Wendy Kidd-In Defense of Mathematical Foundations

Wendy Kidd Literature Review

TITLE: In Defense of Mathematical Foundations

AUTHOR:  W. Stephen Wilson

Source: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/MARCH 2011

SUMMARY:

1.  The problem of the disconnection of elementary school math and college math requirements.

2.  Elementary students need to be taught the understanding and fluency with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers, fractions and decimals.  They also need to be taught complex multistep problems involving operations.

3.  Teachers shouldn’t be teaching alternative algorithms or supporting student invented algorithms. He states,  “A choice of a 10-year-old might not be a good choice for a college student.”

4.  The use of calculators shouldn’t be used in elementary school or even high school. The children only learn to push buttons and are inadequately prepared for college math.

5.  Arithmetic is the foundation of mathematics.  The standard algorithms for whole numbers are the only really big theorems that students can be in elementary school.

6.  Math standards need to recognize the importance of fractions.  “The problem is that without a solid foundation in fractions, students have little hope of succeeding in college-level mathematics.”

7.  The common ore standards do put mathematics a priority.  Students do have to memorize some number facts and learn algorithms.  The Common Core really makes the difference in teaching fractions. “Children are taught  a clear definition of fractions as numbers, and allows the usual four arithmetic operations on fractions to make sense.”

ANALYSIS:

This article has made me realize the importance of teaching the foundational skills in the elementary grades so that kids are prepared for further education in college.

Michelle Gardner-Service for Learning

Michelle Gardner Literature Review

TITLE: Service for Learning

AUTHOR:  Rahima Wade

Source: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP/MAY 2011

SUMMARY:

1. “ Far from being a distraction, service learning can help students build academic skills while they become more involved in the community.”

2.   High stake assessments have  driven schools to adopt a rigorous and focus approach to reading, writing, and math instruction that takes up the majority of the school day.

3.  Many see service learning as a practice that produces mainly civic outcomes, so many educators have decided that there is no time for it.

4.  Two related facts to challenge this conclusion is that first high quality service learning engages students and second engagement is critical to academic achievement.

5.  Service learning is our avenue for keeping students interested.

ANALYSIS:

Service learning not only helps the community, but also helps our school community.  The article told of several projects that students completed that supported math skills.  Sometimes when students can’t understand mathematics from the book, when their math skills are used in real live situations they suddenly grasp the concepts taught. 

Shaylyn Ekins-Mental Math

Shaylyn Ekins Literature Review

Title:  Mental Math

Author:  Marilyn Burns

Source:  http://www.mathsolutions.com/documents/2007_Instr_MentalMath.pdf

Summary:  We use mental math in everyday situations…figuring tax or a tip, estimating the total at a grocery star, how much to pay the babysitter, doubling recipes, etc.

·         We should use mental math regularly in the classroom because it is a life skill.

·         “Hands on the table” math

o        Make this  a class effort, not a test

o        Model my mental math process

o        Debrief as a class and explain solutions

·         Focus on multiple ways to solve problems

·         Money is a good context for mental math

·         Allow students to self-correct

Analysis:  This article struck a chord with me.  As a 5^th grader, I remember my teacher doing a lot of mental math drills and I feel like I learned how to calculate mentally very well.  I plan on adding more opportunities for my students to use and practice their mental math skills, including modeling my thinking when I use mental math.  Mental math is also one of those areas of math that is very useful in the real world.

Blaine Norris-Building Confidence with Calculators

Blaine Norris Article Review
Title: Attitude Adjustments: Building Confidence with Calculators
Author: Lesa M. Covington Clarkson
Source: This is one of the articles that Mary Kay found for us. I am unsure of the source
Summary: The author states that there is a gap between black and white students on the National Assessment of Education Progress. And in order to reduce this achievement gap there must be high-qualified teaching and even higher expectations, culturally relevant mathematics environments, and 21st-century technology and curriculum. 1. Teachers of the 6
th grade in a 99% black elementary school with a 70% free and reduce lunch population used graphing calculators to instruct students in math. 2. Students used the graphing calculators to discuss patterns and data.
3. The calculators were used to interest the students in more sophisticated mathematics and the questions that could be answered using technology.
4. The teacher expected the students to do the higher level math, so the students assumed that they could do it to.
5. The students first became familiar with the calculators by entering numbers, performing operations, and then learning about the function keys.
6. Students first sorted m&m’s according to color before performing real-world tasks.
7. Students later searched newspaper ads for prices on similar makes and model of vehicles. They recorded and graphed the data. They could then predict reasonable prices for the given cars.
8. Students worked in pair and presented their finding to the rest of the class.
9. Once students could see how calculators could help them with data that they were interested in they could then move on to more abstract mathematics.
Analysis: I enjoyed reading this article. It presents the ideas that calculators can both motivate student achievement and point their thinking to higher educational goals. Many of the students would never have considered college or upper-level degrees leading to careers in technology or other advanced fields. Because the students were introduce to sophisticated tools at a basic and useful level they were able to gain confidence in solving real-world problems with them.
One thing I did not like about the article was its lack of detail in what the students were asked to do.