The Week's Big Ideas!
What did I learn about?What is a concept, skill and strategy? |
This week was about addition in all its forms - concepts, skills and the language. It is important as a teacher to be able to comprehend of all these aspects clearly, so that when it comes to teaching it is clear to the students what they are learning. It is also essential to be competent in addition in order to complete daily tasks, such as budgeting and paying bills.
One of the major things that changed my view of addition were how many strategies there are for learning addition in a fun and engaging way. I was not taught strategies at school it was a very, 'you either get it or you do not' model. So being taught addition in this way has really helped clear my understanding of how easy addition can be when it is taught through the use of engaging approaches, such as addition mats, flip cards and stories. I also go to look at mathematics as a whole and how I view mathematics. Which is important as a teacher because how you view mathematics will be passed along to your students, so you want the learning of mathematics to be enjoyable and fun. To me, mathematics is a universal language made up of words and symbols that work together to create meaning. Before I did this subject I did not realise how important all the stages of learning were and how important it is to support children in all their stages of learning. Now I know that in order for children to understand addition they have to understand the concept of why they do something. Once they have a grasp of the concept they are able to competently solve problems. I understand the concept of addition to be the process of adding together two separate groups to find the total. For children, when they are developing their own concept of addition it is important that they are able to see what the adding together of two separate groups looks like. A skill is using the concept to answer a question correctly. While a strategy is how you apply a skill in a variety of situations. |
Learning the stages of Addition
This subject has taught me that there are many different stages of mathematics learning and that each stage is essential to grasp before you move to the next. The stages are built in the the the shape of an inverted triangle, with each level addressing a different stage of learning that gradually becomes more complex. This triangle is a teaching model for mathematics learning and below is an overview of what this looks like in regards to addition.
Stage
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Language
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Materials
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ONE
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Student language: how many, put with, join together, more
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Teddies, animals, pegs, cars, lego, cups, lollie pops (depending on the school)
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TWO
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Material language: uses previous language level
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Counters, paddle pop sticks, MABs
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Three
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Mathematical Language: addition, group, equals, plus ten, add five
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Photos, diagrams, clipart, drawings
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Four
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Symbolic Language: using the words, "three plus five equals 8"
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Symbols '5 + 3 = 8'
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Addition Strategies
I understand that there are many strategies for addition and each are essential when teaching children about addition. Through this subject I have learned that it is important to teach children strategies for addition instead of just telling them how to do it, they have to work it out for themselves. However it is my job as a practicing teacher to help build up my own box of tools in order to help children work out the problem.
Count On Strategy
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Doubling
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Doubling-count on
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Use 10 Strategy
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