Play Math Training July 2013

Lynne Kenneypinterest.com/lynnekenneywww.lynnekenney.com

Math is hard...

...because we make it that way.

Kids are told math is important. They oblige by memorizing math facts and rules...

Do the math...

...often withOUT understanding them.

Do the math...

We start as young as age 4 with symbolic math…. Why?

Learning Styles• 50 % of children are kinesthetic

learners so why not begin with touch?• Visual learners learn by watching. 40%

of learners are in this category.• Only 10 percent of secondary

students learn best auditorily, but 80 percent of instructional delivery is auditory.

You don’t see with your eyes, you perceive with your brain.

How Do We Perceive ~ The 3 Part Brain

• The Cortex• The Limbic Brain • The Cerebellum

• We sense• We evaluate degree of danger• We feel, we think• We make meaning

How does the brain learn?

1. Sensory input2. Meaningful

associations3. Utility4. Repetition

Sit and get does not grow dendrites

What Needs To Change

1. We move to learn, we play to behave (provide opportunity for creativity and critical thinking)2. Multi-modal sensory learning strategies3. Rhythmic daily movement4. Make children the teachers/mentors5. Instruct less, interact more6. Help children think about number composition

Novelty• Only four to eight minutes of pure

factual lecture can be tolerated before the brain seeks other stimuli, either internal (e.g., daydreaming) or external (Who is that walking down the hall?). If the teacher is not providing that novelty, the brain will go elsewhere. Bruce Perry, PhD

STM to LTM• The goal is to move knowledge from STM to

LTM.• Through a network of neurons, sensory

information is transmitted by synapses between neurons. STM is like a receiving center for the flood of sensory information we encounter in our daily lives.

• Memory consolidation (LTM) requires repetition for non-traumatic events.

1. Frequency and recency of neuron synapses increase memoryIncrease frequency through practice and maintain fluency through use

2. Emotions strengthen memoryAppeal to and engage emotions while learning

3. Learning causes changes to the physical structure of the brainAllowing children to teach increases their ability to learn throughout their lives

4. Memories are stored in multiple parts of the brainEngage all senses when learning

5. Our brains are programmed to focus on new and unusual inputsLearning should tap into the brain’s natural curiosity and intrinsic motivation

Sources: Donald J. Ford, Ph.D., C.P.T., Carl Haywood, PhD

Five Brain Secrets That Enhance Learning

How To Prevent Forgetting

• Most people forget newly learned concepts after a day.

• Re-learning forgotten concepts is easier than learning new ones. This is even true years after something is forgotten.

• Over-learning typically occurs during motor learning this repetitive form of learning reinforces information and requires high levels of brain organization.

•What is the world’s most popular toy?

Common Conceptual Errors

• 8 + 4 = o+ 5, What do you put in the box? (2nd-3rd grade)

• = means the answer comes next, not “the same” ~ Teach = > < tell about relationships

• Reliance on procedures, without gaining understanding ~ Compare don’t just calculate; Teach the concept not the RULE

• Thinking a number sentence is always a +/- b = c

Misunderstanding 1

When is this 1?

Play Math puts math in a language kids intuitively understand – the language of play.

But it’s NOT about making math fun (though it is). It’s about making math painless.

And when the learning is painless,

CONFIDENCE soars!

Play Math Moves Around The Defensive Brain To Painlessly Teach Skills

Multi-sensory engagement...• See it. Say it. Play it.

Whole-brain involvement...• Cerebellum to Cortex

Neuro-Scientific Design

Whole-body experience...• Gross to Fine Motor

We teach number relationships with fine and gross motor movement leading

to a conceptual understanding of fact families and factors. This generates a

natural scaffolding of math skills far beyond symbol relations and

memorization, It leads to meaningful math.

Did you know up to 50% of 7th graders do not have a good understanding of

their math facts? Why is that?

How do we Play Math?

WE SEE ~ We see the number relationships with base ten blocks and marker boards. We begin with pre-symbolic math looking at and talking about the numbers represented by base ten blacks. Many children experience “AH-HA” when they can see what 9 + 4 actually looks like.

WE SAY ~ Math is a language based activity. We say what we see, we ask questions and we communicate about math as we play.

WE PLAY ~ We introduce the math concepts, we wonder aloud and allow the child to see, say, play and build math. It is important that we do not instruct. Children get enough instruction in school. We want to play and have fun with numbers and math concepts.WE TOUCH ~ We encourage the children to touch the base ten blocks. They count the ones, move the rods and talk about the numbers they are building.

WE MOVE ~ Each activity has a motor component, some use fine motor manipulation and others use gross motor movement. This way we engage the whole brain not just the visual and auditory brain systems.WE CROSS ~ We incorporate large motor movement in all directions using rhythm. We begin with simple ball bouncing to establish rhythm. Then we move to passing balls across the body, to the side and overhead. Crossing the midline integrates brain hemispheres and enables the brain to organize itself.

WE BUILD ~ As the children begin to build numbers with the base ten blocks, we start to teach them that multiplication is fast counting. We teach them the “over” and “up” numbers to introduce multiplication and factors.WE WRITE ~ As we progress we start to write number equations, fact families and factors.

How To Play...

5 fun & easy steps1. mirror count/skip count2. “Let’s play math” (see it, touch it, move it)

3. slide and guide4. over and up5. what numbers “fit into” other numbers

Step 1 ~ We always begin with mirror or skip counting with large bouncing balls (playground or beach balls). I know it sounds so simple but skip counting is magic. Skip counting multiple operations. Imagine learning multiplication prior to third grade, the kids adore it. Better than that imagine learning PEMDAS in 3rd grade, we do that!

Step 2 ~ When we “get stuck” on a number we sit down with the base ten blocks and “play math.” The children are never wrong, they are always right, they are just learning.

Step 3 ~ When we have “seen” “touched” and done “slide and glide” with the blocks, we then get up and bounce, pass or throw the gross motor balls again. “How did you get there?”

Step 4 ~ We learn the “over and up” number leading to fact families, equations, factors, and division. There is order in math that leads to algebraic success. By session four they are thriving in the creativity and order of math.

Step 5 ~ Children become Play Math Mentors teaching other children the “secrets of fact families and factors.” Kids who are disengaged as students become engaged as teachers. “When do I get my t-shirt?”

Advanced Strategies• The Train• Bouncing small balls• Hop, skip, jump• Mother May I• The Austin• The Kyle• The Ezra• Four-square math

Test Results ~ Grades 2, 3, 4, 5Small group format12 40 min sessions = Double the math scores (minute math tests)

What works? The motor-cognitive components of Play Math. When we alternated gross motor movement (tossing, throwing, passing, bouncing balls) with fine motor movement (touching, counting, sliding, building base ten blocks) the children’s brains took in the knowledge in a multi-sensory manner.

What works?

1. The children are allowed to run, jump, hop, skip and play.2. The children are taught “a method” that will make them “math mentors.”3. When a child creates a “game” that works, we name it after him/her “The Kyle” “The Ezra.”

Participation = Motivation

Special Topics•Subitizing•Fractions•Place Value

Cardinal is how many.

Ordinal is what order.

Mathfour.com

FractionsFractions are parts of a whole.We determine what that whole is (one can be many things).Before you can count things you must make them the same.

HOW MANY________________________________

WHAT KIND

“Base 10” is the language of place value

• What’s a base anyway, what a weird word. It’s what you get back to after 9.

• The base ten number system is a “place value” system.

• A base “is a language like French or English.” We decide as a culture the language we will speak.

• Base 10 is a language of columns we use to describe the place value of numbers.

• In base 10+, each column is worth 10 times the amount of the column in the place to the right of it.

Resources

mathfour.comabllab.comwww.mathandmovement.com

Thinking Mathematically: Integrating Arithmetic and Algebra in Elementary SchoolThomas P. Carpenter Megan Loef Franke Linda Levi

Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics: Teachers' Understanding of Fundamental Mathematics in China and the United StatesLiping Ma

Gratitude

• A warm thank you to Dr. Martin Fletcher and Cheryl McCarthy for their help in the development of this slide show and program.