For many of the 4.5 million English Language Learners (ELLs) in U.S. elementary and middle school classrooms, learning and understanding the language of mathematics can be a challenge. Supporting ELLs requires a commitment to a shift in practices which involves the entire school and also branches out to the community. Michele Dawson, Senior Director of Instructional Technology in Compton Unified School District, CA; and Kelly Urlacher, Senior Curriculum Designer at DreamBox Learning, had a conversation of essential approaches for supporting these students in “Key Strategies to Making Access and Equity a Reality for ELL Students.”
edWeb.net is announcing Conceptua Math as the new sponsor of the free Building Understanding in Mathematics professional learning community on edWeb. The community provides opportunities for math educators from around the world to collaborate and share ideas about best practices for math instruction.
ETA hand2mind has hosted a professional learning community on edWeb for the past three years, providing free professional development for elementary and middle school math educators.
Developing a conceptual understanding of numbers and how they work is critical for continued success in mathematics throughout a child’s academic career. Brian Mowry reviewed and discussed the knowledge and skills — in particular those related to verbal counting, enumeration, cardinality, and small number recognition — which develop in the preschool years and lay the foundation for good number sense.
Children start learning through rhythm and music before birth. Throughout early childhood, they learn primarily through auditory, rather than visual, stimuli. Because young children’s minds and bodies are irresistibly drawn to music, it is a natural, developmentally appropriate way for them to increase language skills, early math awareness, social skills, physical development, creative thinking skills, and self-confidence.
We have seen how technology is transforming and redefining classrooms all around the world, but the math classroom feels left out. There is a place for technology in our math classrooms. Let’s change our “calculation math” classrooms to a world of investigation, collaboration and problem solving.
It is easy to see how character education fits well within the disciplines of literature and history, but is it possible to find meaningful ways to utilize this program in a science or math class? Yes! The depth and richness of the Medal of Honor Character Development Program can be a vehicle to take lessons of service and courage into the world of numbers and scientific discovery.
Songs, rhythmic chants, and small and large movement activities can be an enjoyable way to holistically support young children’s emerging math skills. Before children are able to count to ten or add and subtract, they are developing their mathematical understanding.
In Part One of the Five-Session Series for the Implementing Common Core Standards in Math Community on edWeb.net, Dr. Sara Delano Moore shared an overview of the series and discussed student understanding of the number system, an essential foundation for this work. View the webinar and delve into number sense and the role of visual models in developing concepts and procedures.
College & Career Readiness requires a range of cognitive demand throughout a lesson, but most traditional texts fail to include appropriate breadth and depth. How do we plan for instruction that includes cognition across all four levels within the time constraints of the class period? You must walk before you can run.