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saintanneshs
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| Posted: Feb 25 2006 at 5:12pm | IP Logged
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Hi everyone,
I'm still new at this and de-programming from PS teacher mode and my kids are still really little, but I am really excited about what we've been doing in math for the last few months and want to share...so please bear with me! 
For the last 2 months I' ve been exploring the concepts of place value with my 4.5 and 6yo boys. They love all of the great picture books, especially the food ones, like the M&Ms books and Cheerios books. My 4.5yo is crazy for counting...he counts everything! There are so many great counting and picture books out there. My favorite picture books for place value and counting are:
Arctic Fives Arrive by Elinor J. Pinczes
Anno's Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno
Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
From One to One Hundred by Teri Sloat
One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes
We've been reading these over and over (at the boys' request) during the last 2 months. This winter I have tried whole-heartedly to "light a fire" and not "fill a bucket" and I have found a great math resource to support this! In About Teaching Mathematics by Marilyn Burns, the author emphasizes the importance of tying arithmetic to real-life situations, even going so far as to explain how students are usually programmed throughout the early years with the ability to do arithmetic and yet when left alone to problem solve, the same students who can do the math can't figure out an answer to the problem because they don't know how to APPLY what they've learned. I love this book, which is a K-8 resource, not only because it talks you through how to present ideas and then get out of the way, stepping in only to re-direct the math conversation when it might get off track, but because it encourages teachers to back-off and let the kids figure it out. Throughout the text, students are allowed to make mistakes, hopefully so that they will see their error and then correct it themselves, rather than being told that they are wrong and to try again. Children are encouraged to learn from each other and there is no one right way to problem solve at their age, just as there is no one right way for us adults to solve our problems, but rather, many ways of approaching problems. Children are encouraged to draw or use manipulatives to solve problems, use math vocabulary and communicate their ideas to one another, and when finished, must narrate what they did back to the teacher...imagine that?! 
Another great aspect of this resource are the concrete samples/examples of ways to approach teaching math in each of the areas of mathematics. This is key for me, since I am not following any particular math program but am splitting my year up (as far as math goes) into chunks dedicated to certain math concepts. For example, we are spending Jan/Feb on place value, March on money, Apr/May on time and measurement, etc. Lots of time these concepts overlap and between the lessons we can focus on drill or workbooks for practice with arithmetic on paper. Of course, this resource is designed for teachers in large classrooms of children, but is a great fit for my CM philosophy in our homeschool, too. It isn't a student text, but rather a new way of looking at how to approach Mathematics as a teacher. I don't know if anyone has reviewed any of the Marylin Burns materials, but I have a few and love them all! Here are just a few:
A Collection of Math Lessons (More of a scripted, specific step-by-step approach to applying arithmetic problems in problem-solving situations. In this book M. Burns shows teachers how to facilitate the steps and NOT show children how to solve the problem because the children can think for themselves. Who does this sound like?!)
Math and Literature (K-3) Book Two by Stephanie Sheffield, Introduction by Marilyn Burns, is also a great resource for teaching math through literature. In this book the author takes us through a transcribed version of her lessons which follow 21 great picture books, including how the children respond to the books and what kind of problems they created and then solved based upon the picture books.
A few other fun resource books for guiding children through math:
Munchie Math by Sarah E. Rogers Eckenrode and Linda K. Rogers (Lots of eating during math time as concepts are explored with food for manipulatives)
Literature-Based Math Activities: An Integrated Approachby Alison Abrohms (This is great for finding a quick, fun activity that goes along with living math books but is not always hands-on or following the CM method; plenty of fun "math on paper" activities instead)
Well, I know this post is huge, but finding these resources has really helped me to discover a new way of implementing math through a CM philosophy. I did Math Their Way when teaching in the PS system and loved it, but wanted more ideas along the same thread and felt like these how-to books were just the thing I needed. I know it will get harder to do hands-on (I'm guessing here) as the children get older, so I'm just trying to do one focused math activity a week and then spend the rest of the week letting the children lead. Sometimes they go back to it and do more and sometimes we read new picture books about the same concept, practice math facts or do a workbook page. I'm really feeling like this is a good balance for us, for now. Hope this post helps take the pressure off anyone who might be looking for a few more how-to resources in math! 
I can post a few of the place value activities we've done if anyone is interested.
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Kristine
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momwise
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| Posted: Feb 25 2006 at 10:02pm | IP Logged
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saintanneshs wrote:
My 4.5yo is crazy for counting...he counts everything! <snip>
I can post a few of the place value activities we've done if anyone is interested. |
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Definitely Kristine.....it sounds like math at your house rocks!!
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: Feb 26 2006 at 9:37am | IP Logged
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We like Marilyn Burns here, too. I have a few of her books, The Book of Think, The I Hate Mathematics Book, and Math for Smarty Pants. I pull them out when we want something fun and different to do for math. They are for approx 3-6 grade level(?)
One source you may want to check out is Marcy Cook Math. We have alot of her stuff and it is wonderful-very hands-on, mental math types games, hundred board activities, etc for all age levels. Ds begs to do them. I especially like the tile activities and use her "quiet tiles" for these.I was able to attend one of her seminars and she is so inspiring.
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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ShawnaB
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| Posted: Feb 26 2006 at 3:29pm | IP Logged
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I was wondering if Marilyn Burns would come up on this forum...
Three cheers for Marilyn Burns and her materials from this family! 
I was first introduced to her when I was working on my teaching credential. I just looked her up again at Math Solutions where you can see all her books and resources. Marilyn Burns, in my opinion, is the Charlotte Mason of mathmatics. Her style really focuses on teaching children (and adults too!) to think mathmatically, to enjoy and play with numbers, and to see and solve mathmatically problems in everyday life. It is definitely real learning for math.
I always considered myself mathmatically proficient, but I was never really a math lover. It intimidated me. However, I took a fabulous college course about how to teach math to children, and that is where I discovered Marilyn Burns. Her materials have helped ME changed the way I think about math, and I now really enjoy teaching and applying math.
Specifically, I am using her month-to-month guide for 2nd grade math. (These guides are available for K-6)The chapters in this book are set up as monthly unit studies, just like Kristine described. I love being able to "go deep" with a concept, before moving on to the next. So many traditional curriculums introduce snipets, and then each day practice snipets of a wide variety of skills. Marilyn Burns' lessons are authentic, deep, and fun. I also supplement with activities from her "Teaching Arithmetic" series, such as "Lessons for Addition and Subtraction", and "Lessons for Introducing Multiplication." These books are full of math games to teach and practice concepts. I like that her activities are creative yet simple, and use materials that you likely already have lying around the house, like a deck of cards, dice, 100s board, pattern blocks, etc.
Thanks for this post Kristine. Its too bad we don't live next door to each other! Our littles are so close in age, and wouldn't it be fun to share in one another's learning!
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Shawna, wife of Jacob, mom to Abraham 8 Amelia 5 and Jillian & Jonathan age 3 years http://www.psalm121family.com
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saintanneshs
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| Posted: Feb 26 2006 at 5:00pm | IP Logged
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ShawnaB wrote:
wouldn't it be fun to share in one another's learning!
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Sure would! 
I'm glad so many people have heard about Marilyn Burns! Theresa, I'll have to check out those other titles you mentioned along with your other suggestion. We like to cook for math too!
Gwen, thanks for the supportive words! Here's our place value activities:
* We read Arctic Fives Arrive, counting by 5s on each page
* "How many fingers in the room?" (from Marilyn Burns: problem solving, counting by 1s and 5s and 10s) Transcribed narration in the 6yo's journal.
* From FIAR, we read Katy and the Big Snow and counted horses by 5s on page 1 of the picture book
* (2 day activity) ...and this one was my idea! Most of the ideas we use come from books or suggestions. It's hard to be creative in something you didn't grow up loving! ...We made 12 piles of different kinds of manipulatives, 5 manips in each pile. We estimated how many items there would be altogether and recorded the estimations. The boys problem solved, pushing all the manips into 1 big pile & counting by 1s to reach 60. They wrote the # down and wrote that they counted by 1s. We talked about finding a faster way to count the objects and then the boys put the manips back into groups of 5 (12 groups again) and then counted by 5s to 60, recording the # and that it was reached by counting by 5s. I asked if there was an even faster way. This last one took them a while to figure out. After rearranging the manips a few times, the 6yo pushed the groups of 5 together to make 10s and then counted by tens. I barely had a chance to write the # 60 down for him before he was forming groups of 25 ("same as the quarter"), learning that we couldn't make 3 equal groups of 25, but only 2 with 2 groups of 5 left over, still equaling 60. This was a huge project for the boys but well worth the time spent because it allowed them to utilize so many math skills. Lots of oral narration.
* "Make it Big and Win" idea from Munchie Math is a game we really have enjoyed. You can make your own game board (a laminated place value board with columns for 1s, 10s, 100s and 1000s written at the top or bottom of each column, respectively) but I bought mine in a $29.95 kit that came from Lakeshore Learning Materials, complete with place value 1s blocks, 10s rods, 100s boards and 1000 cube. To play, you set a timer for however long the game will last. Each player rolls the dice (we only used 1 but if you use both you'll get even more practice with addition), collecting however many 1s blocks that correlate with the # rolled with the dice. Add the 1s blocks to the 1s column on the board, writing the number with a dry erase marker at the bottom of the column. When 10 1s blocks are collected, a trade is made for a 10 rod which is moved to the 10s row, writing the number at the bottom of the 10s row. Play continues until the timer goes off. The person with the higest # at the end, wins. Oral narrations with each child's turn to explain each "new" #.
* We read the M&Ms math books, sorting our own small bag of candies by color, making patterns, estimating totals of individual colors and then the total # of candies altogether. The boys tried to make each color group = 10 so they could count by 10s but soon found that they'd have to combine some of the smaller color groups and form new groups with some of the large color groups' extras. They narrated their thinking process during, while I wrote it down and I re-read it after they solved the problem.
* Another of my ideas stemming from M. Burns (we want to do this soon): Read A Cloak for the Dreamer by Aileen Friedman. Draw a cloak or any shape that can be covered by more than 50 but less than 80 shapes (tangram pcs. or other shape manipulatives - use anything handy). When child is finished drawing cloak, problem solve, allowing child to cover it in groups of 1s, 5s, 10s, etc. as desired. Count total # of shape manips to cover cloak. Write what child narrates he has learned (i.e. "My cloak only took 30 shapes, so I need to draw a bigger cloak next time...") Repeat a few times using different combinations of shapes.
* From M. Burns : Read Peter's Pockets by Eve Rice. "How many pockets are in this room?" Estimate, record. Problem solve...1 hands-on solution: Can pass out unifix cubes to be put in each child's pocket (1 per pocket). When finished, can be collected & counted by 1s and/or stacked in rows of 5 or 10 to be counted. How close were estimates?
* Read One Hundred Hungry Ants. Set out 100 of some manips. (can even use 100 cut-outs of ants or ant stamps), let children find different configurations of rows of ants to make 100, as done in the book. Can also use 100s board.
Well, these are most of what we have done, sticking to 1 of these math activities per week, for about 30 minutes or so. We've done some of the games on weekends with dh. Any more than that and I get totally overwhelmed with so many little ones wanting my attention at the same time. Most other days we just climb onto the couch and read away, practice facts, do a workbook page or explore whatever we want with manipulatives. I do like to try to keep things organized, even if this isn't a "formal" math program.
It took me about 10 minutes to find these lessons in my math resource books, a few minutes to jot them down in my lesson plans each week, and since the manips. are usually what I have on hand, no prep. time at all. I spent $29.95 on a place value kit (I think it is a good investment and will be used in the future) and a few dollars on the tiny bags of M&Ms at the grocery store, and my boys LOVE place value, even if they're not sure what to call it!
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Kristine
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: Marilyn Burns & math at our house
