Sunday, April 23, 2017

4th Grade Math Discussion

Week 7 Assignment 2 – Discussion Creation

Rationale for this discussion:
Since I teach 4th grade math, I wanted to make a discussion that I could use next year in my own classroom to try and create more online activities in a traditional classroom.  To do this, I wanted to make a connection to the 4th grade math curriculum.  In our school district, they use a computer program called ST Math where they have to solve math problems to move a little cartoon penguin named JiJi across the screen.  I use this program a lot for my Math Talk in our classroom to make connections to our math concepts.  ST Math makes visual connections to the math concepts for the students.  I would like to have a discussion at the beginning of the school year to show how we will use JiJi during our math talk.  Below, I pasted in some pictures to be able to make the connection to the discussion.  In 4th grade, we work extensively with multi-digit multiplication.  Before we start working on multi-digit multiplication, we review basic one digit multiplication.  It is a good place to use JiJi as a discussion topic to see who gets the basic concept of multiplication before we move into multi-digit multiplication. 
Discussion:
In 4th grade, we will continue to work with multiplication that you have learned in 3rd grade.  But before we move forward, I would like to see how well you understand the concept of multiplication.  Below, is a picture of a math problem that you might see on JiJi.  You have to put shoes onto the robots so they will move out of the way of JiJi.  We will discuss how two different kids solved the math problem and which of the students is correct.  Study the picture below and think about how you would solve the problem.














Now, I would like you to think about how you would solve this problem.  But, you can’t just say the answer.  Please provide a math sentence (ex. 3+2=5) on how you would solve the problem and some reasoning to why you would solve it that way.  Then I would like to compare how you would solve it to each student who solved it below.  Explain which student completed the problem correctly and which student completed the problem incorrectly.  Finally, I would like you to give reasoning to why the student got it incorrectly. 
Student 1:














Student 2:















Finally, you will need to read and respond to two other student’s postings.  I am looking for each student to behave appropriately while responding to their fellow students.  An appropriate response would be one of the following:
  • ·       Build onto what they have posted.  Add your own thoughts to what they have said.
  • ·       Ask them how they got their answer.
  • ·       Offer your opinion on their posting. 
  • ·       Give some feedback to their work by sharing your experience with the question.
  • ·       Ask them a question you might have about their posting.

 
All of these activities are due by Wednesday after school.  I will check the postings by 8 p.m.


Scoring Rubric:

Math - Problem Solving : 3x5=?





Teacher Name: Andrew Norkoli
Student Name:     ________________________________________
CATEGORY
4
3
2
1
Mathematical Concepts
Explanation shows complete understanding of the mathematical concepts used to solve the problem(s).
Explanation shows substantial understanding of the mathematical concepts used to solve the problem(s).
Explanation shows some understanding of the mathematical concepts needed to solve the problem(s).
Explanation shows very limited understanding of the underlying concepts needed to solve the problem(s) OR is not written.
Mathematical Reasoning
Uses complex and refined mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Uses effective mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Some evidence of mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Little evidence of mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Mathematical Reasoning
Uses complex and refined mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Uses effective mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Some evidence of mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Little evidence of mathematical reasoning on why Student 1 was correct and Student 2 was incorrect.
Mathematical Errors
90-100% of the steps and solutions have no mathematical errors.
Almost all (85-89%) of the steps and solutions have no mathematical errors.
Most (75-84%) of the steps and solutions have no mathematical errors.
More than 75% of the steps and solutions have mathematical errors.
Working with Others
Student was an engaged with 2 students\' postings, posting to their discussion posting with an appropriate response.
Student was an engaged with 1 students\' postings, posting to their discussion posting with an appropriate response.
Student cooperated with others, but didn\'t post to their discussion postings appropriately.
Student did not respond to other students\' discussion postings.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Andrew,
    First off, I like the way you adapted a discussion question to your 4th grade math class. It’s awesome that you can apply this discussion prompt within your real class. I feel this would also be challenging because it’s a math class, and I guess I don’t think much about reasoning with math, I just kind of do it, but understanding the reasoning will show a deeper level of learning and understanding.
    How much peer discussion do you see happening with this topic?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Andrew,

    I also like the idea of this discussion for 4th grade math. Although math has right ot wrong answers, the students need to be able to explain their reasons and even determine it others are incorrect or not. Your discussion post does just that. Nice job!

    Christine

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great Job Drew appeal to the needs of your learners, You allow for them to self reflect

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great Job Drew you made this assignment simple for you learners as well as me.

    ReplyDelete