Reflection 5: "Athletes do it and musicians do it. We all engage in some form of physical or me
PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO PAUSE THE MUSIC BEFORE PRESSING PLAY ON THE VIDEO
I believe warm ups are the most important part of the lesson, for a teacher to be successful in a lesson; I believe that the warm up is to be fun and engaging. Warm ups encourage children to think mathematically and to establish a mathematical mindset. As a teacher it is imperative to be aware of how warm ups invite students to recall and apply their knowledge that they have learnt through prior experience. While researching, I was able to come to the conclusion that warm ups engage students and strengthen the connections in the brain to help students apply concepts and thus, activate their background knowledge (Garcia & Martin, 2004, p.17).
Initiating with a warm up encourages children to become motivated, as Zhu (2010) states “beginning with a warm up is a good way to grow curiosity and interest amongst the learners” (p.10). Thus, students won’t get distracted and will begin to focus, thus, learn mathematical concepts effectively from the start. Mental computational skills I certainly think, assist students to promote an understanding of number systems and basic skills. It also provides a connection between problem solving and mathematical concepts while planning the approach they will take to solve a problem (Mardjetko &Macpherson, 2007, p.1).
My mental warm up connects with multiplication and division for Stage 1, as students skip count by two’s and model and use equal groups of objects as a strategy for multiplication. Students also find the total using skip counting in arrays. As a teacher I need to ensure that children have a well developed number knowledge to be able to succeed in early math and beyond, whereas, if I don’t children “who will find working with numbers, and hence, having number sense will find it difficult and are more at risk for falling behind” (Connell, 2012, p.1). Thus, educators and teachers are able to provide children with opportunities to explore and enhance their understanding of the connections between concepts. Students thus, become more confident and competent as they develop various thinking strategies for solving problems. Array models scaffold mental strategies such as partitioning while, representing multiplication, overtime this model will not be necessary and the students will be able to record their thinking using short cut strategies (Bobis, 2007). As a teacher, making sure children are aware of how arrays are useful models for multiplication students can build on these in a meaningful ways, such as using them to show division and to understand multiplication.
Additionally, “promoting number sense is critical to a basic understanding of mathematics and the students ability to calculate mentally in a more simple way” (Bobis, 2007, p.1).
The video responses
What the student’s response may be to the question, “What do you know about the number 10?”
It comes before 11
It comes after 9
It is an even number
2 fives equal 10 (5+5)
“We have 10 fingers and 10 toes”
We can draw the number 10à . . . . . . . . . .
10 Dollars ($10)
10 is a natural number
It has a one and a zero
It is Divisible by 2 and 5
It is the first double digit
10th number
When students learn about arrays, students are able to create their array in any way that is possible using their creativity. They may respond by:
Grouping the ‘books’ into equal groups
They may be aware that they’re able to say 5x4= 20
They may count by twos, or fives
Using 4x3 as the algorithm, what are some creative ways of representing this? Don’t forget to use groups and arrays, as well as other ways.
Students may write this algorithm in words
Students may draw the algorithm- 4 groups of 3 or 3 groups of 4
Students may draw an array- 4 rows of 3 or 3 columns of 4- They may create an array of their own using matierlas and resources of their choices such as, leaves, petals, shells and sticks.
They may model this through repeated addition 4 + 4 + 4
When students learn about arrays, students are able to create their array in any way that is possible using their creativity.
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