Model Drawing Success!

Well ok- it was only partly a success, because the answer wasn't perfect, but you could definitely see some good thinking strategies going on.  The student who created the model wrote the total on the inside of the bar so it looks as though she is bonding 230 and 650.  This is a common mistake with my class.  They need to remember to write the total outside of the bar using brackets.  After talking to her, she explained that she actually did separate the original 640 bar into two bars.
What she did very well was to rewrite the question, state the who and what and her initial math was correct, though she didn't take the question far enough. She also answered the question in a complete thought.

  This is the first time that students are really starting to use this process as a visual representation of what is going on in their equations without any real help.  In fact, a substitute teacher gave the test, so the work is genuinely their own.  I am wondering if anyone is having any great success with their students using bar modeling without being told to?

If anyone is interested, I do have a rubric for bar modeling.

Columbus Article

After checking the first post, it was clear that I wasn't very clear about posting the Columbus article.  I edited my original post so that the link stands out.  I will also attach it to this post.  Thanks Laurie!

Columbus Article

Singapore Math What's the Hype?

Singapore Math is a math curriculum developed in Singapore in the 1980’s.  It has a definite focus on number sense and problem solving.

Its uniqueness comes with from the strategies that are used to help students develop a much deeper understanding of numbers than many of us have experienced in our own education.

What I have found is that many of the Singapore math strategies fall nicely with what we are doing.  It has been my experience that I have used many of the strategies stressed in the Singapore curriculum, but it has never been with the intensity that my students have required.

Attached is a link to an article from Columbus, where it seems that many of the teachers have embraced this style of teaching.          


Columbus Article