Save the dates:

Back-to-School Nights 2

Grades 2-5: Tuesday, February 5th at 7:00 pm

Preschool-First Grade: Thursday, February 7th at 7:00 p.m.

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and.... 

Tuesday night!

The Role of Model Drawing in Lower School Mathematics

by Fifth Grade Mathematics Teacher, Barry Ostrer

Model drawing is designed to enable students to develop the kind of mathematical thinking that is geared to solving problems.   The goal is to instruct a student to read a problem, analyze it and devise a way to solve it.  The emphasis is on the analysis and the creation of the solution, not simply computing the answer. 

Many students read a problem and immediately rush to apply arithmetic thinking to solve it without the careful consideration needed to digest exactly what the problem is all about.  Others read the problem and are overcome with anxious thoughts that prevent any creative thinking from happening. 

Model drawing provides a visual context to a word problem that describes the situation and is the precursor to thinking algebraically.   It's a great way to teach problem- solving skills.   It was developed in Singapore and involves careful consideration and specific steps before any arithmetic is done.   According to Char Forster, an experienced teacher with over 18 years classroom experience and now a renowned education speaker and author, "The goal of model drawing is to build a pictorial bridge to abstract thinking."  So the next time you’re helping your daughter or son with their math homework, instead of saying something like “What did you get for your answer,” consider asking  “Explain to me how 

you solved this problem?”

There is a new bulletin board display outside the fifth-grade mathematics classroom that demonstrates the use of "bar models," to which second graders are introduced and then are used consistently as a problem-solving tool in subsequent grades. This is only one of a number of mathematical modeling techniques which students learn to use in the Lower School. Throughout this article are pictorial representations from the bulletin board display, complete with samples of students' work. It is far more impressive in person if you have the chance to stop by.

The Importance of 

Pattern Recognition

A first-grade class created a pattern to
express their caring connectedness!

During a professional day several years ago, mixed groups of teachers from all three divisions were asked to discuss the skills, experiences and concepts that are essential for our students. Then, by grade level, teachers were asked to record, on large sheets posted around the room, the essentials that were most relevant for their own students.

As teachers walked around the room reading what others had written, a very clear, surprising and unexpected pattern emerged. Whether the words were used explicitly or implied, it was the ability to recognize patterns that emerged as the single most teacher-mentioned essential ability for preschoolers through seniors, across all academic disciplines!

It is natural to think of pattern recognition as an essential skill for the study of mathematics or science. Preschoolers are taught to recognize “ABAB” patterns, followed by slightly more complex “ABB” patterns. One-to-one correspondence is the basis of counting skills and the foundation of a deep understanding of mathematics in our early-childhood program. By Upper School, students are regularly asked to analyze and make sense of data, often gathered in the context of science, by looking for patterns that fit the data to the mathematical functions that they have studied.

Some fourth-grade science students discover what
patterns of electrical circuits can add light switches
and door bells to a model house.

In social studies, the curriculum in all three divisions revolves around a small number of essential questions such as, “How are we all the same; and how are we different?” Even in preschool, students’ experiences are designed to begin the process of helping them to build their own sense of the patterns that define our shared humanity as compared to our cultural differences. Middle and Upper School students are asked to think beyond the dates and facts that made up most of our own educations, so that they can see increasingly complex patterns of human behavior across history.

Learning a language is as much about understanding the patterns of grammar and usage as it is about memorizing vocabulary. As students learn to write and to evaluate the writing of others, they learn to recognize the patterns of language and expression that are most effective and persuasive.

While the amount of information available to us seems to explode before our eyes, it becomes more and more difficult for educators to identify an essential body of knowledge for our students. The ability to extract, evaluate, manipulate, analyze, apply and present relevant information, all aided by well-developed pattern-recognition skills, becomes a far more useful goal than memorizing exponentially increasing amounts of information.

As our students develop, the patterns that they can decipher become more complicated and sophisticated. They are encouraged to “construct” their own particular patterned view
and understanding of the world around them. Learning to extend, modify and connect patterns—even build entirely new ones—underlies all forms of creative expression and
problem-solving.

Of course, trying to view all of education through a pattern-recognition lens may have its limitations, but it will doubtless remain at the core of a Dwight-Englewood education as all our teachers continue to grapple with how we can best prepare our students for the future.

Opera Update

Hi my name is Max, and I am an opera public relations officer.  Today  I am going to tell you about the writers. They are Andy, Wiley , Isabelle, Tavis and Jimena.  I interviewed Tavis to find out what the writers have been doing. Tavis told me that so far they have written half of the first act. The writers have also  finished writing  the verses of the opening aria which they have given to the composers.  The writers are thinking of ideas that can make the opera more exciting. The next thing that they are going to work on is finishing the first act, including a Greek chorus.  The writers have two and a half more acts to go. The thing Tavis said he likes the most is the comedy that they will put in it. Thank you for reading about the writers. There will be many more jobs to come.

and 

Coming Up!