Sold a Story Season 2 tells the story of Project Follow Through, one of the largest education studies ever done. Even the program that “won” had schools where it worked and schools where it didn’t. After listening, here are three things I keep pondering about the curriculum on paper versus the curriculum kids actually get, and why it’s curriculum AND teachers.
There’s no debating that we want kids to be quick with their addition and multiplication facts. But there IS a lot of debate about how we get them there. Some folks believe we should just drill kids on their facts. Others believe we should just let kids play and discover.
The research says… neither of those.
Have you ever asked a student, “How’d you get that?” and gotten a shrug, or “I just knew”? The first question we ask matters, but what we ask NEXT matters even more. Here’s the difference between funneling and focusing questions, with elementary examples you can use in your next number talk.
Ever had a student add 3/4 + 3/4 and get 6/8? It’s not a procedure problem. It’s a WHOLE problem. One common fraction visual makes that mistake feel completely logical to kids. Here’s which one to hold off on, what to start with instead, and how to keep kids focused on the whole.
Why do some students look lost before they even start a math problem? I sat down with Becky Lord to unpack five cognitive areas that affect math learning (working memory, processing speed, verbal comprehension, visual processing and fluid reasoning) and the simple changes elementary teachers can make, starting with LESS, not more.
Welcome! I’m a Recovering Traditionalist elementary teacher and now, I help teachers and children learn to love math. Explore how I can help provide you PD at your fingertips! BuildMathMinds.com