Teaching talks: Math problems: Ours

Teaching Pre K-8, Jan 1995 by Broderick, Patricia, Raymond, Allen

So, okay, we'll move on from the Guidebook, which you'll have to see to believe anyway, and we'll get on to describing other things.

How about an Assessment Guide for the teacher which outlines a complete philosophy of authentic assessment? It also includes assessment techniques, sample appraisals of student resources and reproducible forms for recording notes, observations and impressions. This has 112 pages, is the same size as the Guidebook and follows the units in the Guidebook. This book is one we think every teacher should have, whether or not they have the rest of the program. There are several pages in the front of this Assessment Guide which should be carved in stone and brought to every classroom. These pages deal with "What is Assessed in MathLand," and goes on to describe and illustrate the various types of assessment such as "Using the Interview Assessment," "Using the Portfolio Review," "Using the Written Assessment." We feel so strongly about this one that we're reprinting one suggestion here: "One formal Written Assessment per unit is offered in the Assessment Guide. This assessment is designed to be used with the whole class. It may be used at any time during the unit or as a pre-unit assessment. Its purpose is to give you a sense of the children's thinking in regard to one aspect of the unit's subject matter. It is not intended as an evaluation of the entire unit. The Written Assessment is a question or task that you read to the whole class and to which each child gives a written response. You may choose not to use this assessment with the whole class, but instead, give it only to those children for whom you need additional information about their mathematical thinking." What a great way to look at written assessment! Right on, Creative Publications.

We're not through with the various forms of assessment yet, though. There's a page on the "Importance of Observations," "Using Self-Assessment" and "Math Journals."

Daily Tune-Ups provide essential skills practice, reinforcement and review. 170 Tune-Ups, in a 6" x 9", 170-page book, provides for ten-minute teacher-led activities and mental math exercises. (Remember, there are one of these books, with different activities, for every grade level!)

MathLand Reproducibles include weekly multilingual Family Letters and additional masters with game rules, grid paper and activity summaries. There are from 75 to 100 pages in each edition (English and Spanish) of this 8-1/2" x 11" book, and both editions are available (if ordered) in the complete program. The Overhead Manipulative Kit contains all the transparent manipulatives pieces you'll need, and you'll probably use it a lot because we found the suggested activities easy and effective.

Now, all of the above stuff is for you. For the class, we have ArithmeTwists(TM) by well-known author Marcy Cook. These are four self-paced student books for ongoing practice with a problem-solving twist. Topics include number combinations, logic, equations, number patterns, money and number sense. The innovative activities are sequenced by degree of difficulty. Some students prefer working these pages with a partner as a team. For intermediate students, using calculators allows them to deal with a greater range of large-number problems than if they had to do all the arithmetic mentally or on paper. "Providing access to more complex mathematics concepts for all students is possible with a calculator, and will lead to an increased interest and excitement about mathematics." Yeah!