized like that either and I feel like if I had, a lot more things would have fallen into place more seamlessly than they did!
When she was introducing the dreaded variable, I completely understood and I think young learners would as well. When it comes to variables, what works the best for me is putting it into a context that I am familiar with and more importantly enjoy. The same strategy works for kids… if you are talking about "how many wheels are on "X" amount of trucks" then kids naturally understand the terminology and this whole crazy concept becomes that much clearer! Thank you for sharing. I love when I can relate to people. Makes me feel more comfortable :)
Jackie