Current Events #2

- Making Math Lessons as Easy as 1, Pause, 2, Pause ...
- By Winnie Hu
- September 30, 2010
- http://www.nytimes.com/
- http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/education/01math.html?_r=1&ref=education
- Schools are adopting a new math program referred to as "Singapore Math".
- Children in Franklin Lakes, NJ are beginning to be taught math based on a math program from Singapore. Schools in this district are aiming to increase the country's success through giving students a better understanding on numbers and mathematical ideas. One of the methods children are learning is being taught about the number one for a whole lesson. Research has suggested that students that are taught Singapore math score higher on tests. Students learning Singapore math as stated by Bill Jackson, a math coach who was watching a class as they learn, are taught using a three step teaching method. This method consists of concrete, pictorial, and abstract.
- I chose this news story because I knew there were different ways of teaching students to learn math. But I never knew that one method can cause students to enjoy math and increase their scores as with Singapore Math. In school, teachers don't always necessary teach students in many different ways but just in one. It's interesting that Singapore math covers 3 ways students can learn: visual, kinetic, and auditory.
- After reading the news article it reminded me of the Enlightenment and American Revolution. In the article, children are being taught using a method based on the Singapore national math system. This made me remember the story of Thomas Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence. He had one week to do it but waited until the last day. The ideas he wrote into the Declaration of Independence were based of the ideas of philosophes from the Enlightenment such as Voltaire and John Locke.