Mathematics Teaching 182 - March 2003
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Cover articles
Animal magic - Jill Russell
Kathryn Vaughan and I have been working for over a year now on a probability pack. The idea came up when we were both on ATM's publications group. Kathryn proposed a pack of probability ideas where using equipment was integral - hands on - but didn't rely on tedious repetition for an outcome. No rolling dice a hundred times. I found this immediately appealing. I love to discover maths by doing, rather than the much harder route of thinking... Jill Russell teaches in the primary sector in Kent.
Downloads for the Probability Pack: Animal Game
<< Buy the Probability Pack here
The foil rap - Jill Harmer
For two binomials to multiply together
Going to use the FOIL method to make it much better
F-first time first O outer times outer
That's what this is all about-er
Jill Harmer teaches in Louisville, USA
And there's more...
Paper folding fractions: more solutions for Malcolm Swan (MT180)Buy MT1823233 for £3
Responses to Michael Cain's article in MT 180
From the classroom
We count as well! - Janet ReesBuy MT1821012 for £3
'Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.' Bertrand Russell. Schools have a responsibility to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all The National Curriculum sets out three principals: Setting suitable learning challenges; Responding to pupils' diverse learning needs; Overcoming potential barriers to learning. Janet Rees is an independent mathematics consultant.
Algebraic infants - Paul Andrews and Judy SayersBuy MT1821822 for £3
When one examines the national curriculum for mathematics and the numeracy strategy documentation, it is clear that a decontextualised and additive approach to number patterns is still very much the experience for younger learners. Indeed the ability to articulate a linear generality is thought, by those who developed the curriculum, to be indicative of level six mathematical thinking - whatever level six might mean. Paul Andrews teaches at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education. Judy Sayers, when she wrote this article, was teaching at Codicote Primary School, Hertfordshire
Interactive pictures - Jill Russell
The posters come with a user guide, which suggests ways of using each one as part of a numeracy lesson, or a classroom display. While some of the ideas are a useful start to using the posters, teachers will soon be stimulated to find other ways for the children to interact with them as a focus for other parts of the numeracy strategy, and language work. Jill Russell teaches in the primary sector in Kent.
Changing 'drill' to thinking - Marion WalterBuy MT1823638 for £3
I was always annoyed when exam questions asked for proofs or definitions or gave problems of the type that we had been taught exactly how to solve. Anyone with an excellent memory could pass the exam with flying colours and little understanding... And so I have always worked hard to provide what I began to call 'thinking' questions for my students. Marion Walter is now retired but taught at the University of Oregon, USA.
A brief classroom try out - Thomas C. O'Brien & Judy A. BarnettBuy MT1824041 for £3
Two wonderful problems used as starters after the opening session of the 2002 ATM Easter conference were tried out with sixth graders (ages 11-12) in the USA. The results belied the rhetoric of Parrot maths zealots that maths in school should consist of force-fed facts and rote storage by children accompanied by constant testing. Tom O'Brien is a consultant and author and Judy Barnett teaches at the Renfro Elementary School, Illinois, USA.
Research
Becoming a mathematician - Laurinda BrownBuy MT1820607 for £3
On the 24th March 2001 there was a 'Becoming a Mathematician' conference sponsored by the Training and Development Agency For Schools to disseminate the findings of a research project where four teachers in three different school cultures worked with their Y7 students using algebraic activity as an integral part of any classroom activity. There were four basic starting points to the ways the four teachers worked during the research project. Laurinda Brown teaches at the University of Bristol.
A bit of geometry revisited - Geoff FauxBuy MT1821415 for £3
Usually when I put a piece in MT I am overwhelmed by the silence. But after suggesting three proofs that the radius of the in-circle of a 3,4,5 triangle is unity I had a flurry of e-mails, conversations at conference and telephone calls. Geoff Faux is a freelance consultant.
A Vedic method for subtraction - Sue ForsytheBuy MT1823031 for £3
Vedic mathematics is an ancient Indian way of doing maths which is supposed to be in tune with how the mind works. One method I particularly like is used for subtracting from powers of ten. The Vedic mantra says 'all form 9 and last from 10'. Sue Forsythe is head of maths at Gartree High School, Leicestershire.
0-99 or 1-100? - Midge PasternackBuy MT1823435 for £3
There is a number that children understand, even at an early age (when a parent says 'no, you can't have any ice-cream'), though it is not introduced formally into the number system. This paper addresses one way that '0' can be incorporated into a child's system of numbers. Midge Pasternack is a publishing consultant and educational game researcher.
What do you do when you don't know what to do? - Peter PoolBuy MT1824244 for £3
I guess that most people would subscribe to the idea that the nation's school students should have a mastery of all the mathematical techniques judged appropriate to their age and be creative and insightful in their deployment of these in solving problems. Peter Pool is a research officer at the Assessment and Evaluation Unit, University of Leeds.
Report
Working Group Report: Teaching and Learning Undergraduate Mathematics - Gill Hatch
If there is any reader of MT who is interested in any area of this work and might be willing to join the group, we would be interested to hear from them.
Feature
Thenwhats - Anne WatsonBuy MT1820305 for £3
My colleagues and I frequently discussed what to say to students who do exactly what has been asked for and then claim to have finished. For example, what if the task had been to find the number of paving slabs needed to surround a certain square pond, given the size of each slab? (I have learnt from experience that the correct answer is 'more than you think' because an expert landscaper will want to select from a collection of slabs!) Some students draw a diagram, count the slabs and write a report. Others start writing the report before they do anything towards finding an answer. Anne Watson works at the University of Oxford.
Centre feature
The Maths Mansion experience - Chris Ellis
This is a report on Maths Mansion, forty television programmes for Y5 and Y6, each focusing on one learning objective, with supporting print material and CD-ROMs. Chris Ellis is the creator and writer of C4's Maths Mansion.
A short clip from Maths Mansion [1Mb Streaming]
Judy Sayers, a member of ATM's General Council has written a review of Maths Mansion [16kb].
Regular features
Reflections - Robin Stewart
Here in Northern Ireland, where I now live, the education system is still ravaged by the great eleven plus debate. Yes it still rumbles on after all these years. It was a topic of discussion when I left for England thirty years ago. It seems hard to believe that in a civilised society children are put to an arbitrary test at such a young age, which results in them being branded either a success or a failure. Grammar school for the minority, secondary school for the large majority.
Noticeboard
Professional Officer's Update - Barbara Ball
Note from the Web Editor
ATM's position paper on assessment expresses concern about the impact of current assessment arrangements in English state schools on the learning of mathematics, and a number of supportive responses have been received. Many of the respondents were in despair about the way in which the national tests distort the curriculum and affect the quality of teaching and learning.
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