Graduation Speech : Elementary Summer School Program

The kindergarten students will be able to count to 100 by ones, fives and by tens.

It is important to teach children numeracy to suit their age and use appropriate techniques to suit their age and ability because sometimes too much emphasis on formal recording of 'sum' if introduced to early to children could make it difficult for them to understand. The learning style of numeracy is given more emphasis today to make them understand it much better. In the early years emphasis is made on how to make children understand different methods of working out to be able to arrive to an answer. Working with children the aim is to give children solid ground on

The authors noted in their article that their past and current experiences have included children struggling with the concept of counting. When working with students, the authors

The teacher prepared a lesson to do an assessment to the children about addition. This lesson was to show on the smart board different numbers with dots for counting. All children had the opportunity to participate in this activity, in which the teacher was able to observe and document what they know and what are some of their needs to help them. The teacher asked the children question such as Do you know which number represents these points? Can you represent it in the form of an addition? The child represented and wrote the addition 0 + 2 = 2.

Despite another teacher contention’s saying that the” worksheet- based arithmetic system is not developmentally appropriate.” Ms. Cortez stands her ground and forms her own judgement to go ahead and use the work sheet – based arithmetic system in her classroom despite what another teacher says. The children seem to be having fun in her classroom using the work sheets as Ms. Cortez say’s “whipped through the sheets.” I’m so glad Ms. Cortez decided to use this teaching technique in her classroom, maybe the other teachers will see how developmentally appropriate this is for kindergarten students because Ms. Cortez is doing such a wonderful job teaching the students about math concepts and the students seem very excited and eager to learn. This

Teaching Preschoolers to Count: Effective Strategies for Achieving Early Mathematics Milestones was an article published in Early Childhood Education Journal February 1st 2016. The research was completed by Jill L. Jacobi-Vessels who has a PhD in Teaching and Learning from the University of Louisville, MEd Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education, Overseas Study, University Hamburg, Germany and BA Speech/Theatre Minor: German, Indiana University with an interest in Early Childhood Education and early childhood development. To complete part of the research Ms. Jacobi- Vessels co-authored with three other research specialist E. Todd Brown, Victoria J. Molfese and Ahn Do all who have experience in Children, Youth and Family Studies.

This lesson emphasizes one, ten, or one hundred more or less than a given number, which is a skill that will be used assessed on the end of module assessment. This lesson aligns with second grade math state standards and the Eureka math

This will familiarize children with the basics of reading at an early age while promoting the recognition of letters and ultimately, words (“Preparing for Kindergarten,” 2012, p. 28). It is essential that a child’s verbal language abilities be formed prior to their entrance into kindergarten. This means the child is expected to identify items in their surroundings, comprehend directions, and communicate using full sentences (“Preparing for Kindergarten,” 2012, p. 28). The article also discusses the importance of early mathematical abilities. Parents should teach children how to count to ten before they become kindergarteners (“Preparing for Kindergarten,” 2012, p. 32). The role of teachers in this endeavor is critical to ensuring the success of all students. However, it is important for teachers to be cognizant of differences among children in terms of reading level. Also, there may be some students who cannot count that high or others who have no prior experience at all with counting. For example, some parents may not read to their children on a daily basis, some students may be English language learners, and other students may struggle with a learning disability. When developing a lesson plan, differentiated instruction is required. This will allow the material to be adapted to various capabilities and learning styles. The ultimate goal is to successfully form the foundation of a student’s academic

In the beginning of my observations the students in the classroom had been practicing their addition and subtraction in a one digit numbers. However, as the year went on my cooperating teacher started to get her students to be solving two-digit addition and subtractions problems. Before she started with two-digit she wanted to be certain that her students felt confident along with concrete knowledge and examples in their one digit equations because if not, they would fall apart for two digit equations. My teacher had opened with two-digit addition, by developing knowledge on base ten blocks for approximately two weeks, then progressed her students to the standard algorithm. My classroom is set up for their numeracy portion of the class that

The professionally performed lesson that I chose is titled “Quick Images: Visualizing Number Combinations.” I found the lesson on The Teaching Channel website, which is a professional organization. The teacher that performed the lesson is Stephanie Latimer and she is a kindergarten teacher at Lakeridge Elementary School in Seattle, Washington. This lesson aligns with the Common Core State Standard Math.K.OA.A.1 and Math.K.OA.A.3. These standards are: represent addition and subtraction with objects, fingers, mental images, drawings, sounds, acting out situations, verbal explanations, expressions, or equations and decompose numbers less than or equal to 10 into pairs in more than one way, e.g., by using objects or drawings, and record each decomposition by a drawing or equation. The teacher does an effective job of using differentiation, providing a respectful learning environment, actively engaging the learner in the skill and content, and promotes critical thinking among her students.

The teacher would demonstrate how to use the counter to solve the problem once. When students were doing the worksheet, they would move around the counter and try to solve the problems. Most of them were engaging by doing that. I think it is good to use counter for the young children because counters will come in handy for all kinds of math work. Such as to show the pattern or to model our thinking. It is more visual and fun. Counting on the counters also is faster and easier way to get the answer. However, it should only be used in the early age, because math problems will become more complicated when they move to the higher grade and it will require more mental math

Believe it or not, allowing kids to apply numbers in practical ways in their life can aide them in understanding mathematics for life. An easy way to assist kids in this is to lay out ingredients in bowls, this way the excess can be easily contained and put away. Discuss with your child the comparisons between tsp, tbsp, and a cup. Do you own a digital scale? This can be even more fun! Allow them to measure ingredients by the cup and then try it in ounces for fun. Does one cup of flour weigh as much as one cup of water?

Number sense refers to a child’s understanding of numbers and operations and their ability to use this understanding to make decisions and create strategies when working with numbers and operations (Reys & Yang 1998, p. 225-226 in Whitacre, 2015). Research has shown that mental computation and number sense “have strong links” (Rogers, 2009) with one another, as through a child’s performance they are able to demonstrate and reflect their conceptual understanding of how numbers operate and relate to one another. It is pivotal that students develop number sense as it allows them to respond flexibly to mathematical problems and that there can be more than one algorithm applied. This is agreed to by Whitacre (2015), as through this students can display their skills of using different strategies rather than applying a standard algorithm to the problem. Those who have developed a deep understanding of number sense are more capable of identifying the relationship between numbers, determine which form of operation is appropriate to apply and which strategy is most effective when solving the problem. Morgan (1999) and Whitacre (2015)

For the last three years, I, along with other members of our congregation have been working towards connecting with the community around us. For the past three summers, we have run a three-hour, week-long summer camp, and this year we decided to also run a weekly summer enrichment program to help kids in kindergarten through seventh grade with preparing and reviewing school curriculum through the summer. My dad had worked as a science educator for many years; that’s where we decided to start. Cooking and nutrition was something that was very important to the both of us, and somehow we wanted to combine science, math, reading, and nutrition together while preparing a wide age range of kids for the upcoming school year. Informal education wasn’t something I fully believed in, so I wasn’t sure how feasible this goal was going to be. But my perception was altered about education the summer my dad and I ran the summer program.

Multiplicative thinking, fractions and decimals are extremely important areas of mathematics children are required to develop. The concepts within these three areas are related and it is critical for educators to support these relationships in the classroom. Multiplicative thinking involves recall of basic facts, the relationship between multiplication and division and underpins the development of fractions. Comprehension of fractions includes the division of objects, fractions as numbers, the multiple ways equal fractions can be represented, as well as being represented as decimals. Place value is a very important underpinning concept of decimals. Place value aids the ability to read, write and work with decimals. There are a number of difficulties children can come across when developing these concepts and relationships. With a vast mathematical content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge educators can provide effective instruction to help children over come their difficulties. Developing a deep understanding of multiplicative thinking, fractions and decimals will assist children in later mathematics.