(
Rob Vingerhoets)
1) Be
yourself- especially with Maths!
2)Know when to get off the stage- I
and A time (Identify and Articulate) then get off!
3)Don’t tell- Let Kids Discover
4)Think out aloud
5)Give kids think time (think about
your body language and look for the glaze over)
6)Reinforce first- Then dig!
7)Be Mobile for Maths (Hatti-
Feedback is no.2)
8)Promote lateral and logical
thinking
9)Don’t just pass on the traditions
of maths (they’re not always good!)
10)
Never let a chance go by- make connections
wherever possible
EFFECTIVE SHARE/REFLECTION ACTIVITIES:
1. “3 2 1 (i)” 3 recalls (facts you remember as being
significant from the lesson); 2 ideas or notions (you gained from the lesson),
1 question (you still have from the lesson).
2. “3 2 1 (ii)” 3 facts
you found out; 2 feelings you felt; 1 ‘fing’ that was fun.
3. “1 3 6” For
group share. As an individual record at least 5 things you learned or found
interesting or are still having trouble understanding from the lesson. Now make
a small group of 3, discuss and compare your items for 3 minutes. One of the
three – make up a composite list. Now the group of 3 joins with another group
of 3. As a 6, discuss the two lists and then make a combined ‘superlist’. Go to
each group of 6 and have them read out one item from the list. Continue until
there are no more original items.
4. Two per Strategy. If you have just completed an open ended (or
closed) activity where the problem solving strategies were used by the
students; randomly choose two students per strategy used and have them come out
to the front of the class and explain/demonstrate how they applied their
particular strategy to achieve their answer/s.
5. Mini Maths Debate. Inform the students that you are going to
choose 2 debating teams of 3 for a debate but you will be giving no notice as
to who will be on which team and there will be no time given to prepare
statement/arguments or work together. One team is the affirmative, the other
the negative. Announce the topic, statement, problem that is based on the
lesson they have just completed. For example:
Zero is worth nothing (after a session on place
value).
Decimals – overrated!
Millimetres – a waste of time on your measuring tape.
It will probably happen – more or less than 75%
chance?
Only right angles – all the rest are wrong angles.
Now randomly choose the first speaker for the
affirmative. You have one minute. Now chose a speaker for the negative, etc.
You the teacher can be judge or choose a small panel to decide who presented
the best arguments/points.
6. Secrets of your Success. Having noted those children who worked
effectively or grasped the concept being introduced well or played the game
with great use of strategies/tactics or applied learned skills well – ask 3 or
4 of them to come out to the front (after giving them some advance notice that
you will be asking them to do this) front of the class and pass on the “secrets
to their success”.
7. Rocket Writing. Inform the students that they have 4
minutes (3 minutes for grades 2 to 4) to write as much as they can about what
they did/learned in their maths lesson today. Emphasise that there is only 4
minutes and that it must be about today’s lesson. I provide the children with
some sentence starters to get them going. For example:
* Today I found out…. *
I really liked…. * I’m still not too
sure about…
* Next time I would… *
I could teach someone else to…
* I discovered that… *
I hope we * The activity
was…because…
Call for a 5 or 6 volunteers (don’t nominate) to read
one of their sentences.
8. Turn and Talk (and use the terms). After the activity/lesson, ask the
children to turn so that they are facing a partner. Now tell them that they
have 3 minutes to talk to each other about what they did/found out in their
maths lesson. Encourage the children to use the terms/language from their
lesson. After 3 minutes choose 4 or 5 pairs of students to summarise what they
discussed in their ‘turn and talk’. Encourage appropriate use of terminology,
for example “ and what is it we call that again Maddie?”
9. See/Saw. In pairs, one person goes first (see)
to state something that they learned/recall from today’s lesson/activity. The
other person (Saw) then states something they gained from the session. Back to
See’s turn. This continues until either See or Saw is unable to recall another
fact or aspect of the lesson. Ensure you move among the pairs and encourage use
of appropriate terminology. This share activity works very with about 5 minutes
to go before recess time. Person with the last given fact goes out first!
10. See/Feel/Hear. Individually, students complete a
see/feel/hear Y diagram – writing in at least 3 things that they saw during the
session (observations of themselves and/or others during the activity), 3
feelings they felt (pride, frustration, elation, concern, anxiety, excitement –
be prepared to ask students why they felt the way/s they did) and 3 things that
they heard (this may be recall of facts, specific terminology and what it
means, the notion of possible strategies and then implementing them).
11. 20 Words. Students are informed that they have
20 words – no more and no less – with which they can describe and/or tell about
what they learned in their maths lesson. How they use and combine their 20
words is completely up to them. It could 10 pairs of adjectives and nouns
(difficult problems, many solutions, tough patterns), it can be a 20 word
sentence. Ask for some volunteers to read out their 20 words. Encourage
appropriate use of terminology within the 20 words.
12. Group Report. A bit of an oldy but goldy! If you
have just had groups as the set-up for your session then why not have a group
report. I organise this by telling the students about half way through the
session that there will be group reports and that you will be choosing one
person from each group to present that report. This has the obvious effect of
keeping all on task and thinking mathematically. With about 4 or 5 minutes of
the activity remaining choose a person from each group. Present some clear but
simple guidelines for the report: describe that maths that was used/learned
(using the appropriate technology); outline how the group went about the work;
what did the group feel was the most important thing gained from today’s
session – why?
13. Summative Task. Sometimes an effective share/reflection to
conclude the maths session can be another activity – one that surmises much of
what was intended to be learned from the lesson. This activity should be
clearly related to the topic that was central to the lesson but different
enough that the children need to apply that knowledge or skill to successfully
complete the summative task. For example, after a:
- Fraction/decimals/percentages lesson: in groups,
Thompson dam is at 27% capacity – is this a good or a bad thing? 20% more free.
It’s 1.2 litres now. How much did it use to be?
- Place value lesson: every body in the room has a
number – line yourselves up from smallest to largest.
- Angles lesson: find 2 acute and 2 obtuse angles
within the classroom and explain why they are not right angles.
14. Put A Poster Up. After the student activity challenge the
students (either in pairs or individually – or in a small group if they were
working in this format during the student activity) to design a poster on A4
paper that gives a definition or instructions based on what they have
learned/found out during the lesson. This poster can have illustrations and it
must use the appropriate mathematical terminology and vocabulary. For example,
the students may have just completed a lesson on transformations (flips, slides
and turns) and are now challenged to design a poster that clearly explains each
of these transformations. The best 3 posters (as voted by the grade) will be
laminated and displayed for the next 2 or 3 weeks in the classroom.
15. The “You Can Do It” Club. To gain access to the very ‘flash’ “You
Can Do It” Club you need to articulate orally or in written form your reasons
(justification) for being permitted entry into the Club. Announce to the
students that you are the owner of the, for example, ‘Multiplication Club’. If
you want to get into the Multiplication Club you need to be able to tell me why
I should let you in. What is it that you know/understand and can do that would
have me let you into the Club? Any student seeking entry must then detail their
understanding on Multiplication and give an example to prove their claim –
using the appropriate vocabulary/terminology.
16. The Share Walk. Share/reflections
do not necessarily have to come at the end of the maths lesson. One example of
when it is suitable and beneficial to do a share during the student activity is
the Share walk. This happens usually when the children are working in pairs or
groups on a rotation of activities. After the first or second rotation appoint
a reporter (usually works well if this person was also the original recorder
for the group) who will remain at the place where the group was working. The
groups then ‘visit’ the reporter assigned to each of the other groups. For
example, if Group 1 were working on Activity A, a reporter from Group A remains
to do the necessary explanations for those groups visiting. The students from
Group 1 (without the reporter) will be visiting the reporter from Group 2 who
will explain what Group 2 were doing and what they achieved while doing their
activity (activity 2), etc. Keep the visits to about 2 to 3 minutes. Encourage
the reporters to consistently use appropriate terminology.
There are 3 ‘rules’ for visiting groups:
i)
They are not allowed to criticize the work of another
group
ii)
They may offer constructive advice or suggestions related
to how the group may have tried something different
iii)
They may offer words of praise to the group on their
work/efforts
