Newsletter Sept 2021

This year, membership to SMTS is offered through STF, if you choose
the Math Society as you Professional Learning Network. Log in to
your STF website and select SMTS as your PLN!
Jo Boaler Read more: https://www.youcubed.org/resources/visual-math-improves-math-performance/
Math Newsletter Sept 2021
Topics: Representation in Mathematics, data, and rigor
Welcome Back! What’s up in Math?
Teacher’s Lounge!! Wouldn’t it be great if teachers had a place to just safely sit and talk, seek ideas
and resources, or collaboratively address each others’ questions? Like a teacher professional room?
St. Mary’s School has generously offered us the use of their resource room, which will become our
“drop in” teacher professional room.
Math Lounge will be Tuesday afternoons, from 3:45 till 5:00, three Tuesdays a month. Our first
Tuesday will be Sept 14.
So, what will happen? We will make a loose agenda of topics, and CTTCS math teachers can drop in
any time they like. Some topic ideas are: Using manipulatives, formative assessments, math
interventions, differentiating, learning progressions, co-creating criteria, triangulating evidence,
lesson formats, guided math, or anything else you want to talk about! Even though I will suggest a
topic each week, you are welcome to come with questions. Often teachers want to talk about year
plans, how to teach a certain concept, how to demonstrate various topics like (fraction, place value,
or graphing), where to find great web resources, and how to assess. I won’t have all the answers, but
as a community of practice, we can support each other and share ideas. I can continue to research
and collect solutions.
Teacher Professional Rooms are great for capitalizing on all the expertise that already exists in our
division. We can have mini “Educamps” where we have certain teachers share the things they’ve
become really proficient at. We will try an “unconference” sometime later this fall, too!
Watch for a survey in your email where you can choose some math topics you’d like to learn about!
Then come on down, have a coffee/tea, tell us about your year start, and we will begin sketching out
some ideas for Math Tuesday topics.
Teacher Lounge gatherings in other content areas, such literacy, writing, French Immersion, book
studies, PLC’s, etc. will be available in the future. Stay tuned!

SaskMath Website is now live. You can check it out here
https://saskmath.ca/
Peter Liljedahl—Building Thinking Classrooms
Regina Catholic School Division is hosting Dr. Peter Liljedahl in Regina on October 5th
and 6th
, 2021 to run
professional development sessions around his Building Thinking Classrooms framework. Additional seats are
available to be purchased by educators from outside of RCSD.
Registration and additional information can be found using the following links for each date. Spaces are
extremely limited, so be sure to register as soon as possible if you or your teachers would like to attend.
October 5th
: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/building-thinking-classrooms-with-peter-liljedahl-oct-5th-tickets-
169386643009
October 6th
: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/building-thinking-classrooms-with-peter-liljedahl-oct-6th-tickets-
169527578551
Cost: $200 Location: Graton Room, Regina Catholic Schools, 3118-14th
Ave Regina
We also have a date booked with Peter in February 2022 and will share those details at a later time if there is
interest. If the event needs to be cancelled, full refunds will be issued. Please feel free to contact me with
any further questions.
Dr. Peter Liljedahl is the author of Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics: 14 Teaching
Practices for Enhancing Learning. Dr. Liljedahl researched how students behave in math
classrooms, and how much thinking and learning they are doing, as opposed to mimicking,
memorizing, copying, and complying (behaviours he categorizes as “studenting”.) Dr. Liljedahl’s
work and research is full of real classroom grassroots research, and provides a framework for how
to remake math teaching practice to not only train students to think and reason but also increase
engagement in math class and instill a love of mathematics. Thinking Classrooms applies to all
grade levels and has examples of open collaborative problems for any classroom.
**Seats for this conference will sell out fast! Register soon if you’re interested
Read more: https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-thinking-classroom-math
Twitter @thinkingclassrooms
@pgliljedahl

What is a screener? A screener is an “assessment” tool that gives an overall picture of gaps students may
have in their knowledge. As we know, knowledge, understanding and skills in math are built on prior
understandings in a sequential way. When students come to us with gaps in their prerequisite knowledge,
those students may struggle with the grade-level material we present. We often have to “back fill”—
sometimes for individual students or small groups of students (interventions), but sometimes for a whole
class. This is normal!
Where do your students have gaps in their prerequisite knowledge? How do you know? When do you find
out? Do you sometimes need to reteach a concept (review) for the entire class? If you have students
struggling, how do you offer them support?
Our goal this year at Christ the Teacher is to bring math teachers together to create screening tools that can
be used in every math classroom. The data will tell us what concepts we need to review, and will help
identify students that need interventions and in what area they need interventions. On Oct 12, our division
wide PD day, we are asking one or two math teachers from each school (K-9, for now) to come together to
discuss what we would like to see for screening tools, and what concepts and outcomes we identify as
critical to success in mathematics. By June 2022 we hope to have a screening tool for every grade level.
Many divisions have already created or already use screening tools. Some of our schools have done
extensive work in this area at the elementary level (K-3). Many of you are familiar with the Saskatoon
Greater Catholic “BCM” (Basic Concepts of Math) screener.
SaskMath has some screening tools readily available, as well as a data spreadsheet.
https://saskmath.ca/math-screeners/
This is an example of one page of a Grade 8 screener, which tests Grade 7 and 6 outcomes in
Number and Pattern strands. This is the teacher version, which has each question cataloged
to a grade and outcome.
An example of a portion of the data sheet that displays class results. Student names
are in a column to the left, so each row represents one student’s results. As you look down the columns, you can see class trends.
The question number, which is correlated to a grade and outcome, appears at the top of each column. Why not give a screener a
try this fall, and see what information you learn about your students! This is assessment FOR learning. It provides a great starting
point for review.
CTTCS Math What’s up for this year?

Math is visual! Helping students see multiple representations of number, trends, data, and relationships is a
core concept in our curriculum. Further, representations are a means to problem solving and reasoning. A
picture is worth a thousand words. In many situations, we insist our students make meaningful diagrams,
charts, graphs, shape drawings, and/or equations and algorithms. All of these are representations, and all
are connected. Making connections is another mathematical process, and intricately linked with reasoning,
communicating, visualizing, mental math and estimation, problem solving, and representing.
In early grades, students learn representation of numbers—using objects, finger diagrams, tally marks, and
numerals. We also ask students to represent numbers in standard form, expanded form (to show
understanding of place value) and in written form, and to draw patterns. We introduce models, like ten
frames, number lines, and base ten blocks. It is important to incorporate a variety of models, as different
students latch onto different mental models as they reason
mathematically. Number talks is a great way to uncover all the
various ways our students conceptualize number! By sharing mental
models, students strengthen reasoning and flexibility in each other.
Our representations become ways of solving problems. Having
students think in “ten frames” is critical for developing fluency at all
grade levels. Number lines become open number lines, and are also
a useful model for visualizing fractions and decimals. They are
connected to measurement, and provide a way to visualize abstract
concepts like integers, inequalities, and limits. Later they become
the x and y axis as our students move to graphing relationships and displaying data.
Mathematical Process Feature: Representation
The process of representation includes using models to organize, record, and communicate
mathematical ideas, as well as selecting, applying, and translating these models to solve problems and
interpret mathematics. The models can be used to “show” math, through the use of manipulative
materials, diagrams, graphical displays, and symbolic expressions. Representation also includes
internalizing or taking in mathematical ideas and understanding them. Representation should be an
important element of lesson planning. Teachers must ask themselves, “What models or materials
(representations) will help convey the mathematical focus of today’s lesson?” -F. Fennel, NCTM
“
“

Representations include diagrams that help solve problems. It is extremely important that “making a
representation” is part of our problem-solving process.
Our Saskatchewan math curriculum outcomes require students to be able to demonstrate understanding of
many concepts concretely, pictorially (representating), and abstractly. This is sometimes refered to as the C-
R-A continuum. Having students create representations is not optional.
Concept Circles in Math
Concept Circles a fun, easy tool to help students represent numbers in elementary and middle grades.
Watch how to use concept circles (Dr. Cathy Marks Krpan) as a
thinking routine https://youtu.be/K14hh3Tz1P4
More tools to help students represent math
https://www.visualpatterns.org/
https://www.didax.com/math/virtual-manipulatives.html
https://illuminations.nctm.org/Search.aspx?view=search&type=ac
https://toytheater.com/category/teacher-tools/virtual-
manipulatives/
https://mathigon.org/polypad
https://www.mathplayground.com/math_manipulatives.html
https://www.mathlearningcenter.org/apps
https://www.desmos.com/calculator
https://www.desmos.com/geometry
Free downloadable representation cards and games
https://www.thecurriculumcorner.com/thekindercorner/number-
representation-cards/
https://buildmathminds.com/freebies/ (Lots of good free
elementary classroom tools at this site!)

These will make an awesome Math Station or demo sites
http://mathmagi.com/slice-the-pie.html and http://www.mathmagi.com/fraction-fred.html
“Slice the Pie” especially is effective because students have to develop a sense of how big a fraction is. This activity will
ask them to “Shade 5/13 of the pie” and they have to take their best guess.
A cool Idea: Make a math challenge chatterbox!
Instructions for Making
1. Cut out the square Chatterbox.
2. Fold and unfold the Chatterbox, along all four lines of
symmetry. The
creases will form a ‘star’ in the centre of the sheet.
3. Place on a flat surface, the blank side facing up. Fold each
corner into
the centre of the ‘star’.
4. Turn the Chatterbox over. Fold each corner into the centre of
the ‘star’.
5. Fold the Chatterbox in half - so facing outwards, are four
square flaps.
6. Insert your thumbs and index fingers under the flaps. As you
pinch
your fingers together, the Chatterbox will take shape.
Several other sets of instructions can be found on the internet,
. including pictures, diagrams and movie clips, as well as written
text.
Just Google; ‘fortune teller instructions’.
Hey! Got
questions? You can
always text me:
306-621-2248

Newsletter Sept 2021

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Newsletter Sept 2021