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Links
St. Mark
School Update:
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Students in all grades are involved in
new math groupings. Due to the additional support from our School Division
for mathematics instruction and the implementation of the new Math Makes
Sense program, we are able to allocate more staffing our classrooms during
Math.
Currently, there are four classroom
teachers
that provide instruction in math from
grade three to five. We have now added two additional teachers to support
the implementation of the Math Makes Sense program. As a result,
teacher-student ratios are reduced, and teachers have more opportunity for
on-on-one instruction. Our present classroom allocations are a grade three
(Mrs. Revet), a grade three/four (Ms. Santoro), a grade four/five (Mrs.
Siba) and a grade five (Mrs. Kindrachuk/ Mrs. Onyilagha). For Math Makes
Sense groupings, our classrooms for math will consist of two grade three
classrooms, two grade four classrooms, and two grade five classrooms. The
additional teaching staff will be
Ms. Lang and Ms. Felix.
It is our hope that these changes
result in a
learning environment where all of our
students experience success in mathematics. We hope to challenge your child
and ensure that they are moving toward and beyond curriculum
expectations.
If you have any questions or concerns
about
the changes to math instruction, please
phone or visit us at school at your earliest convenience. Thank you for
your anticipated support.
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To learn more about Addison Wesley's Mathematics
Makes Sense, please contact your child's classroom teacher, or contact St. Mark
School at 659-7390.
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Math Makes Sense* Program Overview
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Program Principles
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All students need opportunities to learn mathematics in ways
that are meaningful to them. A responsible mathematics program recognizes
many learning styles and offers guidance to teachers as they plan for
individual student differences.
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Students best develop conceptual mathematical understanding
when they have opportunities to "do" math, to engage in hands-on experiences
in which they explore concepts in a rich mathematical context.
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Mathematics understanding is deepened and enhanced when
students have opportunities to make connections between mathematical
concepts and other mathematics strands, other disciplines, and the real
world.
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Parents have a significant role to play in student learning, in
supporting and reinforcing what is learned in the classroom each day, and
promoting a positive attitude toward mathematics in the home.
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A mathematics program should support curriculum implementation and
assessment with 100% curriculum fit and practical teacher support - pacing
guidelines; combined grades strategies; models for independent and group
learning; performance-based assessment suggestions.
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Balanced
Instruction
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For real
understanding, students need a combination of open-ended problem-solving
opportunities, meaningful dialogue, and purposeful practice that
reinforces, and extends, new learning. Balanced instruction recognizes four
key components that build mathematical literacy, and Math Makes Sense
supports each key component, as illustrated below.
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Balanced instruction is delivered in a consistent three-part
lesson structure that supports the way students learn, and the way teachers
teach.
How Students Learn:
How Teachers Teach:
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Teaching and
Learning for Understanding
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Math Makes Sense has been
built on the belief that mathematics is more than a list of isolated facts,
that mathematics as a whole can make sense for students, teachers, and
parents. Fundamental to this belief is our understanding of the importance
of mathematical connections: Math makes sense for students when they see
how mathematical ideas are connected to the real world, to other
mathematical ideas, and to what they are learning in other subject areas.
When students
understand mathematical procedures, they can recall them easily and apply
them in a variety of settings. When they understand the main concepts and
connections of mathematical topics, they rely on reasoning more, and on
memory less.
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In Math Makes Sense,
the lesson framework delivers instruction in the way in which students
learn most effectively. It is based on the understanding of how students' mathematical
understanding, skills, and strategies develop from the early pre-school
years and throughout elementary school.
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Purposeful
Practice
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In Math Makes Sense,
purposeful practice is offered in every lesson to suit a range of learner
needs. This allows students to clarify, refine, consolidate, and apply new
learning through a variety of experiences.
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K -Grade 2 Practice includes:
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Reinforcement for all students,
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Extra Support for students who may face ESL challenges, or
need more experiences with early concepts, problem solving, or applying
procedures,
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Extension for student who are ready to take concepts
further,
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Numbers Every Day and Activity Banks for hands-on
practice.
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Grades 3 and Up Practice includes:
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One to two pages of Practice in every
lesson,
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One question in each Practice is identified as an Assessment
Focus, providing a good barometer of each student's level of
understanding,
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Numbers Every Day reinforces students' Number Sense,
Calculator Skills, and Mental Math in each lesson,
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Extra Practice opportunities to support students' specific
needs.
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Assessment
for Learning
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Math Makes Sense
provides assessment that informs instruction, with direct links to the
curriculum and teacher reporting. Assessment opportunities are woven right
into the main flow of instruction, across every unit, providing purposeful,
practical and powerful contributions to how well students learn.
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Comprehensive
Assessment Support is provided through Planning for Assessment charts at
the beginning of each unit, Assessment for Learning notes during each
lesson, and Assessment masters for the unit content, as well as an
Assessment Module for additional background support. All are found in the
Teacher Guide.
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Diagnostic Assessment
is
meant to identify students who are at risk in terms of acquiring concepts,
procedures, and strategies required in the unit, and to develop insights
into particular needs so that instruction can be adjusted to ensure
students have the best possibility to succeed.
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Formative Assessment is used to gather
ongoing information in a variety of ways, to provide feedback to students
about how they are doing and how they might improve, to adjust instruction,
to provide additional scaffolding to students who need it, and to engage
students in their own learning and in self-assessment.
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Summative Assessment is used to make a
judgment about a student's achievement of the learning goals for the unit,
and to facilitate reporting.
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Curriculum Requirements
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Math Makes Sense
organizes the program into clusters of expectations/outcomes across and
within grades to create a logical, conceptual, and developmental
progression of curriculum presentation.
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Math Makes Sense
supports Saskatchewan Learning's Elementary Curriculum Guide, which is
currently under revision to better combine both programs.
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Reaching All
Learners
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Math Makes Sense
meets diverse needs in both the Student Book and Teacher Guide. Through the
Teacher Guide, the program also provides strategies for creating an
inclusive learning environment while supporting individual student needs.
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Explore activities use a variety
of groupings and types of materials; their exploratory nature allows for
varying background knowledge. Show and Share highlights
opportunities for students to support each other in developing new
concepts. Connect consolidates key concepts for all learners. Practice
questions cover a range of difficulty levels and learning styles.
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Understanding the
elementary-level student means using an open, inviting design with language
at an appropriate reading level, content pacing that fits the developmental
stage of the learner, contexts that are meaningful across cultures - from
First Nations people to our multicultural mosaic, and opportunities to
communicate responses in a variety of ways - through words, numbers,
pictures, or models.
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Through the Teacher
Guide, additional activities address multiple intelligences, while teaching
notes offer suggestions for supporting specific student needs; Mathematics
Centres, Practice, Extra Support, Activity Banks, Assessment for Learning,
Additional Activities, ESL Strategies, Alternative Explore, Common
Misconceptions, How to Help, and Step by Step.
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Math
Connections
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Addison Wesley
Mathematics Makes Sense recognizes that mathematical understanding is
deepened and enhanced when students make connections between what they are
learning and their own experience.
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Real-World Contexts uses Unit Launches to
provide contexts to prompt mathematical conversation, Problem Prompts and
activities in core lessons which are relevant to the student's experience,
and Unit Problems that feature applied settings.
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Numbers Every Day connects
"number" to everyday class routines in Kindergarten to Grade 2,
threading number concepts through all core learning in Grades 3-8.
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Cross-Curricular
Connections at Kindergarten to Grade 2, Teacher Guide notes in each lesson
provide suggestions for relating mathematics to other subject areas - art,
science, social students, physical education, and music. At grades 3 and
up, Math Link features in the student book highlight cross-curricular,
mathematical, or real-world connections; the Teacher Guide details
additional ideas.
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Integration of
Strands occurs within units at the lesson level, and through the
Activity Banks and Mathematics Centres, and Cross-Strand Investigations
appear each term, to provide opportunities for rich problem solving that
draws on multiple strand concepts.
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Home
Connections
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Parents have a
significant role to play in student learning, in supporting and reinforcing
what is learned in the classroom each day, and promoting a positive
attitude toward mathematics in the home. Math Makes Sense provides several
tools for communicating with parents, with a changing emphasis as the
learner matures from grade to grade.
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At the beginning of
each unit, a Dear Family (Grade 1 and 2), Learning Goals, and Key
Words (Grades 3 and up) are included. Each page has a Focus
statement to communicate the key learning(s) for the lesson. Parents can
use the Home Connection section of each lesson to check key
concepts, or help with further reinforcement. As well, Math at Home
features suggest activities for students to do with family members at home.
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Grades 3 to 8 also
have a Practice and Homework Book for a Quick Review of key
concepts, graded practice questions students can complete at home, and
games and activities used for practice when appropriate.
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Technology
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Technology lessons in the student book highlight opportunities for
learning new mathematical concepts through the use of the calculator or the
computer.
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Addison Wesley Mathematics e-Tools (K-8) software helps
students develop important math concepts using an electronic form of
mathematics manipulatives. They are useful to guide class discussion, as an
alternative to concrete materials, especially relevant for students with
motor challenges
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e-tools include:
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Place-Value Blocks
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Counters
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Money
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Time
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Fractions
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Probability
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Spreadsheet-data-grapher
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Geometry Shapes
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Geometry Drawing
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Parents can download the Math@Home
magazine, filled with background information, Canadian math trivia, and fun
games and activities that the whole family can do together.
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*excerpted from Addison Wesley Math Makes
Sense Program Overview, Pearson Education Canada Inc., 2004
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