Blogging about the math achievements and struggles that we all experience at one point in our lives! This blog was created for a college math class for aspiring elementary teachers for summer 2013.
Fractions can be a hard subject for many students. It's a hard concept to understand after learning whole numbers, but there are MANY manipulative's and game's that could help students understand the concept! Check out all of these manipulative's on fractions on this website! There are many games out there too for the students. It is easy to research and find games for the kids to either play during class time or to take home! Fractions are something kids shouldn't be afraid of and they are simple if you teach them correctly!
The basic formula that show a fraction is numerators, which are on the top, and denominators, which are on the bottom of the fraction. A very simple way to demonstrate fractions and the make up of them is through showing them a song! I found this on and I think it is fantastic! It shows little tricks to remember which number should go on the bottom and it shows how fractions are set up! I think this song is great and fun way to show the students and have them learn from fractions!
One way that students really relate to fractions is relating them to real life examples, such as food or money. Food is very relateable. It lets the children realize how fractions work. Just like the photo to the side, you can see how food can be cut up to show fractions. Another way you could demonstrate fractions would be to use the students as an example, you could group them in fours or more and have them split up to show the classroom how it could be a fraction.
Students will catch on quickly to fractions if there is an adequate amount of time spent on learning them. It is crucial for teachers to take their time and make sure every student has the hang of them by showing them fun and easy ways to learn fractions!
[Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which
small teams, each with students of different ability levels, use a
variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a
subject. Each member of a team is responsible, not only for learning
what is taught, but also for helping his or her teammates learn—thus
creating an atmosphere of achievement.] Read more on TeacherVision
on the topic of cooperative learning! I believe working together in pairs or groups as students is very beneficial to their learning. Group work helps the student learn more about themselves and about others. They learn to work together, collaborate ideas, better their communication skills, and much more!
I am a firm believer in cooperative learning and believe it is essential for students to experience. I think that to be a successful teacher you must try to get your students to experience as much human interaction as possible. Our world would not exist without human interaction and it is important for students to see that and problem solve within their groups or pairs.
While doing some research on cooperative learning I ran across this segment, [In order to create an environment in which cooperative learning can take
place, three things are necessary. First, students need to feel safe,
but also challenged. Second, groups need to be small enough that
everyone can contribute. Third, the task students work together on must
be clearly defined.] Read more at Cooperative Learning Workshop This is great information for making sure the enviroment for cooperative learning is in perfect condition! This is a great example of some cooperative learning happening within a classroom!
Well, today I decided to blog about the topic of PLACE VALUE. As adults and readers, you might think place value is an easy concept to grasp. But, just as learning to read and write, children must learn place value as well! There are many different ways to go about teaching students place value. You could use manipulatives, worksheets, fun videos or games, and things along those lines! To start off, here is a place value chart that you might use while teaching children place value with manipulatives.
Using manipulatives is a VERY easy way to tech children. You could use things such as base-ten blocks. If you don't know what those are, here's the link! Although base ten blocks are mainly used for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, I think it is good to introduce them to students at a very young age so they get familiar with them as they learn throughout the years!
Another way to teach students about place value is worksheets! This is the classic and somewhat boring way to learn but it is also very effective! To throw some fun things in there you could show fun videos or let students play some games based on place value for them to learn while they think they are watching TV or playing a game! Check out some videos and games here! Place Value Song , Place Value Squirrels, Football Place Value , Place Value Racing .
Overall, teaching place value is relatively easy because of all the tools you can work with! You could use manipulatives, worksheets, and videos or games to assist you in your specific teaching method!
Do you remember having to work on WORD problems in 3rd and 4th grade? I do and I remember it being miserable! I remember having to get paired up with another student and having to come up with a solution and presenting it in front of the class! To say the least it was terrifying, and what if I was to be matched with a lazy partner that made me do all the work?!? Ugh, yuck! But do I have news for you, teachers, to help students get over their fear of word problems..
During one of the weeks of my online Math Class for elementary teachers, one of our assignments was to play this game called, Thinking Blocks. It is for to assist students learning of multiplication and division word problems. It is very easy to use and the website lays it out for the student wonderfully! I found out that it was a GREAT tool that I will be using someday to get the fear of word problems out of their heads! Here you try it out!
I think it is very important for students to read and understand word problems because they will always be in your life and you will always be having to deal with them! Some other solutions may be out there to also assist teachers on making word problems less frightening to students but this link is a great one! I did some research and here are a few more tools for helping students learn the process of finding a solution to a word problem.
