Samra Hussain - My Personal Learning Path

The last time I left off, before my detour into word problems and some strategies on how to solve them, I was looking at introducing the concept of geometry. I started with learning about lines and rays, etc. So building off of that, I saw that the next step was introducing angles! This concept is introduced during the fourth grade The common core standard that align with this concept are: CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.G.A.1 "Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures." CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.G.A.2 "Classify two-dimensional figures based on the presence or absence of parallel or perpendicular lines, or the presence or absence of angles of a specified size. Recognize right triangles as a category, and identify right triangles." https://www.education.com/lesson-plan/all-about-angles/ 4.MD.C.5 Recognize angles as geometric shapes that are formed wher...

      I've deviated a bit from reviewing general mathematical skills and wanted to explore something that always comes up, regardless of which concept you are teaching or learning, which are word problems! It's easy to have equations written out for us to be solved, but word problems can be difficult. Because there is no visible equation, students must figure out what the problem is and how to set up a way to solve it. This week, I set out to find ways that can help teachers help students work on word problems and strategies that they can use to tackle them.      I came across a  website, which was written by a teacher, which had some good ways to deal with word problems. One of the most important things to realize and explain to students is that word problems can be difficult and by relaying that to students, it can relieve some of the anxiety for students. She mentioned that word problems require practice. The more word problems you do, the more co...

As we are progressing through the semester, I have definitely seen the value in learning and really understanding math, instead of just trying to get to an answer or use memorization. Although memorization is necessary in some instances, it is better to understand the actual math because not only can it help save time while doing a problem, but it can also set a strong foundation for learning more complicated math. I found a great resource for learning about divisibility rules which can make division a bit easier and faster, especially when trying to divide large problems. Just like with learning fractions and being able to quickly compare two values by seeing whether they are greater or less than 1, 1/2, etc, you can make division of long problems easier by knowing the divisibility rules. The divisibility rules are as follows below: http://www.resourceaholic.com/2016/07/divisibility-rules.html I also found a great lesson plan for this specific topic on education.com. ( https:...

According to the common core, students moves from learning about square units and area in the 3rd grade to learning about lines and line segment in the 4th grade. So the next stop on this geometry train is learning about lines, line segments, and rays. One of the major obstacles in learning about something is not knowing the proper terminology. I believe that students need to have a strong foundation to help them excel further in math.  I found a simple chart that provided the term, a physical representation, and definition for these terms. https://www.mathworksheets4kids.com/line-ray-segment/chart1.pdf This was a good refresher for me for the different terms that are used in geometry. We all know what points and lines are but they have specific connotations when used in geometry. I also went through a quick video I found on Khan Academy that further reinforced my understanding about how these terms are related and how they are the same. After the video, there was a review...

   After the previous post on area, the topic moved into the direction of perimeter. While I had a basic understanding of both these concepts (to get area you have to multiply two sides and for perimeter, you have to add up all the sides), I realized that this may be confusing for some students. They might be able to pull of the lower level skill of computing the problems, but this course has shown me the benefit of understanding the topic conceptually. So I set off to find a way to help students conceptually understanding what it means to find the area vs. finding the perimeter. I went to khanacademy.com and they briefly talked about the comparison between area and perimeter, but I think students needed another way for it to be shown to really understand it. Below is an example of a sample question from Khan Academy. I found this website, which I think did a good job of easily explaining what each term is and how to compute the problem. https://www.mathplanet.com...

    I have finally moved on from fractions and feel that I have a really good grasp on the subject. I definitely feel more comfortable being able to explain fractions to students now. This week, I have turned my attention to geometry. I've always had a hard time with this subject. Instead of diving right into geometry problems, I went to an intro into the subject. The subject of geometry begins in 3rd grade and it starts with an introduction about  the concept of area and how that just means how much a shape covers a particular space.    I again used the website Khan Academy because they really simplify the subject and provide helpful problem sets at the end of each lesson. I noticed that the math problems presented in this intro were done on graph paper. This was helpful to visually see how much space the shape covers. There was no abstract shape with formulas that needed to be memorized, at least not at this particular level. A unit would be given and from th...