Reflection Week 2 (term 5, 2009)

By TOMA
Week 2 (12/1-16/1)
This week we further our study in the chapter of the whole numbers. This week we focus on the subtopic of grouping or trading, developing place value and regrouping and renaming. This subtopic showed to me how, for example, 201 and 120 would be represented with three different place- valued models.
In order to learn more about on how to teaching the place value, me and my group analyse place-value models that are illustrated in the text books. From our analysis, I found that there two types of models which is the proportional models and the non-proportional models. In proportional models the material for 10 is 10 times the size of the material for 1; 100 is 10 times the size of 10, and so on. Measurement provides another proportional model where children use interlocking cubes to measure their height and then form groups of 10. Meter sticks and centimetre cubes could also be used to the model besides base ten blocks, beans glued in groups of 10 on a stick and tongue depressors bundled together. Non proportional models do not maintain any size relationships. Money is a real world example of non proportional model where size relationships are not maintained. For example, ten of 20 cents are bigger than two 50 cents but are a fair trade in our monetary system and yet they are not proportional in size.
From our group activities, we managed to build our own expanders. This model connect the base ten blocks to number symbols in an expanded form and can be used effectively to review key ideas. For example, while 123 is composed of 1 hundred, 2 tens, and 3 ones, if we dividing the number by 3, it would be easier to think of 123 as 12 tens and 3 ones. These encouraging children to name the same number in different ways promotes number sense. Then our next group activity, we create our hundred charts which provide many opportunities for counting and doing mental computation. For example, 43+30 can be determined by counting mentally, 43, 53, 63, and 73 and is a natural by product of counting by tens on the hundred charts. From theses activities, I feel there are a lot of room for improvement that I should make in order to ensure my teaching aids can performed better and efficient in educating the pupils.
 

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