Why "I Love Math"?
Since Thursday, February 11 is when we observe I Love Math day, this week's Transitions is the perfect occasion to remember why we do this. The day itself is really just the chance to celebrate the great mathematics that middle school students have been doing in preparation.
If you have not visited recently, please look at the I Love Math blog to see the problems for 2016. The blog also introduces the two visiting panelists who will field student questions on the 11th. Here is the link: http://ilovemathmss.blogspot.com
This year's problems turned out to be incredibly engaging for students. All the adults who work with middle school students were impressed with their persistence, and the beautiful submissions they turned in for each problem.
The problems were fun and engaging, and they required children to think creatively and deeply about some of the most important middle school topics:
factors
prime factors
sums
products
uniqueness
rates of speed
relative rates of speed
conversions
thinking backward, not just forward
fractions
exponents
multiplying fractions
adding fractions
infinite series
translating symbols into meaningful words
translating symbols into meaningful pictures
visual images that capture mathematical concepts
timelines
identifying patterns
relating rate, time and distance
Working on the problems, students were required to practice these skills, but also to use them in atypical ways. Since they were working in small groups, students had to collaborate, pose questions, create hypotheses, test hypotheses, critique, and ultimately find agreement and create a submission.
In doing so, many additional goals were accomplished. Many of these goals are in the category of habits that we hope children will develop. Our hopes are expressed well in the eight math practice standards specified in the common core:
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Attend to precision.
5. Look for and make use of mathematical structure.
6. Look for and use repeated reasoning (generalize and look for shortcuts).
7. Create models.
8. Use appropriate tools strategically.
Once again this year, we have watched students grow in all these ways as they engage with challenging problems. Their work will be on display in the Community Room when we do the panel discussion for the middle school: February 11 at 12:45pm. Come see what the children created!
If you have not visited recently, please look at the I Love Math blog to see the problems for 2016. The blog also introduces the two visiting panelists who will field student questions on the 11th. Here is the link: http://ilovemathmss.blogspot.com
This year's problems turned out to be incredibly engaging for students. All the adults who work with middle school students were impressed with their persistence, and the beautiful submissions they turned in for each problem.
The problems were fun and engaging, and they required children to think creatively and deeply about some of the most important middle school topics:
factors
prime factors
sums
products
uniqueness
rates of speed
relative rates of speed
conversions
thinking backward, not just forward
fractions
exponents
multiplying fractions
adding fractions
infinite series
translating symbols into meaningful words
translating symbols into meaningful pictures
visual images that capture mathematical concepts
timelines
identifying patterns
relating rate, time and distance
Working on the problems, students were required to practice these skills, but also to use them in atypical ways. Since they were working in small groups, students had to collaborate, pose questions, create hypotheses, test hypotheses, critique, and ultimately find agreement and create a submission.
In doing so, many additional goals were accomplished. Many of these goals are in the category of habits that we hope children will develop. Our hopes are expressed well in the eight math practice standards specified in the common core:
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Attend to precision.
5. Look for and make use of mathematical structure.
6. Look for and use repeated reasoning (generalize and look for shortcuts).
7. Create models.
8. Use appropriate tools strategically.
Once again this year, we have watched students grow in all these ways as they engage with challenging problems. Their work will be on display in the Community Room when we do the panel discussion for the middle school: February 11 at 12:45pm. Come see what the children created!