MissKoh.com (The url is actually www.MissKoh.info) is a website supported by Singapore’s Straits Times. If you click on the academic year, then the grade level you are interested in, you will be brought to a page of mid-year and final semestral papers as well as a few continual assessment papers, all from top schools in Singapore. For example; select 2008 and Primary 6 and you are offered test papers for English, Chinese, Maths or Science from 5 schools. (You need to register for some of the schools)
Go back to the 2007 Academic year and find tests through the second year of Junior College. All assessments are scans from actual school papers, so expect some rough looking pdfs.
My 8th grader and I had a great time working our way through some challenging word problems on a test. For your mathematical enjoyment, here’s one from the Nanyang Primary School 2007 Preliminary Examination:
A mixture, weighing 100 kg is made up of 2 chemicals A and B in the ratio of 7:3. When some volume of Chemical A evaporates, the content of Chemical A is reduced to 60% of the new mixture. What is the mass of the mixture now?
MissKoh.com advertises itself as “Your Online Test Center” From the About Us page:
Misskoh.com is set up to create awareness for “The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund” to help students from low income families who cannot even afford a proper meal during recess…
Most of the these students do not have extra revision materials to revise, so we hope you can help by sharing your printouts with them if you know of any such friends in school.
(Image courtesy of Indexed.)
I’ll be presenting “How to Use Strategies from Singapore Math to Strengthen your Math Instruction” in Cincinnati on May 13, Atlanta on May 14 and in New Jersey on May 20 & 21, 2009. You can read more about these 1 day seminars and register through the Institute for Educational Development.
All seminars will be “buzzword” free!
These are the only public sessions I’ll be doing until the 2009 – 2010 school year.
Thinking about a field trip to see the world’s top-scoring math in action? There are just a few spots left for this July’s Singapore Math Summer Program.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting and Exposition (NCTM) has ended and I wanted to share a few quick items regarding Singapore Math.
First off, Houghton Mifflin’s division Great Source premiered their new Singapore math series. Called Math in Focus, the textbooks are hardbound (and are heavy!) and the Teacher’s Editions appear quite comprehensive. This series looks like an American textbook series. I chatted with Patsy Kanter, one of the authors, as well as Shar Hammet, the head of the mathematics division for Houghton Mifflin, and they feel that they’ve kept the true essence of the curriculum while adding value to a classroom teacher. I hope to procure a grade level to review and share. At each grade level, the series includes:
You can download a sample lesson from the first grade.
Next:
The Singapore Model Method for Learning Mathematics was available from the Marshall Cavendish booth and will be available next month from Singaporemath.com. Written by the Ministry of Education, this book ( or monograph, as they refer to the publication) is designed to serve as a resource book on the Model Method:
The main purpose is to make explicit how the Model Method is used to develop students’ understanding of fundamental mathematics concepts and proficiency in solving basic mathematics word problems.
Although I’ve just begun reading the book, it appears to be a comprehensive overview of the Model Method and provides examples for both basic and quite challenging word problems.
The table of contents (click to enlarge):
And a sample page 77 from Appendix A:
Finally, there were 4 presentations on Singapore Math at the NCTM:
ALL four Singapore Math sessions were oversubscribed, with disappointed attendees listening outside at the door. Dr. Yeap’s session saw people lining up 40 minutes beforehand to get a seat!
Passionate about Elementary Math + Author! + Teacher Trainer and Coach + Treasure Hunter + Learner 
as well as in Canada, China, England, Germany, Ghana, Guam, Japan, Mexico, and The Republic of Palau.
