Article 1 Summary

Article one is a very informative article on multi-genre research papers. In this article, the teacher of undergraduate secondary English education majors decided to experiment on her own with the new idea of research papers. Instead of just turning in the old, mindless, effortless research paper; students are to develop eight different pieces of work that follow along with their research. Pieces include flyers, announcements, birth certificates, newspaper articles, personal letters, or journal entries. This new idea of research paper is a brilliant idea and students seem to enjoy it. For students to add their own personal touch to the paper causes students to become very involved and dedicated to their paper. This will lead to better papers and better grades.

Questions:

1.      What are learning logs and how are they used?

2.      Is there an exact list or number of genres that can be used? Are there other genres that students might think of that could also be used in there paper?

3.      Would the multi-genre approach mean shorter research papers…or would it lead to longer papers due to the more in-depth research?

 

Strategy 5 – 8th grade Mathematics

Kirsten Schmidt

 Strategy: Writing Math

 Source: Math Forum: Learning and Mathematics

 Link to the Strategy: http://mathforum.org/~sarah/Discussion.Sessions/Countryman.html

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:

Using writing exercises in math classes leads to a better understanding of the material and finely tuned math communication skills.

“Students need opportunities to organize, interpret, and explain, to construct, symbolize, and communicate, to plan, infer, and reflect. Practicing these fundamental skills will help [students] learn mathematics.”

Examples of writing exercises include: learning logs-personal accounts of the work done in class; freewrites (gets into students’ attitudes and feelings), finishing sentences, commenting on assignments, finding definitions, writing comparisons of different procedures. Journal writing is a way of having continuing dialogues with students and as a vehicle for student self-expression.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.

 This strategy will be used as part of the daily curriculum of a math class.

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?

I believe that this strategy will work because students will be constructing their own knowledge of material that will be easily remembered and easier for them to use. They will be interpreting information given to them into strategies that work best for them as individuals.  Incorporating writing into the math curriculum will give students an extra boost of higher achievement in mathematics and higher confidence with the material. I think students will feel nervous about mixing writing and mathematics together but I believe that it will soon become a common, flowing practice.

Strategy 4 – 8th grade Mathematics

Kirsten Schmidt

 Name of Strategy: Using Math Cartoons to Support Critical Reading Skills

 Source: Secondary Reading Resources Portal (SRRP): Reading Strategies for Math Teachers

 Link to the Strategy: http://sharepoint.chiles.leon.k12.fl.us/lcsreadingstrategies/Reading%20Strategies%20for%20Math%20Teachers/Forms/AllItems.aspx

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:

            This is a way of promoting reading and thinking skills with the use of mathematical cartoons. Students are given cartoons to observe and then are asked to create questions based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Classmates are given the opportunity to respond and then have the chance to explain the cartoon. The process of questioning and explaining help promote high level literacy.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.

            The cartoon that I have chosen corresponds to:

Goal 1: The learner will understand and compute with real numbers.

Objective 1.02: Develop flexibility is solving problems by selecting strategies and using mental computation, estimation, calculators or computers, and paper and pencil.

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?

            I think that using cartoons as a source of reading material would be very useful in the math class. This would be a different approach that most students are not used to but they would find it interesting since math terms and ideas are communicated to them in a way they are comfortable with. Also this activity will be challenging their thinking and questioning skills which should be put into practice with every kind of material they may read. They would be using Bloom’s Taxonomy as a guide to their questions. I would have them try to make out as many questions as they could, working their way up the different levels. With this cartoon, I would have students focus on the difference of guessing and estimating.

 

Strategy 3 – 8th grade Mathematics

Kirsten Schmidt

Name of Strategy: SQ3R Modified for Math

Source: Critical Reading Strategies Research Project
Florida Intl’ University Learning Center
Principal Investigator: Dr. Patsy Self
Project Coordinator: Taryn Emmerich

Link to the Strategy: http://sharepoint.chiles.leon.k12.fl.us/lcsreadingstrategies/Reading%20Strategies%20for%20Math%20Teachers/SQ3R%20for%20Math.pdf

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:

            This strategy was modified for mathematics so that students can read through and learn mathematics text more efficiently. It will help with understanding and remembering information better and students will become more confident about their math ability and attain better grades. The strategy is exercised in six steps: Survey, Question, Read, Study the Problems, Recite, & Review.

            Survey involves previewing the chapter looking at the introduction, conclusion, questions, problems, terms & theorems, and reviewing previous material that is vital to the lesson. Next, students should formulate questions about the material. Then, read to answer those questions you have just formed and jot down notes and ideas after you read the section. Next, study the problems and analyze them in your own words. Go over problems and recite, recite, recite. Review material 1-2 days later. Look over chapter and notes; recite how you solved the problems; review vocabulary, symbols, and formulas; and study most important concepts.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.

            This strategy does not focus on one certain aspect of the standard course of study because it could be used daily or weekly as it relates to the material given in class.

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?

            I think that this activity will work because the students will be actively reading and learning this material instead of mindlessly skimming over the text. This activity will be used for prereading, during reading, and postreading. I think that the students should be encouraged to use this strategy especially if the teacher is going to mainly focus on material offered by the textbook.

Strategy 2 – 8th grade Mathematics

Kirsten Schmidt

Strategy: Children’s Literature

Source:  Reading is Fundamental

Link to the Strategy: http://www.rif.org/educators/advicetips/askexperts/albright_qu2.mspx

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:
            One of the most engaging ways to incorporate reading is to supplement your curriculum with children’s literature. A couple of my previous (and present) teachers have used a children’s book that explains mathematical lessons. It is fun and easy to understand. This is what the source said about children’s literature:

• Reading aloud to students is a great way to arouse their interest in a topic, introduce new concepts, and expose them to information they might not read on their own.
• Think-aloud as you’re reading to your students. Verbalizing your thoughts as you read is an effective way to model your comprehension processes for students. This can give them a chance to hear how a scientist or mathematician might think.
• Show students how to use trade books as sources for research or inquiry projects. Model and teach them how to use different graphic organizers to collect and organize the information they find. They can then produce a final project to share their new knowledge. Instead of the usual boring book report, have students create their own nonfiction book, write a play or poem about their topic, or design a poster containing the most important concepts. Be creative!
• Let small groups of students read and discuss different books on topics you’re studying. These are often called literature circles or book clubs, and they’re not just for language arts class!
• Ensure that you have books about math in your classroom library, so that students will have access to them for DEAR or SSR (time for students to read independently in books of their choosing) or for taking them home to read.

I would use this activity before I begin a lesson and before reading the text so that students may begin the lesson with a positive understanding of the book.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.

Goal 3: The learner will understand and use properties and relationships in geometry.
 Objective 3.02: Apply geometric properties and relationships, including Pythagorean Theorem, to solve problems.

 

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?

            I chose the book What’s Your Angle, Pythagoras? : A Math Adventure by Julie Ellis. This is a fictional book about young Pythagoras and how he discovered the Pythagorean Theorem.  Pythagoras is a curious little boy who discovers how a right angle can solve a whole bunch of problems. The book offers simple explanations of real world problems and graphics that explain the formula along with the problem.

Strategy 1 – 8th grade Mathematics

Kirsten Schmidt

Strategy: Vocabulary

Source: FLORIDA COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT TEST Glossary

Link to the Strategy: http://sharepoint.chiles.leon.k12.fl.us/lcsreadingstrategies/Reading%20Strategies%20for%20Math%20Teachers/FCAT%20Math%20Vocabulary%20Handbook%20Using%20LINCS%20Strategy%20(Ready%20Made).pdf

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:
I found this resourced on the same page as I found the SQ3R strategy. This site listed vocabulary that is used in the Florida State Assessments but I felt that graphic organizers would be useful to use in class before a reading assignment.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.
I believe that this strategy will be useful for every math lesson. The vocabulary that I pulled from the source focused on Goal 1: The learner will understand and compute with real numbers.

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?
I believe that to be actively reading and comprehending the material than the students need to have a complete understanding of the vocabulary. This certain activity will be given before the reading of text and will focus on the student’s previous knowledge of the word, an explanation in their own words, facts/rules/formulas, and picture and graphs of the term.

Example:

Irrational Number- (definition)

  

Mark on the line your knowledge of this word.

Never Heard of It                    Somewhat Familiar                 Use It All the Time

Explain in your own words	Example
Facts/Rules/Formulas	Picture or Graph

 

Instructional Strategies Summary

Looking through all of the resources that was given to me was a little overwhelming at first because I was not quit sure how I was going to complete this assignment accurately with my main focus on mathematics. So my search began a little slow but it was not long when I started finding a large amount of information. Honestly, I don’t know where I even began when I started finding things. I know that I did use Google a couple of times but I would find great information that would lead me to another site with great information. I found information to help with reading math textbooks, I found other sources to communicate mathematical terms (cartoons), I also found graphic organizer to help terms and problems, and I also found ways of using writing as a tool of understanding math. All in all, it took me a while but I found some great places to use reading and writing skills in math.

Helping Mommy with Homework

Materials Video

I found this video while searching for videos on square roots. It is a clip from Disney of Donal Duck in Mathmagic Land. It could be used to show students that math is important in life. This is the description from the video source:

“Disney used animation here to explain how mathematics can be useful in our real life. Through this journey, Donald shows us how mathematics are not just numbers and charts, but magical living things.”

Materials 5 for 8th Grade Mathematics

 Kirsten Schmidt

 Kathy Schrock’s Education Resources – PuzzleMaker

 http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp

Teaching topic of the materials:

            8^th grade mathematics

Brief description of how the materials would be used:

            I would use this activity for every lesson in my class. It is a crossword puzzle and I have used them many times in classes as a way to learn vocabulary.

Identify other material that you could use with this material to augment instruction, especially for EC students:

            I believe that a crossword puzzle would be a great activity for any learner as a way to study vocabulary.

Explain why you would use this material with your students. How will the material help your students learn the topic?

            Why I think that this material would work so well is because instead of being given the vocabulary word the definition is given and the students would really have to search for the word that match the definition. Instead of just giving them  the word and they mindlessly copy down the definition.

Materials 4 for 8th Grade Mathematics

Kirsten Schmidt

 NCTM

 http://standards.nctm.org/document/eexamples/chap6/6.4/index.htm

Teaching topic of the materials:

            8^th grade: Transformations

Brief description of how the materials would be used:

            Before introducing this activity to students I would inform them with all of the terminology and plenty of examples. The computer lab would be the best place to take the students to observe and use this activity.

Identify other material that you could use with this material to augment instruction, especially for EC students:

            For other students that may find this activity a little difficult, I would provide a large, laminated graphed poster board and large shape to use on the poster board. I would let the students pick shapes and trace it and then have them transform the shape from its original position.

Explain why you would use this material with your students. How will the material help your students learn the topic?

            Transformations have always been a fun activity for me and I always enjoy finding new activities to do using transformations. This activity provides practices using each of the transformations in different ways. The interactivity of this activity allows students to visualize the transformations along with identifying and composing reflections and transformations. It also allows students to see what happens to objects when more than one transformation is applied.