Framing Statement #8

Mathematics- Knowledge and Application

Robin Kornfield

ED698 Master’s Portfolio

University of Alaska Southeast

Dr. Beth Hartley

February 26, 2024

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MATHEMATICS

Mathematics candidates demonstrate and apply understandings of major mathematics

concepts, algorithms, procedures, applications and mathematical practices in varied
contexts, and connections within and among mathematical domains.

This framing statement is focused on my work with my current combination 5th

and 6th grade classroom. Located here

(https://robinkornfieldportfolio.weebly.com/math.html) are the artifacts of the standard

lessons I teach in McGraw Hill’s My Math textbook (mheducation.com/prek-12) and

samples of other materials, such as worksheets and real-life math questions that we

have solved such as a method of counting the Western Arctic Caribou Herd

(pacificsciencecenter.org). The caribou counting lesson meets the Alaska Standard for

Math 5.NF.6. goal of solving real world problems in math

(education.alaska.gov/standards/math) (p.3.). In this lesson students calculate the size

of the caribou herd by counting the number of caribou in one section of a grid and then

multiplying that number by the total number of boxes in the grid. Learning about how

the size of the herd is calculated is particularly relevant to students and families in

northwest Alaska for whom caribou are a critical food source. Students also use

technology and work on a leveled on-line mathematics program called ALEKS

(www.aleks.com).

According to the Principles and Standards of School Mathematics “Assessment

should support the learning of important mathematics and furnish useful information to

both teachers and students” (NCTM, 2000, as cited by Van de Walle et al., p. 29).

Assessment has been critical as I have struggled to find the best combination of
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resources to help my students who are in two different grades and they range in math

skill from early elementary to at-grade-level understanding. “When teachers are

focused on student learning of skills, they use assessment tools and processes to find

out what students can and cannot do—and then determine what to teach next” (Taylor

& Nolan, 2008, p.18). It took some time for me to understand, based upon formative

assessment and the fall and winter Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)

assessments, that I needed to throw out my preconception that the 5th graders should

be in the fifth-grade textbook and the 6th graders should be in the sixth-grade textbook.

Students need to work at their own levels and my students’ assessment results ranged

from first and second grade achievement to grade level. My challenge was to

continually work to accommodate individual needs and to find ways to make learning

math more relevant for these students.

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) position

statement defines effective mathematics teaching as requiring an understanding of what

students already know and what they need to learn. Based upon the MAP assessment

information, I divided my class into three groups. I needed to personally focus on the

students who were not at grade level. Three students were at grade level in math, and

they were very interested in on-line learning, so we now send these more advanced

students to work in a middle school math classroom while I conduct lessons for the

other group. This system works well, and we are now making headway in all levels.

There were some activities that all students could work on together. Out of my

class, only one student was strong in multiplication facts. Counting on fingers was

taking significant time away from problem solving, so I decided to focus on multiplication
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learning strategies for everyone. Van de Walle et al (2015) frown on math drills because

of research that shows drills inhibit understanding. A three-part process for developing

fact fluency is recommended. First, counting strategies in which the learner might start

with the larger number, as in 4+3=___. Starting with the 4, verbally add on the 5, 6 and

end on 7. A second strategy uses known information and adds reasoning. “Example: 4

+ 7. Student knows that 3 + 7 is 10, so 4 + 7 is one more, 11” (Van de Walle et al.,

2015, p. 219). We have also practiced skip counting from 2 through 6 so far. Mastery,

according to Van de Walle et al., occurs when students just know the answer. My

students love to compete at the whiteboard filling in the answers to multiplication

problems. They continue to be far from fluent, but I smile when I hear a student who

didn’t know 6x7=42 a month ago, can now help his friend with the answer.

The NCTM Technology Principle (as cited by Van de Walle et al.) states that

technology is essential in teaching and learning mathematics. “Calculators, computers

and other emerging technologies are essential tools for learning and doing

mathematics” (p. 29). The students love to work on their laptop computers, but I am

sometimes skeptical about the quality of the work they are doing. When the students

are practicing on their ALEKS math programs I often sit down next to them to see how

they are approaching their problems. I have found that sometimes they are playing

games or working on something other than math. I have also noticed that when some

students struggle with one type of problem, they move on to another rather than

pressing the explanation button.

All students in my class were not understanding the steps involved in multiplying

double digit multiplication problems and they closed their books when it was time to
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move on to division. We came to a place where the only way to complete the page was

for me to walk the students explicitly through every single problem. I had tried every

explanation technique I could think of, but they could not move on to independent work.

The availability of on-line math lessons with colorful characters, infographics, and great

teachers has been very helpful. A YouTube video series called Math Antics (2024) has

been very effective, breaking down math processes and helping me by re-teaching

concepts the students were not grasping (mathantics.com). I have been pleased to see

the change as students began to understand how to round numbers, improvements in

adding and subtracting, and most can now multiply double and even triple digit numbers

on their own.

The other key component of teaching math is the use of each school district’s

math curriculum. It takes time to learn how to take full advantage of the resources that

are available, but between the printed text, teacher edition, and accompanying on-line

tools, when students learn math skills following the orderly progression in the textbook,

they will be well prepared to move on to the next level. The math curriculum program

used in Anchorage during my student teaching was called iReady (2022). I had more

time than I have had in my current teaching post to learn about the resources for

parents, extra levels of work for advanced students, and the daily teaching system that

is built into the program. The students seemed to love the iReady approach, which

uses a “gradual release of responsibility” system that guides the learner until he can

work independently (Fisher & Frey, 2014). The lessons start with “Try It, Make Sense of

the Problem,” which is the first step of their teaching system (www.iready.com). A daily

problem was posted on the whiteboard to be solved individually and then in small
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groups. Second, in a follow-up discussion students shared their strategies for solving

the problem of the day. We accepted every possible approach including counting on

fingers if it helped. Next, we went on to work together on an explanation of new

concepts and we practiced several problems together. Finally, the students continued

their own. When students were done, they were expected to spend 15 minutes at their

own level on-line. I received in-service training on the program and became competent

at conducting the lessons. The same tools may be available in my current school

system’s My Math curriculum (2016), but I have not found them, and we have not had a

math-related in-service. I would love to help my students become excited about both the

textbook learning and on-line tools.

Helping make learning relevant is another area of approach in working with my

class. Sometimes the “real life” questions asked in math problems are not real life for

my students as we have no pet stores, bakeries, toy stores or shopping centers here,

which are so often mentioned in story problems. Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis

point out in Strategies that Work (2017), finding ways to ask questions leads to more

wondering. “How many?” is one of the questions that I have found to create opportunity

to incorporate math in a topic that might appear to be unrelated to the subject of

mathematics.

We recently had the chance to use math to learn how biologists keep track of the

number of caribou in the Western Arctic Caribou Herd. We had previously read a

newspaper article about how the total number of caribou was 152,000 in 2023, seven

percent lower than in 2022. An exercise created by the Pacific Science Center shows

an aerial view of a caribou herd on a page (https://pacificsciencecenter.org/arctic-

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lesson-plan-migration). A thirty-square grid is placed on top of the caribou. The

students count the caribou in one square of the grid, then multiply by 30, which is the

total number of squares in the grid, to arrive at an estimate of the total number of

caribou in the photograph. Depending upon the square chosen the students arrived at

different numbers. We discussed the caribou count process and why it is important for

biologists to closely track the number of caribou in the herd. We also talked about how

many caribou one family needs to live through the winter and whether the families

represented in the classroom were successful in their caribou hunts this past season.

We will continue to look for relevance in the study of math. Our next subject will

be the study the Iditarod Sled dog Race. We will apply math to how far the dogs run,

their calorie consumption and other questions we discover that start with “How many, or

how much?” I will continue to seek out ways for real world problems that are relevant to

my students. Recently, the Iron Dog Snowmachine Race came through our village,

generating conversation about gas consumption, speed per mile on the trail, the effect

of weather on outcomes, and student dreams of being racers in the future. These types

of conversations and problems to solve meet the Alaska Standard for Math 5.NF.6.

which calls for skill in solving real world problems in order to help students understand

the value of math study in their lives. The students in my class are much more excited

about making calculations for a snowmachine race than they are when attempting the

real-world problems in their math books and I will be looking out for more of those types

of opportunities.
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References

Curriculum Associates (2022). iReady classroom mathematics: Teacher learner’s

notebook. Curriculum Associates.

Fisher, D., Frey, N. (2014). Better learning through structured teaching: A framework for

gradual release of responsibility (2nd ed.). ASDC.

Harvey, S., Goudvis, A. (2017). Strategies that work (3rd ed). Stenhouse.

McGraw-Hill Education (2016). Mymath (Vol.1). McGraw-Hill Education

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles and Standards for School

Mathematics. (www.nctc.org/Standards-and-Positions).

Taylor, C.S., Bobbitt Nolan, S. (2008). Classroom assessment: Supporting teaching and

learning in real classrooms (2nd ed). Pearson.

Van De Walle, J.A., Karp, K.S., & Bay-Williams, J.M. (2015). Elementary and middle

school mathematics: Teaching developmentally (9thed). Pearson.

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Artifacts
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