Dr. Yeap Ban Har, primary author of the think!Mathematics curriculum joined us to discuss enrichment and acceleration. While he shared many valuable insights, below are three key ideas from the session…
+ Enrichment, done well, involves creating routines and consistent practices. Ban Har shared that launching the lesson with a problem-solving Anchor task, allowing students to explore problem-solving first with concrete materials, and promoting collaboration, are all routines and practices to include in the classroom. If these routines and practices are in place, acceleration will naturally follow.
+ The art of journaling is a general way that we can support advanced students. Ban Har shared three journal prompts for students who are ready for depth independently within a lesson.
- Write a note to a classmate who was absent today about what you learned.
- Write a story problem for a calculation that we made today.
- Invent your own strategy to solve.
+ OPPORTUNITY V. ABILITY. If we provide students with novel problem-solving experiences, without the weight of getting to a solution, our students’ ability to approach and solve novel problems will increase and improve.
As a friendly reminder, the think!Mathematics curriculum intentionally includes THREE novel problem-solving opportunities that can be individual or collaborative experiences:
- The unit Mind Workout
- The workbook Mind Workout (per unit)
- Unit assessment question(s)
