A the beginning of term 1 in 2017, I had the opportunity to attend a professional development day with fellow educators at my school along with staff from a neighbouring school. We looked at a range of strategies for engaging students in Numeracy. One of the key points I took away from the day was that as teachers, we need to support students to create mental objects in their minds eye. By doing this, students are able to become familiar with the many facets of number and make connections with numeracy in the real world. When connections are made, strategies become meaningful and more retainable.
Below is a slide from the PD day
Here I am implementing this strategy with students. They were looking at the unit of measure used for length and developing strategies for counting the blocks once placed in a long line. These students chose to estimate initially then break apart the blocks in groups of 5 making the length easier to count. Prior to this unit of work, students looked at arrays, visualisation and multiplication. Students were able to apply their learning to another situation.
heidikaro 