Let's Talk About... Good Math Reads! by Sabrina Blake

Math Matters

Let's Talk About... Good Math Reads!

Congratulations!  You've made it through the year!  Summertime is not only a great opportunity to relax, but it's also a perfect time for reflection on the year that has passed, and look forward to the year ahead. 

Reading is one of my favorite summertime activities, and I'm sure I'm not alone.  During the hustle and bustle of the school year, I find it difficult to squeeze in as much reading as I'd like, especially professional reading.  But summer?  I have the opportunity to not only read, but I also have the time to ponder and think about how to apply the ideas I love to my upcoming school year.  If you are looking for some professional reading to do in the field of mathematics this summer, here are some suggestions for you!  The titles are all linked to the book on Amazon, in case you're feeling inspired.  

Number Talks- Whole Number Computation
This is the original Number Talks book, which is great.  I found the one above more practical to use, but this book comes with a DVD which is helpful.  It gives suggestions for how to have specific number talks in the K-2 classroom and in the 3-5 classroom.  The great thing is that once you get the strategy down on structuring number talks, you can use any curriculum or student misconception to conduct a number talk with your class.  There is also one specifically on Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages which sounds like it would be great for upper grade teachers.

Making Number Talks Matter

This is a great read for teachers of grades 4-10 on conducting number talks.  It is broken down into sections on each of the four operations as well as fractions, and has several chapters on practical advice as well.  Within each section there are methods and strategies for solving problems, and examples to use to start the Number Talk on a specific solution strategy.  This would also dovetail with the strategies taught in our curriculum, or any misconceptions that your students may have that you'd like to correct.  

Beyond Pizzas and Pies
If you teach grades 3-5, and your students typically struggle with fractions, this is the read for you!  It addresses many fraction misconceptions that students have and how to correct them.  The strategies presented can be utilized in an intervention format or in addition to your regular math curriculum.







Minds on Mathematics
This is a great book if you're looking to implement a Math Workshop model in your upper grade classroom, as this is geared for grades 4-8.  It talks about what the workshop looks like and how to set it up, then gives practical and in-depth advice about how it should be structured to gain maximum student learning.










Math Matters

Not a true 'summer read' but this book is great reference material.  It is great for anyone who teaches math in grades K-8.  It will build in the background, conceptual knowledge that you may feel like you are missing when it comes to implementing any math standard or curriculum.  Keep this one in the classroom, you'll use it a lot!








I hope you check one or more of these out and give them a read over the summer or during the next school year.  My summer reads include What's Math Got To Do With It? by Jo Boaler, and Mathematical Mindsets, also by Jo Boaler.  If you'd love to discuss any of the books listed above, I'm happy to talk about them with you.  I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing summer, and come back in August rejuvenated and ready to inspire a new group of students.  Happy Reading! 

Mathematically yours,

Sabrina Blake

sabrina.blake@omsd.net

We Are AVID Learners!

We Are AVID Learners!

AVID: Advancement Via Individual Determination.  AVID is a school-wide program that helps students be better prepared and ready for college, thus providing them with tools to be successful in school throughout their journey.  However, you do not need to be an AVID school to provide your students with some of these successful strategies. AVID teaches students how to take and use notes, how to ask and answer questions about a text, and includes many strategies that teach students how to think and interact with one another at a higher level such as through a Socratic Seminar and Philosophical chairs (see my previous blog post).  Today, however, I am going to share a few simple strategies with you that you can start implementing in your classroom right away!

Using AVID’s instructional tools will help your students succeed not only by becoming more organized and responsible, but their reading comprehension and ability to think about a text will also increase across subjects. Every teacher and student will benefit from implementing these strategies!

At this point in the year, my students are completely able to read a text and take notes on their own without me telling them how to set up their notes or what to put in them.  They also are able to write levels of questions completely independently and often do so without even being prompted when reading a text.  It’s such an awesome feeling to see them doing these things all on their own!❤

Below you will see my students sharing in partners the leveled questions they created,(here they are doing this through the Kagan Stand-Up-Hand-Up-Pair-Up strategy).  Next you will see they are discussing and answering their leveled questions in their collaborative conversation groups.  At the end of the video, I have included some samples of student work and also some of my anchor charts on Note-Taking and Levels of Questions.

Teaching students how to ask and answer different levels of questions, and take notes in an organized and useful manner is the first place to start in order to aid in student success and achievement! 

Note-taking is based on the Cornell Note-taking system, where your notes are divided into 2 or 3 columns.  2 and 3 column notes are being done even with TK and Kindergartners at my school! I generally structure the “heading” titles for the notes based on the Reading Comprehension skills we are focusing on for that story or text (ie: main idea/details, details/author’s viewpoint, etc). In the video above you can see numerous examples of the different ways I have done 2 and 3 column notes with my 4th and 5th graders this year.  In the beginning, it’s a slow process to teach them how to structure and set up the notes, but once they get it down it becomes like a second nature for them!

Costa’s Levels of questioning and thinking includes 3 different levels. This is how I teach it to the kids:

Level 1: This is a “right there answer.” You have to be able to put your finger on the answer in the text.  For example, “What is the boy’s name?” 

Level 2: These are harder questions both to ask and answer.  Level 2 questions are generally inference based, drawing conclusions, the author’s viewpoint types of questions.  They generally ask to compare or contrast characters, ideas or events.  They can also ask to “explain how” or “ explain why” something occurred in the story.  The students are taught that they will need to find clues in the text in order to answer the question, but they will not be able to explicitly find the answer.

Level 3: I teach the kids that this is the “selfish question” because it’s all about “me.” Level 3 questions often have the reader imagining themselves in the situation, or the character’s shoes and thinking about what they would do, how they would feel, etc.  Level 3 questions often start like “imagine if you were…..” or “predict what would happen if you…” Level 3 questions can also include summarizing a text and making predictions.

Collaboratively Learning,

Megan Brown