Cassy Turner – Page 25

New Bar Modeling iPad Apps!

July 28, 2013 by Cassy Turner 6 Comments

For many years, I’ve highly recommended Thinkingblocks.com to my students who hone their bar modeling skills while playing really fun games. These flash-based programs work great on a desktop or laptop, but required third-party solutions to work on mobile devices.

Tired of using Rover to run Thinkingblocks.com on your iPad?

Well, hop on over to the iTunes app store because Math Playground has just published four new iPad apps based on the popular website Thinkingblocks.com that work perfectly, provide tracked progress and are FREE for a limited time:

Addition and Subtraction:

Multiplication and Division:

Fractions:

Ratios and Proportion:

Filed Under: Math Resources Tagged With: iPad Apps, Model Method, Singapore Math resources, Singapore Math word problems

It Figures: Why U.S. Schools are Using Math from Singapore

June 29, 2013 by Cassy Turner Leave a Comment

Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia produces a show called “It Figures” described this way:

How do all the numbers and statistics on Singapore add up? IT FIGURES, figures it all out.

The premier episode of “It Figures Season 2” seeks “to find out why schools in the US are using our Math textbooks and adopting our way of teaching Math.”

Viewers were challenged to solve the Primary 5 Math problem below. Can you do it?

Most Singaporeans used Algebra.

Teacher Owen Lau uses the bar model method beginning at about 1:45:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/tblQg5dobIA[/youtube]From the Singapore TV Show It Figures.

Mr. Lau explains that “students can see better if a problem is presented in pictorial form.” The following concepts are reinforced:

The Model Method: Drawing diagrams and bars to represent math problems visually.
The Model Method is not as abstract as Algebra, and helps students understand concepts instead of blindly apply math formulas.

The debut episode of “It Figures Season 2,” explaining the use of the Singapore curriculum in the US airs, on July 2, 2013.

Watch

Images and clip from the Channel NewsAsia website.

Filed Under: Math Resources, Singapore Math Problems Tagged With: Model Method, Singapore Math curriculum, Singapore Math word problems

If I had a million dollars, ok $1000…

June 20, 2013 by Cassy Turner Leave a Comment

Recently, I received a question from an excited teacher who had just received a grant to spend on her classroom: “If you had a $1000 dollar grant and taught second grade, what would be the most important pieces of Singapore Math you’d buy?”

If I had a million dollars, ok $1000… here are two scenarios.

#1 Using the curriculum in 2nd grade as your main curriculum

A classroom set of the 1B & 2A textbooks @ $9.00 each, so if you had 24 students + 1 for your self: 25 x $18 = $450
Possibly a set of the 2B textbooks: 25 x $9 = $225
A Teacher Manual for 1B, 2A & 2B: 3 x $21 = $63
A workbook for reference and problem ideas for 1B, 2A & 2B = 3 x $9 = $27
Challenging Word problems level 1 & 2: 2 x $8.50 = $17.00
Intensive Practice: 1B, 2A & 2B: 3 x $8.80 = $26.40
Process Skills in Problem Solving: $10.70
Math Sprints Masters, Levels 1 & 2: 2 x $31 =$62
Elementary Mathematics for Teachers by Parker & Baldridge: $29
Place Value Strips: $12.50

That’s $625.80

I’d spend the rest on linking cubes, base-10 blocks, place value disks or other manipulatives and containers to keep them organized.

Keep in mind that for Number Disks/Place Value Disks you’ll need about 20 each of ones, tens and hundreds disks per student or pair of students sharing. Many companies sell these:

Place Value Disks, 100 Ones Disks

Place Value Disks – 100 Tens Disks

Place Value Disks (1-3): Hundreds Place Value Disks – 100 Hundreds Disks

#2 Using Singapore Math to Supplement another core curriculum:

Start a library at your school with one set of the textbooks and workbooks for every grade level at the school as reference (4 per grade level) x $9.00 each book – k-6 would be $36 x 7, k-5 would be $36 x 6
A Teacher Manual for each level: $21 each book, 2 books per grade level = $42 per grade level
Challenging Word problems are $11 each and there are 6 levels (1-6)
Process Skills in Problem Solving vary in cost from $10.20 to $12.80 – levels 1-6
SpeedMaths Level 1 – 4: $8.20 each (no higher than level 4!)
Math Sprints Masters, Levels 1 -5: 5 x $31
Elementary Mathematics for Teachers by Parker & Baldridge: $29 several copies for staff
The Singapore Model Method for Learning Mathematics: $29 for grades 5 & up
Teaching of Whole Numbers by Dr Yeap Ban Har, Singapore’s renowned math educator, $30.50
Bar Modeling A Problem-solving Tool also by by Dr Yeap Ban Har, for lower elementary. $30.50
Place Value Disks: get plenty of ones, tens and hundreds. $15.95 per 100 disks
Place Value Strips: $12.50 and other manipulatives (if you don’t already have them on campus).

What did I miss? Are there any books or tools that you consider “must-haves” in your Singapore Math classroom?

Filed Under: Math Resources Tagged With: materials, Singapore Math resources

Win Singapore Math Training! Help Colorado Charter Schools!

May 23, 2013 by Cassy Turner 2 Comments

In addition to championing Elementary Math education, I’m a long-time Charter School advocate and have an especially deep relationship with two award-winning Charter Schools.

For many years, I volunteered and taught at Benchmark School in Phoenix, Arizona (the first school in the region to introduce the Singapore Math® curriculum!). Next month, I’ll complete a three-year term as a member of the Board of Directors of Liberty Common School in Fort Collins, Colorado (also a long-time user of Math from Singapore!). My two sons attended both Benchmark and Liberty.

I am very grateful to be able to count scores of Charter Schools among my training and consulting clients.

For these reasons, I was struck by the announcement that The Colorado League of Charter Schools is hosting a 20th Anniversary Luncheon & Silent Auction to honor and recognize Charter School Founders. The event will be held on June 3, 2013 — 20 years to the day after the Colorado Charter Schools Act was signed into law.

I’m a huge fan of the Colorado League of Charter Schools and truly appreciate all the great services it provides to Colorado Charters.

So…I’ve donated one-day of Singapore Math training to the League’s 20th Anniversary Silent Auction.

Proceeds from the auction will support the League’s 20th anniversary campaign, including advocacy programs and efforts to improve public awareness and understanding of charter schools.

The League’s Silent Auction accommodates online bidding, so I invite anyone (ANYWHERE) who might want to bring Singapore Math Training to a school to try and win this offering. If you don’t already know, I’ll go ANYWHERE to work with teachers looking to use Singapore Mathematics.

Happy Bidding! (~~I’ll post a link to the auction after it goes live on May 27~~.) You have until 10pm, Mountain time on May 31.

For prospective bidders, here is information about my training services, some comments from past participants and general terms for this auction item:

Since 2008, Cassy has had the pleasure of introducing Singapore Math® to thousands of teachers, administrators and parents in 34+ U.S. States, Mexico, Canada, Ghana and the Republic of Palau. She has helped more than 60 schools (including 15 in Colorado!) successfully implement the Singaporean curriculum.

Cassy’s acclaimed seminars receive rave reviews:

Fabulous!! Cassy’s energy, enthusiasm and knowledge make this one of the MOST FABULOUS days of staff development that I have been lucky enough to experience in 40 years! Thanks so much!
Cassy is wonderful! She has wonderful ideas and presents them with such enthusiasm! Amazing!!
Best seminar I have been to in my 25 years of teaching. Lively, worthwhile, keeps your attention. Taking back strategies and activities I can use in my classroom. Very motivating.
This seminar will significantly change how I approach teaching math problem solving with my high ability students. Cassy’s energy and enthusiasm for math made the day fly!
Wow! Wonderful strategies! Can’t wait to bring it to my classroom. Thank you!
This was the best workshop I have ever attended. Cassy was excellent.

Bid on this item to bring Cassy to your school!

Choose from seminars on supplementing with Singapore Math strategies, Singapore Bar Model Drawing or apply to multi-day adoption training. Resource handbooks for up to 40 participants are included.

Note: Cassy is prepared to bring this training to you. However, a winning bidder outside Colorado Front Range communities will be responsible for reimbursing her actual travel expenses to your location.

Questions: Cassy (at) SingaporeMathSource (dot) com.

Filed Under: Math Events

NEW Singapore Math® Job Placement Resource

April 23, 2013 by Cassy Turner 2 Comments

Since its launch in 2008, Singapore Math Source has become one of the internet’s leading sites for Singapore Math® resources.

SingaporeMathSource.com provides a broad assortment of resources for administrators, teachers, parents and students. What’s more, everything listed on these resources pages has been tested and/or created by me personally. When I work with schools and teachers or host my after-school math clubs for students, these are the materials and sites I actually use and strongly recommend.

If you haven’t visited these pages, I invite you to take a look.

New Singapore Math® Jobs Placement Page

Today, I’m happy to add a new “Jobs Placement” page to the site’s Singapore Math® Resources. This page is the direct result of questions that I frequently am asked:

Do you know of a teaching candidate with experience using the Singapore curriculum?
Do you know of a tutor who might help my students learn math?
What school might appreciate my knowledge and experience teaching Math from Singapore?”

This isn’t fancy (for now, at least). But I hope it might help schools, teachers and parents with specific personnel needs to meet one another. If you are asking any of these questions, let me know and I’ll see if I can help.