Cassy Turner – Page 23

Singapore Math® News and Views

April 21, 2014 by Cassy Turner Leave a Comment

The Singapore Math® program recently has been in the news in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. Several articles focus on the results of the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which was released in December.

Can the Singapore method help your children learn maths?

Shortly after the results of the PISA exam were announced in December, BBC Skillwise ran a piece that explained some of the features of math in Singapore:

Singapore teaches maths better than most countries including the UK, according to international rankings for secondary pupils.

The difference starts at an early age.

There are many reasons but one key factor is its step-by-step approach that can be used at home or in the classroom.

Canada urged to demand same standards in education as in hockey

From the Calgary Herald, February 19, 2014: Sliding scores in math, science, literacy spark alarm.

Canada’s former deputy prime minister, John Manley, spoke at a symposium focused on Alberta’s ongoing Inspiring Education during the Sochi Winter Olympics. Manley, who now serves as president and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, asked:

“How can we be satisfied with 13th place in math when we’re not satisfied with second place in hockey?”

Whitby school borrows ‘world-best’ teaching methods

The Toronto Star reports that students at the Trafalgar Castle School in Whitby, Ontario, are learning math the Singapore way.

Headmaster Adam de Pencier is pursuing the “world best” curriculum by cherry-picking the leading teaching methods from around the globe:

“If we believe curriculum drives a school, shouldn’t we try to choose the best curriculum, whether it’s from Whitby, Walla Walla, or Wellington?” asked de Pencier, who had math teacher Jessica Semkin train in Singapore math last summer.

Semkin said the Singapore approach “slows down the pace of learning to make sure there is a mastery of skills. With Singapore math, we spent about two weeks on multiplying fractions, instead of a day or two, and then coming back to it later.”

Gill St. Bernard school receives a visit from Singapore math leader

Nine years ago, Gill St. Bernard School piloted the Singapore Math® curriculum in second grade. It quickly expanded; by 2005, the curriculum was in use throughout the Lower and Middle school.

When Lower School Director Peggy Campbell-Rush visited Singapore in 2012, she met Yeap Ban Har, Ph.D, an internationally recognized Singapore math leader. On April 16, 2014, Dr. Ban Har visited Gill St. Bernard School to conduct professional development for the school’s K-6 teachers.

Finally, an OPINION piece that urges consideration of a more rigorous math curricula such as that used in Singapore:

Save kids from Fuzzy Math

A February 3, 2014, New York Post Opinion piece by Naomi Schaefer Riley, includes this revelation:

The education establishment frowns on anything so simple as adopting the methods of high-performing countries…[I]t insists we spend decades and millions of dollars to evaluate each one.

Singapore Math Common Core Edition debuts at NCTM Conference

April 15, 2014 by Cassy Turner Leave a Comment

Thanks to Pearson for my cool caricature. Looks just like me, doesn’t it?!

I’ve just returned from an invigorating week at the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM) and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) conferences in New Orleans. Expect some posts soon that will share interesting things that I learned.

Common Core Edition of Primary Mathematics

First off, the new Common Core aligned editions of Primary Mathematics were available at the Singapore Math, Inc.^® booth and they looked great! If you’re currently using the California Standards Edition of Primary Mathematics, don’t panic! The company will continue to carry the materials. However, once you see the Common Core Edition, you’re probably going to want to switch. [Using the U.S. Edition? You’re good to go with some supplementing, but you’re used to that already. 😉 ] Copies of the new materials are not available for preview yet, but I’ll be posting some more info and sample lessons as they do become available.

Good news! Looks like there will be a Primary Digital component to the program as well.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m a little Common Core-d out. It seems like EVERY session at both conferences had to reference the Common Core to get accepted. Thank goodness that Primary Mathematics is already fairly well aligned to Common Core. [Don’t believe me? Here’s Achieve’s analysis.] In perusing the new Primary Mathematics Common Core books, I noticed that content was not moved to higher grade levels, just because that’s where it was in the CCSS-M. They’ve kept the integrity of the sequence, added a few review lessons to meet CCSS-M at grade level and provided an unprecedented level of potential student questioning and discourse in the Teacher’s Guides.

I thought I’d leave you with one of the Japanese Puzzles from a fabulous session at NCTM presented by Jeffrey Wanko called Puzzling It Out: Teaching Inductive Reasoning. Have fun!

MIRRORS
Use the three examples of Mirror puzzles and their unique solutions shown below to determine both the goal and the rules that govern Mirror puzzles.

Filed Under: Math Events, News Tagged With: NCSM Conference, NCTM Conference, Singapore Math resources

Seeking Singapore Math training in Hawaii?

March 25, 2014 by Cassy Turner Leave a Comment

Are you a school on the Big Island that would like to take part in a two day Singapore Math training? You don’t necessarily need to be using the curriculum, just interested in supplementing or using strategies from Singapore Math.

If so, I have a school that would like to pair with with you and share the costs. They’re looking to host the two-day session sometime from the last week of July through August 5th. If that fits your schedule and plans, email Cassy (at) singaporemathsource.com and I’ll hook you up.

Filed Under: Math Events, Training Tagged With: Singapore Math training

NCTM 2014 Conference Singapore Math Sessions

March 19, 2014 by Cassy Turner 1 Comment

The NCTM Conference program book is now online and choosing which workshops and sessions to attend continues to be a challenge. If you’d like to check out some sessions on Singapore Mathematics, there’s good news and bad.

Good news? There are 12 sessions involving Singapore-style math this year but you need to look at the session descriptions to really know it. The number of overall choices is slightly more than the number offered last year.

Bad news? Anything listed below in pink is an overlapping session. Below are my thoughts on which session to choose, if you have a conflict.

FYI – Five (!) of the twelve sessions are Exhibitor’s Workshops:

Exhibitor Workshops (60 minutes) are designed to allow exhibitors more time to showcase their products and services away from the Exhibit Hall.

Thursday, April 10: 8:00 AM-9:00 AM – No conflict

#29.2 Singapore Math: Common Core Connections
Exhibitor Workshop: Marshall Cavendish Education

Problem-solving is central to Singapore’s mathematics education. The first Common Core standard for mathematical practice states: “Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.” This talk addresses connections between the Common Core and Singapore Math; with focus on the standards for mathematical practice and numbers and operations.

Thursday, April 10: 9:45 AM-11:00 AM – No conflict

#92 Putting Students on the Fast Track to Better Problem Solving
Lead Speaker: Darlyne de Haan

Come and discover how to efficiently and effectively teach students how to solve and model word problems using simple brain-based strategies and bar modeling. These strategies will transform your students into excited, motivated and successful problem-solving pros. You and your students will never see or solve word problems the same again!

Recommendations:
Not sure on this one, but thought that if it includes some bar modeling, it might be worth checking into.

Thursday, April 10: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM – Two sessions conflict

#121 Ratio and Proportion: A Common Core Progression for Grades 6–7
Lead Speakers: Duane Habecker
Co-Speaker: Mary Anne Freitas

This session presents a two-year, flipped sixth- and seventh-grade ratio and proportion unit using instructional videos viewed at home and Common Core lessons in the classroom. Participants will be shown how to effectively use ratio tables and bar models to develop their students’ proportional thinking.

131.4 It’s here! Singapore Math® presents Primary Mathematics Common Core Edition!
Exhibitor Workshop: Singapore Math, Inc.

We will introduce our newest Singapore Math® program, Primary Mathematics Common Core Edition! Learn about the highly successful Singapore Math® elementary math series and the recent changes that have been made for the CCSS. This will be beneficial to those currently using Primary Mathematics and those considering implementing for the first time.

Recommendations:
-> Interested in bar modeling and ratios? Looks like they may be using bar models in the Ratio & Proportion session. (Or head to Richard Bisk’s session on Ratios on Friday; #452 at 12:30)
-> Interested in learning more about Singapore Math and how the Common Core Edition was developed? I’d go to session 131.4 and check that out.

Thursday, April 10: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM – Three sessions conflict

#170 Representation and Visualization in Middle School: Lessons from Singapore
Lead Speaker: Andy Clark

The Common Core State Standards emphasize the importance of representation in learning mathematics. In this session, we will share strategies for developing deeper understanding of rational numbers, ratio and rate, proportion, and algebraic expressions and equations with visual models from Singapore, with the goal of helping students make the challenging transition from arithmetic to algebra.

#182.2 Reaching and Teaching all Levels of Learners with Singapore Math
Exhibitor Workshop: Marshall Cavendish Education

This session will focus on strategies to reach the struggling student. Specifically, we will explore use of the CPA cycle, transition materials, and the analysis of student assessments in meeting the needs of underachieving students.

#182.3 Singapore Math® program for Middle School. Crossing the bridge to algebra!
Exhibitor Workshop: Singapore Math, Inc.

Middle school math often takes a backseat to elementary and high school mathematics. Dimensions Math Common Core Edition is a new series that is changing that trend. Picking up where our elementary series leaves off, this Singapore Math® middle school program fully prepares students for success in advanced high school math.

Recommendations:
-> Looking for secondary materials? Head to the Exhibitor session 182.3 and check out the Dimensions Math Common Core Edition.
-> Head to see Andy Clark, one of the authors of the Math in Focus series for a look at specific middle school concepts.

Thursday, April 10: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM – Conflicts with session starting at 2:45 PM

#220 Reasoning in the Middle Grades: It’s Easier Than You Think
Lead Speaker: Berinderjeet Kaur
Co-Speaker: Denisse R. Thompson

Mathematical reasoning is not only one of the NCTM process standards, but it is also an important practice in the Common Core. This session will share several strategies from both the Singapore and U.S. perspectives on modifying non-geometrical textbook tasks and questions to bring reasoning to the instructional forefront.

Thursday, April 10: 2:45 PM – 4:00 PM

#239 Fraction Fun: Games That Cement Critical Concepts
Lead Speaker: Ricky Mikelman

Frustrated that your students don’t retain fraction concepts? Do they make common errors? Singapore teaches us the importance of the consolidation phase of learning—playing games! When students play, they move learning into long-term memory. We’ll use dice, cards, and commonly found materials to reinforce concepts that align to the Common Core State Standards.

Recommendations:
Tough call – either way you’ll be well-informed.
->Ms. Kaur works with Singapore’s National Institute of Education and is always fascinating – I’ll probably be here.
->Ms. Mikelman works with Staff Development for Educators. She’s a great presenter and you’ll walk away with plenty of fraction games.

Friday, April 11: 8:00 AM-9:00 AM – No conflict

#310.2 Singapore Math and the Rigor of Common Core: Exploring Assessments
Exhibitor Workshop: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

In this session, participants will examine the requirements of the Common Core and the types of assessments that students will be asked to complete. The presenter will share how Math in Focus helps students to prepare for the rigor required in both Smarter Balance and PARCC assessments.

Recommendations:
HMH is the publisher of Math in Focus. I get oodles of emails about the MiF assessments from teachers and parents. I’ll probably check this out and see what they are doing to address these issues.

Friday, April 11: 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM – No conflict

#452 Understanding and Solving Word Problems Using Singapore’s Model Drawings

Lead Speaker: Richard Bisk

Many students struggle when asked to solve word problems involving fractions, ratio, & percent. Model drawing helps students visualize, understand, and solve complex word problems, and provide a bridge to algebraic techniques. Experience sample solutions and learn how to use this effective technique for helping students develop deep understanding

Recommendations:
-> Go.

Friday, April 11: 3:30 PM- 4:30 PM – No conflict

#549 Math Talk: Teaching Concepts and Skills through Stories and Illustrations
Lead Speaker: Char Forsten

A young child’s understanding of the world is enlightened and expanded through stories and illustrations so it makes sense to use these resources when learning mathematics. Based on a method used in Singapore, you will learn to use “math talk” as a powerful way to provide purposeful practice through stories and illustrations.

Recommendations:
->Char is a very engaging presenter. She already has her handout on the NCTM web site, so you can preview her topics!

Filed Under: Math Events Tagged With: NCTM Conference

Twin Cities’ Singapore Math Seminar – March 31

March 18, 2014 by Cassy Turner Leave a Comment

The weather in Minnesota this winter has been brutal. In January alone, schools were closed for several days due to extreme cold.

When schools close, other events for teachers are often cancelled, too. This was the case on January 27 when my Minneapolis BER seminar, “How to Use the Best Strategies From Singapore Mathematics to Strengthen Your Math Instruction,” was postponed.

If you were unable to attend in January, good news! My introductory seminar on math strategies from Singapore is now scheduled for Monday, March 31.

If you are interested in learning more about Singapore’s renowned primary mathematics program, plan to attend this full-day, hands-on event in the Twin Cities. From the brochure:

Specifically designed for teachers of kindergarten through sixth grade, this exciting seminar presents an introduction to math strategies from Singapore that will change your approach to teaching mathematics and greatly enhance your students’ achievement.

A detailed description and registration information is available here.

If you are interested in bringing me to your school or district, please complete the form here or send me an email: Cassy (at) SingaporeMathSource (dot) com.

Filed Under: Math Events, Training Tagged With: Model Method, Professional development, Singapore Math training