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Post by peterwhitehead on Aug 28, 2020 14:48:47 GMT
Fingers? Of course, I'm sure we all use them for some purposes. It's important for us as teachers to know *when* a student is using their fingers so we mustn't stignmatise it so it moves under the desk (unless, like Steve, we have glass-topped desks!). As others have mentioned, they are the most at hand (!) of concrete resources.
Part of my summer reading involved some ethnomathematics (Numberland, Alex Bellos) and he describes various "body counting systems" which are amazingly complicated and involve far more than fingers. Without wishing to be indelicate, feel free to research the somewhat extraordinary 31,32,33 sequence of the Yupno people!
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Post by Judy on Aug 28, 2020 16:08:00 GMT
Fingers? Of course, I'm sure we all use them for some purposes. It's important for us as teachers to know *when* a student is using their fingers so we mustn't stignmatise it so it moves under the desk (unless, like Steve, we have glass-topped desks!). As others have mentioned, they are the most at hand (!) of concrete resources. Part of my summer reading involved some ethnomathematics (Numberland, Alex Bellos) and he describes various "body counting systems" which are amazingly complicated and involve far more than fingers. Without wishing to be indelicate, feel free to research the somewhat extraordinary 31,32,33 sequence of the Yupno people! Hi Peter I have read Alex's book as well. It's fantastic. Have you read Alex through the looking glass? That is another great holiday read. Brian Butterworth also talks about tribal number systems in his book the mathematical brain- so interesting, but I do wonder if the women are counting in the same way as the men  !! I have added this link to the padlets on ethnomathematics. ema300assignment2.weebly.com/Hope all good with you and that you have enjoyed the summer Judy |
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Post by peterwhitehead on Aug 29, 2020 12:26:57 GMT
<<I do wonder if the women are counting in the same way as the men !!>> Haha Judy - I was a little hesitant with the example given my audience here! Of course the wider context is that the women in these situations were not expected/required/allowed/privileged to count. I have this with a few learners each year at work with ESOL ladies from some North East African countries where they simply have no symbols or concepts even in their own languages for natural numbers. It's very difficult to teach these concepts in a once-a-week lesson when this would normally be a daily early years practice (with arguably more plastic brains). |
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Post by Becky White on Aug 30, 2020 8:15:38 GMT
/?vh=e&extid=EmqoQZVkE7YM1kqM Not sure if people can see this link.... I just saw it on Facebook. Interesting how there are so many different approaches but this.... |
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Post by Judy on Aug 30, 2020 10:44:28 GMT
This grid method is really common in primary schools, she is making a meal of it though! It can be useful when you move onto things like (x + 2)(x + 3) example to explain where the four terms come from, rather than relying on acronyms like FOIL. I also think that having the image of a rectangle when we multiply two numbers together can be helpful. I think I will make this our discussion point for tomorrow and see what everyone else thinks!
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Post by Becky White on Aug 31, 2020 9:42:56 GMT
Yes I’ve seen the method before but like you say, she’s really making a meal of it .... but maybe the way she emphasises the order of the method is helpful. It just highlights how challenging maths can be of ‘short cuts’ can’t be applied.
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!!