Resource Blog #5

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Theme-Park-Project-An-End-of-the-Year-Math-Activity-for-Upper-Elementary-1773411

The Theme Park Project is a great project that could be used as a big end of the year project in middle school math classrooms. I liked this website I found that explained the project because it explained it in two parts which could be used as a form of differentiation. The first part or Project A challenges students to create a theme park by calculating are and perimeter of rides and attractions. Project B  is a little bit more challenging because it requires students to not only do what Project A entails but also to calculate the cost of concrete pads and fencing. This could be a great way to incorporate differentiation in the classroom on a small level.

120

Synthesis Blog #4

After watching the video on differentiation, I realized just how important it is to differentiate instruction for students. Not all of Ms. Maronpot’s students can engage on the same cognitive level of questions; therefore; it was vital that she used different types of instruction so that she could reach all of her students. In my math classroom, it is important that I use different types of instruction such as interactive activities that will engage all of my students. The use of the smart board in Ms. Maronpot’s classroom gave students the opportunity to be excited about the lesson. I think for my math classrooms it will be important to not just use a smart board as a dry erase board, but to use it in a way that will be interactive for the students. Also, I really liked the idea of the puzzle questions, and I think that could be really helpful when students are learning different math concepts. For math, the puzzle questions could be really helpful to question different students on a level that makes sense for them. For my social studies classroom, I think these specific activities would not be the best for differentiating instruction for my students. However, the cognitive question levels can be used in any content-area with the right adjustments. All in all, it is important to differentiate instruction in any content-area, so that you can affectively reach all of your students.

Resource Blog #4

Learning logs

As students start class, they are given a prompt to which they respond for a few minutes in writing. The task is not designed as a mathematics problem per se, but rather to encourage students to focus on mathematics.

One fifth-grade teacher typically used learning logs to review previously learned material. On one occasion, the prompt she posed was, What did we learn about mean, median, and mode? Most students wrote at least a half page filled with definitions and examples (see Figure 1A). While studying probability, one student wrote the following definition: "The 'probability' of something is how likly your gonna get, pick, or find something." He then gave an example using shapes and colored cards (see Figure 1B).

Figure 1A: Learning log entries by fifth graders — definitions and examples of mean, median, and mode

The article I found gave examples of multiple ways to integrate mathematics and writing. One strategy I particularly liked was a learning log. A learning log is a way to get students to review what they did in class the day before through writing. This activity is like a bell ringer.  Students are given a prompt that usually asks a question about a term they learned the class before. Students only have few minutes to work on their learning log. This activity is designed to get students thinking about math as soon as they come into the classroom. This is also a way teachers can get a quick check to see what students know and what they still need work on.

123