Module 5 Lesson 1
Module 5 Lesson 1
Module 5 Lesson 1
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Module Overview
o
Module 5
o
o Lesson 1: How K-3 Children Learn Math
o Lesson 2: Teaching K-3 Math
o Lesson 3: Assessing and Addressing Children's Needs in Math
Topics
o 1.0 How Children Learn Math
o 2.0 The Learning Cycle and its Implications for Teaching
o 3.0 Approaches to Teaching Math
Activities and Assignments
o Pre-Lesson Activity
o Activity 1
o Activity 2
o Activity 3
o Assignment 13
Checklists and Worksheets
o Phil-IRI English pre-test recording sheets
o Phil-IRI English passages
o Phil-IRI oral reading in English profile and observation checklist
Introduction
Learning Objectives
Pre-Lesson Activity
Topics
o 1.0 How Children Learn Math
o 2.0 The Learning Cycle and its Implications for Teaching
o 3.0 Approaches to Teaching Math
Assignment
Lesson Synthesis
References
This courseware is made possible by the generous support of the American People
through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents
of this courseware are the sole responsibility of the Foundation for Information
Technology Education and Development (FIT-ED) and do not necessarily reflect the
views of USAID or the United States Government.
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Lesson 1
How K-3 Children Learn Math
Welcome to the first lesson of Module 5.
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Learning Objectives
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Pre-Lesson Activity
Read the following statements about how young children learn Math and indicate (by
ticking the relevant choice) whether you agree or disagree with each one. The statements
will help you to reflect on your beliefs about teaching and learning Math. After
completing the lesson, you might wish to review these statements to find out whether
there are changes in your beliefs and perceptions.
1. Math is a set of answers to questions.
Agree Disagree
2. Math is a process of investigation and exploration in which children are allowed to
actively work with materials and ideas.
Agree Disagree
3. Learning Math is a matter of rote learning.
Agree Disagree
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I hate Math!
I don't like Math.
Math scares me!
Where do you think does this negative attitude toward Math come from? Is it because
these children are just not good at Math? Or could it be that they are not being taught
Math the right way?
To teach Math effectively, it is necessary to first understand how children learn Math.
According to Hatfield et al. (1997), there are three learning theories with implications for
teaching Math:
Learning is action
Learning is reaction
Learning is process
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Click on the photo of each of these three well-known cognitive constructivist theorists to
find out more about this view of learning.
Jerome Bruner
Lev Vygotsky
Jean Piaget
Jerome Bruner theorized that learning occurs through three stages of representation. To
truly understand a concept, it is necessary for learners to go through the three stages,
which are:
Lev Vygotsky theorized that cognitive development results from social interaction. He
believed that an adult or a more learned person can help in the child's cognitive
development. He proposed the zone of proximal development (ZPD) to refer to the set
of tasks that a child cannot do independently, but which he or she can learn with the help
of a more skilled person, such as a teacher or an older peer.
Can you give an example of ZPD that you have observed in your classroom?
Jean Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development. Click on each stage below to
read the description.
1
Children at this stage act on objects using their sense of touch, taste, sight, hearing, and
smell.
Children at this stage can think about things symbolically. They can use different objects
to represent something — for example, a block to represent a phone, a stick to represent a
spoon, or a playmate to represent a father or a mother.
At this stage, children can engage in logical or operational thought, which is being able to
work things out internally in one's head (rather than physically trying things out in the
real world). Children at this stage understand that something stays the same in quantity
even though its appearance changes (the law of conservation).
At this stage, children can think about abstract concepts and solve problems in a logical
and systematic way.
thinking and viewing things from his or her perspective only, and not
egocentrism
understanding that there is another perspective
focusing on only one attribute, such as the number of slices but not the
centration
size of the slice
irreversible not being able to reverse a process (for example, not being able to count
thought backward)
intuitive thought manifested by asking a lot of questions like "Why?" or "How come?"
lack of not knowing that something can stay the same even though its
conservation appearance has changed
lack of class
knowing the specific but not the group to which something belongs
inclusion
transitive interference is a form of deductive reasoning that allows one
lack of to derive a relation between items that have not been explicitly
transitive compared before (with transitive interference one can infer that if item
interference B is related to item C, and item C is related to item D, then item B must
be related to item D)
Jerome Bruner theorized that learning occurs through three stages of 111represendation.
To truly understand a concept, it is necessary for learners to go through the three stages,
which are:
Learning at this stage happens through touching, feeling, and manipulating concrete
objects. In Mathematics education, manipulatives like algebra tiles, papers, and coins
are the concrete objects with which actions (e.g., adding) are performed.
Learning at this stage occurs with the help of images or other visuals representing
concrete objects. In Mathematics education, these images include shapes, diagrams, and
graphs.
At this stage, words and symbols are used to represent concepts. For example, in
Mathematics a number is a symbol used to describe how many of something there are.
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"Learning is reaction" is a behaviorist view of learning — i.e., the idea that learning is a
change in behavior that is elicited through the provision of a stimulus and conditioned
through the use of positive or negative reinforcement.
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How do you process information as a learner? If you were given a reading assignment
now, would you read the overview or summary first? Or would you start from the very
beginning and read it page by page?
Different learners process information — i.e., encode, store, and retrieve information —
in different ways. Some learners prefer learning the general idea first while others prefer
learning the specific ideas first. Knowing how your students process information will
help you decide what activity or assessment to give.
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When you were a child, which of these two activities would you have found easier to
answer? Click on each activity sheet to see a bigger version.
If you picked the first activity sheet (the sheet on the left), then you are a field-
dependent learner. In field-dependent processing (simultaneous processing) the
learner prefers to see the whole picture, for example by looking at the summary or the
overview of a certain material. The learner prefers that stimulus materials are presented
all at once, and he/she looks for patterns to break down the whole into its respective parts
to arrive at a solution.
If you picked the second activity sheet, then you are a field- independent learner. In
field-independent processing (successive processing) the learner focuses on the parts
rather than the whole, and he/she prefers that information is presented successively, or
from one component to the next, until the whole emerges. The learning approach is
building a whole to arrive at a solution.
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Activity 1
What type of thought processing does each activity below require? Click the button
indicating your choice.
1.
fielddependent
fieldindependent
2.
fielddependent
fieldindependent
3.
field- dependent
fieldindependent
4.
fielddependent
fieldindependent
Check your answers
1. This is a field-dependent activity because all information is provided and the learner
must pick which equations on the left equal 12, and which equations on the right equal 4.
3. This is a fieldindependent activity because the learner needs to fill in the table with the
missing numbers.
4. This is a field-dependent activity because the learner is given the complete set of
numbers and asked to look for patterns.
Remember: Different types of activities cater to different types of learners. Aside from
assessing each learner and how he/she learns, you need to provide both types of activities
to the class.
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Different learners have different learning styles. According to Charlesworth & Lind
(2010), "in planning learning experiences for children, it is essential to consider
individual and culturally determined styles of learning."
View the slideshow below of different learning styles. Place your cursor on the slide and
then click on the side arrow to go to the next slide.
‹›
‹›
‹›
Some learners work well under time pressure (students who are in a hurry to submit their
answers) while others are more relaxed (students who work until the bell rings).
Learning styles can also be associated with demeanor such as being relaxed, serious, or
easily frustrated (Charlesworth & Lind, 2010).
Finally, some students work best alone, some work better in pairs, and some work well in
groups. This implies the need to balance individual and collaborative learning activities.
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Activity 2
Choose a Math topic and formulate an activity or instruction that corresponds to each
type of intelligence.
Intelligence Activity/Instruction
Verbal-Linguistic
Logical-Mathematical
Bodily-Kinesthetic
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Musical
Spatial-Visual
Naturalist
Existential
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Based on the perspectives of how children learn presented in the first section,
educationists have proposed a learning cycle that views learning as a process of going
through the stages of awareness, exploration, inquiry, and utilization. Bredekamp &
Rosegrant (1992) adapted the learning cycle to include what teachers need to do at each
stage (click on the tab below).
Observe Facilitate
Explore materials Support and enhance exploration
Collect information Provide opportunities for active
Discover exploration
Create Extend play
Figure out components Describe the child's activity
Exploration
Construct own Ask open-ended questions (e.g.,
understanding "What else could you do?")
Apply own rules Respect the child's thinking and
Create personal meaning rule systems
Represent own meaning Allow for constructive error
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If children learn Math in different ways, then it is necessary to apply different methods
and approaches to help them acquire skills and understand concepts effectively.
In this lesson, we will discuss the following methods and approaches to teaching Math:
Problem-solving
Situated learning
Inquiry-based approach
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3.1 Problem-solving
Your Nanay asked you to buy two cans of corned beef from the store. One can is 36
pesos. If she gave you 100 pesos, will that be enough? Will you get change?
Do you think this is a meaningful problem? Do you think your students will be eager and
enthusiastic to solve the problem? If you were to edit the problem, what would you
change?
According to Skinner (1990, p.1; quoted in Charlesworth & Lind, 2010), "A problem is a
question which engages someone in searching for a solution." A problem should:
Be meaningful to the learner such that he/she would want to solve it with
curiosity and eagerness
Relate to and include the learner's own experiences
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Consider these two problems and how Mark solves each of them.
Ana has 10 pesos. Paco has 7 pesos. How much do they have altogether?
Mark notes the key words “How much do they have altogether?” and concludes that this
is an addition problem. He adds 10 pesos and 7 pesos and gets the answer: 17 pesos.
Ana and Paco want to buy a chocolate bar that costs 18 pesos. Ana has 6 pesos and
Paco has 8 pesos. Altogether, do they have enough money to buy the chocolate bar?
Mark take notes of the key word “altogether” and concludes again that this is an addition
problem. He adds 6 pesos and 8 pesos and gets the answer: 14 pesos.
The first problem is an example of a routine problem. It has a predictable pattern and
Mark was able to solve it correctly even without reading and understanding the whole
problem.
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There are four essential steps in problem-solving. Click on each step below to find out
what they are.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
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It is important to give children different kinds of problems to solve, and to allow them to
use different problem-solving strategies.
Click on the tab below to find out the different kinds of problems that your students
should become familiar with.
Kinds of Problems
Anna paid 20 pesos for two packs of candy. Each pack has 5 candies. How many
candies did Anna buy?
Anna paid 20 pesos for the packs of candy she bought. Each pack has 5 candies.
How many candies did Anna buy?
2. Problems that need estimation or which do not have clear right or wrong
answers
Rocky has 150 pesos. He would like to buy a toy car that costs 65 pesos and a toy
truck that costs 75 pesos. Does he have enough money to buy the toys?
3. Problems that are applied in everyday life (such as when shopping, cooking,
and the like)
4. Problems that are about your students
5. Problems that require more than one step and allow the students to use logic or
reasoning and test ideas
6. Problems that will require your students to make their own problems
7. Problems that will require your students to provide data
Your class of 27 students will celebrate family day next month. Decide the food
and prizes for the games, estimate the cost, and calculate each student's share.
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Don't expect your students to learn the different problem-solving strategies right away.
These will be introduced gradually and developed throughout their elementary grades.
And don't forget to let your students explain their solutions or the process they used in
solving a problem. This enables them to better understand what they did and how they
did it. It also allows you to assess whether the students understood the process used.
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Ms. Santos set up a makeshift sari-sari store inside the classroom. She arranged different
items, such as corned beef, milk, crackers, chocolate, tetra pack of juice, shampoo, soap,
and toothpaste. Every item has a price. She instructs the students to choose two items to
buy from the store, and figure out the amount they need to pay and the change they will
get if they pay with certain amounts of money.
Do you think children will actively participate in this activity? Do you think learning will
occur in this activity?
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Activity 3
Click yes if the learning activity is an example of situated learning; click no if otherwise.
1. Mr. Santos asked the students to read their textbooks and answer the exercises on
pages 3-20.
Yes No
2. Students play the role of passengers in a jeepney who need to pay the correct fare to
the jeepney driver and calculate change for different amounts paid.
Yes No
3. Teacher Lani discussed and showed how to add numbers with regrouping.
Yes No
4. Teacher Rose gave the students chocolates and asked them how they will divide the
chocolates among themselves.
Yes No
Check your answers
The activities described in #2 and #4 are examples of situated learning.
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Read the two scenarios below (click on each clipboard). Which scenario do you think
shows an inquiry-based teaching and learning experience?
Scenario 1
Scenario 1
The teacher defines multiplication to the students, and then shows a multiplication
sentence. She presents the following problem to the class:
Ms. Anna teaches four classes. In one of her classes, the students are seated in four rows.
Each row has six students. How many students does she have in that class?
Scenario 2
Scenario 2
The teacher then asks the students to answer the question using cubes. She lets the
students in each group discuss how they are going to solve the problem.
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In inquiry-based lessons, the teacher guides students as they actively explore a topic and
discover on their own the answer to an open-ended question.
Process-oriented
Process-oriented
Inquiry-based learning is focused on the process used to arrive at the answer, not the
answer itself. It is through the process of figuring out the answer that the student
constructs meaning and internalizes concepts.
Balance
Balance
There is a balance between content and procedure, since Math involves particular ways
of thinking and not just specific content.
Investigation
Investigation
The students explore and investigate concepts and processes that are embedded in a
problem, which is dictated by the content or by the students' questions.
Collaboration
Collaborative learning
Students work in pairs or small groups, followed by a whole-class discussion towards the
end of the lesson. Thus, students learn to articulate their thinking, brainstorm, and build
upon and test ideas as they work toward a solution.
Multiple methods and strategies
Multiple methods and strategies
Different problem-solving methods and strategies to arrive at conclusions are allowed,
since there is usually more than one strategy for solving a problem and different children
know different strategies.
Teacher as guide
Teacher as guide
Instead of giving the students the answer directly, the teacher uses questions and prompts
to help students to visualize the problem and arrive at the correct conclusion through their
own problem-solving strategies, and understand the concepts involved. This means that
the teacher should understand the concepts very well, and know various ways of solving
the problem.
Questioning and monitoring
Questioning and monitoring
The teacher goes around and listens in on the students' discussion as they work on the
problem, in order to assess the students' understanding and to identify possible
misconceptions.
Adaptive teaching
Adaptive teaching
The teacher needs to constantly reflect on the students' responses and their observations,
and adapt the lesson accordingly.
Reallife applications
Real-life applications
The problem that students are asked to explore are articulated such that there is clearly a
real-life, meaningful application.
Using Math tools
Using Math tools
Students are given Math tools, such as rods and blocks, to help them visualize the
problem and bridge the gap between concrete and abstract thinking. Using these tools
also helps in explaining problem-solving strategies.
Communicating
Communicating
Students identify and formulate problems for investigation, express their ideas, and work
through the problems by visualizing and explaining. They also present their work to each
other and provide constructive feedback to the work of their peers.
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Selecting the right materials is an important step in planning your students' learning
experience.
Different types of learning materials are appropriate for different stages of cognitive
development, as this table by Charlesworth & Lind (2010) shows.
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Assignment 13
Reflect on the way you teach Math or observe a Math class in your grade level. Answer
the following questions based on your reflection or observations:
1. What approach or method did you or the teacher you observed use in teaching
Math? How effective is this method for the particular set of learners being taught?
2. What learning materials did you or the teacher you observed use? How appropriate
are these learning materials for the Math concept, and for the particular set of learners
being taught?
3. If given the opportunity to redo the lesson, how else would you teach the same
topic to the same class?
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References
Bredekamp, S. & Rosegrant, T. (Eds.). (1992). Reaching potentials: Appropriate curriculum and
assessment for young children (Vol. 1). Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young
Children.
Charlesworth, R. & Lind, K. (2010). Math and science for young children (6th ed.). Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.
Hatfield, M.M., Edwards, N.T. & Bitter, G.C. (1997). Mathematics methods for elementary and middle
school teachers. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Pappas, C. Instructional design models and theories: The discovery learning model Retrieved from
https://elearningindustry.com/discovery-learning-model.
Strategies for Teaching Elementary Mathematics. (2008). Inquiry teaching: Models of instruction [Blog
post]. Retrieved from https://mathteachingstrategies.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/inquiry-basedteaching/.
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