Sunday 7 April 2013

Guessing, Estimation & Addition Story

Guessing & Estimation
I would love to carry out such guessing activity with children. Young children loves engaging activities like this. Getting them to make a guess will not only allow children to be engaged but also teaching them the mathematical concept in which I never thought it could be done. As I was doing the activity, I realized that I kept on shaking the can containing 3 paper clips and listened to the sound then comparing to the sounds frm the different cans. This is what we call a BENCHMARK to measure one thing against another. In order for young children to do such experiments, they should know the benchmark before making their guesses. For example, a child needs to know how heavy is 1kg if we were to ask qns like how heavy is your bag? They might think other measure as heavy as well.
When we get children to guess, it is best for teachers to take note of their language. Children need to know how things look like when we make use of comparative language like shorter, larger etc.




How to teach concept of big and small?
Concept is abstract through concrete experiences. When doing experiments or demonstration, teachers should ALWAYS start with things that are realistic instead of using manipulative. Children will understand better if they know in real life which is big and which is small. For example, an elephant is big and an ant is small. So it would be easier for them to understand the concept before we get them to compare. Then moving in to using manipulative.

Addition Story
There are different ways to create addition stories. Theynare subdivided into 3 parts together with the examples which we have discussed in class in cresting addition stories with (8+6).

1. Part-whole problem
E.g. Johnny has 8 marbles.
        James has 6 marbles.
        How many marbles do they have altigether?

2. Change Problem
E.g. Lisa has 8 pencils.
        Anne gives her 6 more pencils.
        How many pencils did Lisa have now?

3. Comparison Problem
E.g. Jess has 8 dollars.
        Bella has 6 dollars more than Jess.
         How much does Jess have?



No comments:

Post a Comment