Mathematics Updates
February 2018
Cool Math-Minded Activities and Inspiring Stories for Learning and for Celebrating Black History Month
By Danielle McClure
DreamBox Learning
Get your students in the math mindset and inspire the next generation of innovators and leaders this month. Share and try out the below resources and activities to help educate students about African American mathematicians and scientists who have and continue to break barriers, make strides in STEM, and change the world.
Check out this article for eight great classroom resources for Black History Month.
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Making Course Recommendations for Upcoming Freshmen
Teachers at Northgate High School have streamlined the guidelines to a rubric that combines both student performance level on the math section of the Milestones assessment as well as the eighth grade math course grade.
It is strongly suggested that eighth grade teachers at all the middle schools use Mathematics Placement Rubric for Upcoming Freshmen when making course recommendations.
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Teaching Channel Videos Focusing on Mathematics
Elementary
A "Notice and Wonder" routine encourages students to make meaning of a context or image.
Middle School
Factor, Expand, and Combine Like Terms
Students apply properties of operations as strategies to help simplify expressions.
High School
12 O’Quad High: Trigonometry in Flight
This STEM activity requires students to research, model, build, and fly a “quad-copter” drone.
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Fletcher Furnishes Free Fractions Focus
Fletcher has a series of three videos already available. They are not lengthy (ranging from 11 to 17 minutes), but they are packed with lots of professional learning. In addition, Fletcher shares fraction subitizing cards with video 1, new three-act tasks with video 2, and sample student work with video 3. Access videos and resources at the links below.
- Video 1: Building Fractions from the Foundations Up (and fraction subitizing cards)
- Video 2: Exploring Understanding through Meaningful Tasks (and three-act tasks)
- Video 3: Harnessing the Power of Student Work (and sample student work)
- Video 4: Making Connections and Looking Forward (available February 7)
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Lessons and Articles from NCTM
Grades K-2
In this lesson, students explore number families and ways to decompose numbers to 10. They will also identify members of fact families.
Grades 3-5
Students complete a chart by adding or subtracting from a given value, use graphs to compare two categories of information, and identify patterns.
Elementary
Two Instructional Moves to Promote Student Competence
Teachers can use these strategies to encourage student proficiency when confidence breaks down.
Grades 6-8
In this lesson, students classify polygons according to more than one property at a time. In the context of a game, students move from a simple description of shapes to an analysis of how properties are related.
Grades 9-12
Students make connections among different classes of polynomial functions by exploring graphs. The lesson assumes knowledge of linear and quadratic functions.
Secondary
Productive Struggle for All: Differentiated Instruction
Consider strategies that create access while maintaining cognitive demand of a mathematics task.
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Making Valentine's Messages on a Graphing Calculator
The Making Valentine's Messages on Your Calculator document provides you with a what you need to make a Valentine's card for your students, a series of questions to lead an investigation into Valentine's Day equations, and their answers.
Desmos also has some great already-designed "math-o-grams" -- interactive graphs that will impress and intrigue your students. After being awed, they can explore the math behind the scenes. Share the love of math!
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February Professional Learning Sessions
Thursday, February 8, 2018
HS: Using DOK to Increase Rigor
High school math teachers will use Webb’s depth of knowledge tool to determine the DOK levels of sample items. Revisions to items will be discussed in terms of how the changes affect the item’s DOK level. This session will be held in the media center on the 9th grade campus of Newnan High School from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Participants will need to bring Chromebooks to the session.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
K-2: Questioning and Purposeful Discourse
Good questioning techniques are a fundamental tool for effective instruction, but research shows that 93% of teacher questions involve recall of information. According to NCTM, mathematical discussion is a primary method for developing conceptual understanding and meaningful learning in math. This session, for K-2 teachers and administrators, will examine ways to enhance questioning to stimulate mathematical thinking and mathematical discourse. Register by 4 p.m. on Feb. 12, 2018, at https://goo.gl/forms/zfikTLn0ZLf7GIM33 to receive a link to join session.
Thursday, February 15, 2018
3-5: Questioning and Purposeful Discourse
Good questioning techniques are a fundamental tool for effective instruction, but research shows that 93% of teacher questions involve recall of information. According to NCTM, mathematical discussion is a primary method for developing conceptual understanding and meaningful learning in math. This session, for teachers of grades 3-5 and administrators, will examine ways to enhance questioning to stimulate mathematical thinking and mathematical discourse. Register by 4 p.m. on Feb. 14, 2018, at https://goo.gl/forms/A4mEq3lkpNgypjg12 to receive a link to join session.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
6-8: Utilizing Google Classroom for Test Prep
For this session, you are asked to come to Smokey Road Middle School prepared to share resources you use for getting your students ready for the Georgia Milestones. Kevin Moore will present tips and techniques for using Google Classroom with your students using these resources. The session will be held in the media center from 4 p.m. until 5 p.m. Participants will need to bring Chromebooks.
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Research Base
Desmos. (n.d.). Math-o-grams. Retrieved from http://mathogram.desmos.com/
Fletcher. G. (2017, September 22). Foundations of fractions online course. [Blog]. Retrieved from https://gfletchy.com/
Lynch, S.D., Hunt, J.H., & Lewis, K.E. (2018). Productive struggle for all: Differentiated instruction. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 23(4), 194-201.
Munson, J. (2018). Two instructional moves to promote student competence. Teaching Children Mathematics, 24(4), 244-249.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (n.d.). NCTM Illuminations. Reston, VA: Author.
Teaching Channel and Achieve (Producers). (n.d.). Factor, expand, and combine like terms. [Video]. Produced in partnership with Achieve. Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/factor-expand-combine-like-terms-equip
Teaching Channel and the American Federation of Teachers (Producers). (n.d.). 12 O'quad high: Trigonometry in flight. [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/laws-of-sines-cosines-lesson#video-sidebar_tab_video-guide-tab
Teaching Channel. (n.d.). Notice and wonder math routine: Fourth grade. [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/4th-grade-notice-wonder-routine
TI Education. (2008). Making Valentine's messages on a graphing calculator. Retrieved from https://education.ti.com/-/media/5E51C6FAD5504686983A8B4BD7F5035A