Sunday, November 20, 2016

Helpful Resources for Teaching Place Value

Summary of Lesson:

For my lesson plan I will be integrating mathematics and technology. It is geared towards a first-grade classroom. The general mathematic topic is Numbers and Operations. In specific, this lesson will focus on exploring place values in regards to money. In this lesson, there will be a moc classroom store. Each student must come up with an object to sell in this store. Next, we will discuss the different amount of money ranging from 0.01-$1.00, which relates to place value. For example, a student can make their item worth 0.35 cents. This means there are 3 in the tens place and 5 one place. After that, they will create a price for their item, which they must put on their picture. All the students will listen to their peers’ product and cost. Finally, students will have the opportunity to “purchase” their classmate’s items.  At the end of each day they must write down the amount they made and in their bank account in regards to place values. Within this activity there are apps in which students will use their Ipads to keep track of the details within the lesson.

Resource One:
Name/Title of the resource: Basically Base Ten: Discovering Place Value Meaning Using Base Ten Blocks
How you found it: I found this website by searching through the NCTM Illuminations website. I looked up place value in Pre-K based on Numbers and Operations.
How you might use it in your final project: For my learners that need that visual representation to figure out the place values in their number, I will have them work with base ten blocks that represent their amount/number of their product. This lesson tells me how to go about teaching this strategy to students. For example, if my student has their product costing 54 cents. They can see that there are 5 ten sticks and 4 unit one cubes within that number. Then they know that the unit cube represent the ones place and the sticks represent the number in the tens place.
What standards does the resource address: The standards that address my specific classroom set up in this lesson would be a mix between these two standards:
(CCSS.Math.Content.1.NBT.C.4)
Add within 100, including adding a two-digit number and a one-digit number, and adding a two-digit number and a multiple of 10, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used. Understand that in adding two-digit numbers, one adds tens and tens, ones and ones; and sometimes it is necessary to compose a ten.
(CCSS.Math.Content.2.NBT.B.5)
Fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
Resource Two:
Name/Title of the resource: Multiply and Divide by Power of Ten
How you found it: I went to one of my Pinterest finds in my PLN. Her name is Suzy Brooks. She pins a variety of educational resources. I went to her saved Math Methods board. This is where I found this method of “Act it Out!” dealing with the power of tens.
How you might use it in your final project: I will adjust this activity to only focus on power of tens in regards to place values. This is a fun interact way to get your students moving. I would have each student representing a number 0-9. I could give them a decimal or cost in cents amount in regards to place values. For instance, I would say I have 5 ones and 9 sticks in this number. Then, they have to place on the right side of the decimal, in the correct order, of the number I just described. This provides a visual and kinesthetic learning to the place value concept. I could even make groups to get more students involved.
What standards does the resource address: The standard that this activity mainly address is:
(1.NBT.2)
 Understand that the two digits of a two-digit number represents amounts of tens and ones.

Resource Three
Name/Title of the resource: Counting Pennies
How you found it: I googled “math place values for first grade activities”. It was the fourth option that pulled up. This resource has multiple activities to help first graders understand place value.
How you might use it in your final project: In first grade, being visual is important because place values are a difficult concept to grasp because they are still learning their addition fact from 0-10. Therefore, I will choice to use money to demonstrate place values, which will be a perfect segway into a classroom store where they must come up with a cost for their product. I would use this activity first. This activity talks about children counting pennies and putting them in stacks of tens and count how many tens stacks they made and how many left over they have (one’s place).
What standards does the resource address:
(1.NBT.2)
 Understand that the two digits of a two-digit number represents amounts of tens and ones.

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Are Virtual Schools Taking Over the World?


          According to the Michigan Merit Curriculum, the definition of Virtual Schooling or Online Schooling is “it is a structural learning activity that utilizes technology with Intranet/Internet-based tools and resources as the delivery method for instruction, research, assessment, and communication.” There has been a rapid growth in interest to the online learning verse the learning in a classroom. In the year 2013-2014 there were 25 out of the 50 states that have state operating systems, which includes Michigan. The top reason that the states make online learning available is because students are provided opportunities to recover course credit. The downside is that not all people have internet capabilities at home. In a recent study in October 2010, it stated that 68% of households had access to internet and over 77% had a computer. There are various types of online learning delivery formats. One of them being teacher-led. This model is just like the role of a traditional classroom teacher. For example, this online teacher provides direction, content, and feedback through some online resources such as Blackboard. Another format is the blended-instruction. This format involves communication like in a classroom but it links it to the power of internet based resources and tools. The last one I will mention is the self-paced format. This one involves no teacher interaction. The teacher places work online to for their students to complete and they give a grade without feedback.

          When thinking about what grades this virtual schooling fits best with would be college. This would be very challenging in an Elementary or Middle school classroom because their technology skills and reading skills are not up to the point needed to learn new content. This would be doable for a high school/college because their literacy skills and technological understand should be efficient to get through a lesson online. Thus, since I want to teach Elementary school this trend doesn’t affect me because I can’t see a first grader listening to a computer talking to them about a new concept. Plus, they would never know how to work their way around a site such as Blackboard.

          My personal feelings about this virtual learning is negative. I love the physical interaction a classroom brings. You can’t receive that connection with your students if you were on a computer. This is especially in the lower grades, having the students know you’re always there for them and can SEE how much you care for them means the world to them. Therefore, I will always be for the physical classroom "ruling" this world.

Work Cited:
Michigan Merit Curriculum
Fun-Facts