Pages

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Teaching Understanding in Math

Now that we are focusing on certain mathematical common core standards instead of "going through our book," how exactly do you teach for that deeper understanding.  I like using real examples to explain my thinking, so let's think about teaching about dividing fractions. 

That's a scary proposition for most teachers!

What if you began the unit with an anchor chart that does not show a procedure step-by-step but instead looks like this:
During the whole group discussion the anchor chart changes like this:


The next day, in partners, students answer this question concerning if my answer is reasonable or not.
 or
 "Does this answer make sense?"


How do you teach understanding instead of procedure?

Please share your ideas in the comment section of this post or share a link to your blog in which you are discussing teaching understanding.

Smiles,
Deborah

2 comments:

  1. Thanks, Deborah. This is very helpful. Panicked special ed teacher from Switzerland!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Deborah.Its indeed interesting and useful too. Thanks for sharing.
    I conduct Maths through activities and games for school kids in India.

    ReplyDelete