A Year in the Life: Ambient Math Wins the Race to the Top!
Day 268
For one year, 365 days, this blog will address the Common Core Standards from the perspective of creating an alternate, ambient learning environment for math. Ambient is defined as “existing or present on all sides, an all-encompassing atmosphere.”
And ambient music is defined as: “Quiet and relaxing with melodies that repeat many times.” Why ambient? A math teaching style that’s whole and all encompassing, with themes that repeat many times through the years, is most likely to be effective and successful. The CCSS math standards are listed here in blue followed by their ambient counterparts.
Number and Operations – Fractions 4.NF
Understand decimal notation for fractions and compare decimal fractions.
6. Use decimal notation for fractions with denominators 10 or 100. For example, rewrite 0.62 as 62/100, describe a length as 0.62 meters, locate 0.62 on a number line diagram.
The coin exercise from post #267 would fulfill this standard nicely since the circled coin amounts are labeled as both fractions and decimals, and are also expanded or reduced from or to tenths to hundredths and vice versa. The Math By Hand / Grade 4 / Kit 3 / Decimals includes a reversible write-on/wipe-off conversion chart. On side 1: fractions to decimals, and on side 2: decimals to fractions.
Oversized fraction lines and a division sign are featured on both work surfaces. A wipe-off crayon and eraser is supplied with the laminated charts, with the conversions later copied into workbooks. The decimal version in measurement could be integrated with a project (building or gardening, etc.) so it’s less abstract and more user-friendly. Math By Hand covers the number line with an extensive introduction and tools for working with the 4 processes and positive/negative numbers. After the CCSS 4.NF 7 post, several posts will be devoted to the Math By Hand number line materials.
On to the glorious Grade 4 trickster tales! One of Math By Hand’s multi-cultural tales features Nasrudin, a Middle Eastern folklore figure whose humorous escapades often involve his hapless donkey. These tales, both wry and wise, have earned Nasrudin a beloved place in many hearts, young and old. And they most certainly quench the fourth grader’s thirst for rambunctious adventure!
Knowledge ensues in an environment dedicated to imaginative, creative knowing, where student and teacher alike surrender to the ensuing of knowledge as a worthy goal. Tune in tomorrow for more Grade 4 math CCSS and their ambient counterparts.