Mrs. Hara – 7th/8th Grade Math

Today I posed the following question to Ms. Everett’s class in regards to Model Drawing:  How has using model drawing helped you when solving word problems?  You see this was the same question I had asked them about 4 weeks ago and received very simple and general responses.  Did I panic?  Kind of.  I also realized that I didn’t want to just tell them what I felt was the “right” responses.  So I let it go and just continued to present them with more and more problems to do using this process.  Today, I received these responses: 

• I like the unit bars because it’s easy and it helps me to remember the numbers that I have to work with. (Xander)
• It helps me to understand the problem because I have to do all of the steps like underline the question, rewrite a sentence for the answer, make the bars and adjust them. (Raynn)
• I can use this to solve addition and subtraction problems and probably other kinds of problems too. (Brock)
• The bars and the question mark lets me know if I have to add or subtract.  (Kaena)
• If I want to show it another way, I can use the model drawing.  It’s good to have choices. (Malia)

I was so pleased with these and all the other responses the students gave. It was nice to see that they were now understanding the benefits of this process.  Great job 3B!  Keep up the good work and keep using model drawing!

Yesterday I was able to continue my lessons on the strategy of using the model drawing process to solve word problems in Ms. Everett’s third grade class.  Model drawing consists of 8 steps that students consistenly follow regardless of the type of word problem.  The drawing includes recording who and what is part of the problem and drawing a unit bar(s) to represent the amounts.  Students then choose their own way that they would like to solve the problem. 

You can see the unit bar neatly written and this student is in the process of solving it.

Carlos is doing a great job with applying the steps in order to solve his problem.

I had several parents ask me if I knew of some math applications that they could download onto their phone.  I found this: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/04/5-basic-math-apps-for-the-iphone-and-your-kids/.  Here you will find five math applications that allow your child to practice basic math skills.  They can be found on itunes and are reasonably priced.  Try them out and let me know what you think of them!