Reflection 11Tovani Ch8

I enjoyed reading this chapter. It really got me considering some things That I hadnt previously. This chapter focused on assessment and it purpose in your classroom. Assessment can be a very powerful tool if used correctly. In particular, assessments need to have a purpose. This purpose must be relevant to the students if  you seek the best results possible.
One tool that I may use in the future was the conversation calendar. It seemed like a good way to give students an opportunity to speak their minds without criticism from their peers. Also it allows the teacher to converse in a less formal fashion and build a relationship with the students.

Text Set Collection #2 Fractions

Books:

Grade 6 Fractions

Author: Kumon Publishing

Grade: 6

This book is designed specifically for 6th grade work with fractions. In particular, this book addresses how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions with unlike denominators.

Full House: An Invitation to Fractions

Author: Dayle Ann Dodds

Grade: 1-4

This book tells a story of a character that hosts "Strawberry Inn" and takes in all sorts of visitors. Readers are encouraged to interactively do math while reading the book to predict how portions of food will be divided amongst the guests. 

Fractions Decimals and Percents

Author: David Adler

Grade: 2 and up

In this book, readers take a look at how fair games use fractions, decimals, and percents. The reader will apply real world applications of the concept and use their knowledge to increase their chances of winning at the fair. 

Funny and Fabulous Fraction Stories

Author: Dan Greenberg

Grade: 3-6

Greenberg takes an entertaining approach to practicing fractions. This book is a collection of 30 different funny and entertaining reproducible stories to help motivate students to participate in using fractions. 

Fraction Fun

Author: David. A. Adler

Grade: k and up

This book uses illustrations to help portray fractions visually. Common uses such as money and pizzas help demonstrate how to use fractions. 

Whole-y Cow!: Fractions are Fun

Author: Taryn Souders

Grade: 1-4

Using a clever and funny cow, Souders shows that fractions can be fun. Throughout the story, the goofy cow uses poetry and games to journey through the basic concepts of fractions.

If You Were a Fraction

Author: Trisha Speed Shaskan

Grade:1 and up

This book asks students to consider ways they could be fractions. Using real world applications, readers are able to gain a better perspective as to how fractions can be used 

Websites:

Fractions by Zeebo

http://www.coolmath4kids.com/fractions/

Grade: 2 and up

This link is a menu that navigates you to many different topics involving fractions. Everything from what a fraction is to dividing fractions. Also at the bottom of the page you can find a link to some games involving fractions. 

Fractions!

http://www.mathsisfun.com/fractions-menu.html

Grade: 3-7

This menu leads you to different ages that elaborate on different characteristics of fractions. It begins with a description and definition of fractions and also provides some real world applications. This menu is easily navigated and describes fractions in great detail. 

Visual Fractions

http://www.visualfractions.com/

Grade: 3 and up

This site allows many visual representations of fractions. You are able to create fractions and perform operations on those fractions. It allows you to see, visually, what each operation is doing to the fractions. This is a great site for visual learners. 

Help with Fractions

http://www.helpwithfractions.com/

Grade: 4 and up

This site was created for those that have already been introduced to fractions. It is meant to be an aid and elaborate guide to extending understanding of fractions. It can be helpful for those that struggle with fractions and also those who simply want to increase their understanding. 

Apps:

Fraction Monkeys

http://www.fractionmonkeys.co.uk/

Grade: 4-7

This app is an interactive game involving fractions. This app is designed to solidify understanding of equivalent fractions and ordering fractions. Monkeys are used along with a number line to help visually understand fractions. 

Articles:

New Approaches to Teaching Fractions

by Sue Shellenbarger

The Wall Street Journal

This article addresses a government funded research project. The government is researching new ways to teach fractions. This article explains new approaches discovered and also describes the type of research being done.

History of Fractions

by Liz Pumfrey

NRICH

This short article takes a look at how fractions developed throughout history.Surprisingly, fractions are a relatively new development. There is a brief overview of numbers and how they were used to create fractions. 

Teaching Fractions According to Common Core Standards.

by H. Wu

This article takes a look at how common core will effect fractions in the classroom. It addresses changes that must be made in the classroom in order to incorporate common core standards. There are also suggestions on how to teach and use fractions in relation to the common core expectations. 

BBR Chapter 7

This chapter addressed a crucial topic that pertains to students learning. In chapter 7, BBR discusses strategies to develop student's independent learning abilities. It is important for students to be able to work with others but it is also important for students to be able to learn on their own. In college, students will be required to learn much more material on their own than they are used to. This will aslo be crucial when studying for exams. 

I believe that the PLAE was a great strategy for students to learn to use. PLAE stands for preplan, list, activate, and evaluate. My favorite characteristic about this strategy is the fact that it requires students to address all three parts of reading. They must preplan before they read to get ideas about what they are going to read. Many students do nothing for pre-reading. Then they are also required to use the strategy while they are reading in order to increase the opportunity to comprehend their reading. After reading, the students must reflect and evaluate what they have just read. Being active in all three parts of reading will most likely increase the chance of retaining what was read. 

Reflection #9

The Long article was very interesting. It was nice to get another perspective on the CCSS and it's implementations. I must say that there was one point that really got my attention. I noticed that the CCSS was striving for mostly technology based assessments. This raises some major issues for me. First off, the most obvious thing is that every school and every student must have access to technology. Not every school has a budget to obtain enough technology needed for this. Another issue is electricity itself. Just last week, the power at my school went down school-wide. Lets say hypothetically you were completing one of these tech based assessments when this happened. What do you do? Is it really fair to make students start all over? More than likely, the work would not be saved, and all of it would be lost. Just as easily, the internet could go down. I imagine that the internet would be a crucial component to these tech based assessments. I like that the government had goals in mind when creating these standards, however, I feel that some things dont consider every possible situation. Seems to be a reoccurring theme in education.

Web Resource: AAAmath.com

AAAmath.com is a easily navigated site. At the top of the page, you can search for a topic via grade level. On the left side of the page, you search another why by searching by topics. Unfortunately, the topics only cover material for kindergarten through 8th grade. I believe the site could be used in schools, however, it seems to be more beneficial as a preview of a concept or a review of the concept. 

One thing I enjoy about the site is its organization. After finding your topic, the first thing you will see is a description of the topic. It is not an extensive description but is definitely sufficient. There is also examples provided. After the description, you will find an interactive practice tool that allows you to practice the topic using your examples. These practice tools are helpful because its inputs are labeled. This can help solidify your understanding of why something  is in the place that it is and also what happens at that place. As you get towards the bottom of your topic page, the majority of the topics have an interactive game that you can play as extra practice. 

There is no sign up necessary. There are some ads but all of the ads that I have noticed pertain to some sort of education site.