I am a unique breed: current eighth grade algebra teacher and veteran sixth grade math, reading, language arts, and science teacher. Being such, I have a perspective as an algebra teacher that is a bit different from my colleagues who come from a more traditional math-focused background. As many teachers are now aware, the Common Core State Standards emphasize that all teachers should integrate literacy activities into their content areas. In math specifically, the Standards for Mathematical Practices provide the perfect opportunity for this. Gone are the days of simple math computations; instead students must construct viable arguments for their solutions and justify their problem solving process. The math/reading/writing teacher combo in me just loves this! However, to many math teachers, this can be a very intimidating task.
I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with two educational consultants this year, ReLeah Lent and Katherine McKnight. These ladies are right there with me as huge proponents of integrating literacy into all content areas. Our conversations have revolved around the merits of having students read articles related to math and write about their opinions, as well as using mathematical computations to argue a point in response to a controversial question.
Cue the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, and you have the perfect opportunity for students to read, write, and talk math. Olympic.org, USA Today, Live Science, and the New York Times among many others were great places to find graphs, infographics, and articles related to the Olympics.
There is so much math to be done! Students can find measures of central tendency for race results, and more importantly, argue which is the most accurate representation of the data (and why they believe so!). Using these resources, students can look at preliminary runs and calculate probabilities of various athletes taking home the gold, or they can determine whether or not the Olympics provide a "fair" opportunity for a variety of athletes to participate.
They can convert the cost of tickets to the closing ceremonies from Russian rubles to US dollars, compare this to the cost of other Olympic game events, create a travel itinerary, and create a persuasive argument as to why we should have taken (or not) a school-wide trip to the Olympic games. (Add a fundraising component onto this field trip idea, and that makes it all the more exciting!) I also had my kids participate in a Fantasy Olympic league to further spread the "Olympic fever". (Don't worry, there was no money exchanged over the course of the Olympics, only cute hand-made certificates to the winners.) Again, there were multiple opportunities to talk about probability, measures of central tendency, and graphical representations of the teams' progress.
While the Olympics provided a perfect backdrop to immerse my students in authentic math tasks while also incorporating literacy into my classroom, I was reminded that I can do this kind of stuff any time! Yes, these types of activities require time in preparation as well as in class. And, I do admit that from time to time, the literacy activities I use with my kids may stray from the curriculum standards so many of us fear we won't be able to squeeze in over the course of the school year. However, in my humble opinion my students are getting a well-rounded and meaningful mathematical experience. I am creating an environment in which talking about and doing math is valued. Students are learning to use math to their advantage to draw conclusions, and they are becoming more articulate in explaining their thought process and reasoning. Most importantly, I am coaching these kids to become problem solvers who use all of their resources and persevere through difficult situations. THESE are the qualities that will stick with kids for the rest of their lives. And while I do teach my students a quadratic equations song that they still sing years later when they come back to visit me, I know it is the former skills that serve them well in their day-to-day lives.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Looking for Inspiration and New Ideas to Teach Inferencing
Hot cup of coffee brewed and an apple danish acquired from my local bakery, my mission this morning is to surf the web in search of ways to help my students with inferencing. The amount of materials available through a simple web search never ceases to amaze me, and I love when I have a few moments to discover new ideas to incorporate into my lesson planning.
My first discovery was a blog called Technology up to Speed (add this one to your favorites). I have included the link for the post dated August 6, 2013, so you don't have to search out the materials I am about to discuss. Once you find yourself on the post, you will find a link to animated short videos and a link to free graphic organizers to use in conjunction with the videos to teach various reading skills. The materials offered on the post are organized by the skill you are interested in teaching, which makes it very user friendly. You are also able to download the materials for future use. The video shorts are also accessible via YouTube. Of course, my focus was on finding materials to teach inferencing skills, so I spent most of my time perusing those videos and organizers, but there were other topics covered. You will find links to help you teach cause and effect, compare and contrast, questioning, predicting, and many others. If your looking for a way to engage your students and teach reading skills, this is a great place to start.
Next, I found myself on site called Haiku Deck. This site offers educators an alternative to using Powerpoint and/or a Google presentation. It allows you and/or your students to combine text and images to share information in a user friendly format without being overwhelmed by having to make too many formatting decisions. The site offers both an iPad app or web app as a free download. The Haiku Deck also offers educators plenty of information and inspiration to get you started--click here for more information/help.
After creating my Haiku Deck account and exploring the site a bit, I came up with the idea of using it to make Inference Riddles. Feel free to take a look at my example, and use it in your own classroom. My plan is to show students my riddle, and then they will work on creating their own riddles. I think this is a great way to help students to understand the importance of using textual clues as well as using imagery to help their peers guess the answer to their own riddle. They will be practicing their abilities to make inferences and not even know it!
Danish gone as well as two cups of coffee!
on their abilities to use implicit and explicit evidence inference making skills
My first discovery was a blog called Technology up to Speed (add this one to your favorites). I have included the link for the post dated August 6, 2013, so you don't have to search out the materials I am about to discuss. Once you find yourself on the post, you will find a link to animated short videos and a link to free graphic organizers to use in conjunction with the videos to teach various reading skills. The materials offered on the post are organized by the skill you are interested in teaching, which makes it very user friendly. You are also able to download the materials for future use. The video shorts are also accessible via YouTube. Of course, my focus was on finding materials to teach inferencing skills, so I spent most of my time perusing those videos and organizers, but there were other topics covered. You will find links to help you teach cause and effect, compare and contrast, questioning, predicting, and many others. If your looking for a way to engage your students and teach reading skills, this is a great place to start.
Next, I found myself on site called Haiku Deck. This site offers educators an alternative to using Powerpoint and/or a Google presentation. It allows you and/or your students to combine text and images to share information in a user friendly format without being overwhelmed by having to make too many formatting decisions. The site offers both an iPad app or web app as a free download. The Haiku Deck also offers educators plenty of information and inspiration to get you started--click here for more information/help.
After creating my Haiku Deck account and exploring the site a bit, I came up with the idea of using it to make Inference Riddles. Feel free to take a look at my example, and use it in your own classroom. My plan is to show students my riddle, and then they will work on creating their own riddles. I think this is a great way to help students to understand the importance of using textual clues as well as using imagery to help their peers guess the answer to their own riddle. They will be practicing their abilities to make inferences and not even know it!
Danish gone as well as two cups of coffee!
on their abilities to use implicit and explicit evidence inference making skills
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