Numeracy in SD8 2023-2024
Please see our Winter 2023 Numeracy Newsletter (click here).
Elementary Numeracy -- Teachers Engaging in Data Conversations
ARES (Principal Darryl Adams, Vice-Principal Tanya Christenson)
Teacher Tracy Walker is using the District Numeracy Assessment to build coherence and support the school learning goal for numeracy proficiency for all learners.
ARES has been using the district-based numeracy assessment tool to build coherence and common language for the staff and students across grades 4 to 7.
Each fall and spring, teachers run whole class warm-up activities and then use the assessment to gather information on what their students can do mathematically. To follow up on the assessment, ARES’s Teacher Librarian/IST Tracy Walker and Jonathan Brooks District Numeracy Teacher held grade level sessions with the classroom teachers to support the process of drawing meaningful information from the data, teacher learning and voice, and to gain a broader numeracy perspective based on commonalities.
Tracy is supporting engagement, thinking, and community through work on the school numeracy goal. This fall she implemented a problem of the week that each class spends time working on. To apply to the range of ages and abilities, her problems are designed to be mathematically accessible and to have built-in extension opportunities.
ARES Elementary also incorporates math problem-solving and make their learning visible through the "Problem of the Week" which has been a successful initiative! Please see a snapshot of their newsletter below:
Numeracy in SD8 2023-2024
Middle Years Numeracy -- Playful Math Culture
Wildflower Middle School (Interim Principal Rod Giles)
Sarah Finder (Teacher grade 7-9) is using Exploding Dots resource to build engagement and playfulness in math while strengthening number sense, place value and a positive math culture in her students.
"I’m trying to have a full class approach to catch up and extend students in their numeracy. We have been using exploding dots as a class to bring the everyone together in a fun and playful way. I’ve been using exploding dots to support instruction with students in grade 7 & 8 and provide enrichment to students in grade 9s. This resource is a reimagining of place value and hits home number sense. We have been able to see a visual representation that highlights the meaning of operations. With a wide range of access points, all learners in my class have been able to build interest, motivation, and experience success. We are building a communal foundation of number sense."
Exploding dots is a gamified place value based visual representation of math concepts. It can be used to model all operations including standard operations, operations with integers, exponents, decimals and polynomials. We’re using it as an introductory piece as a full class. Volunteers go through the video and intro activity with their peers. Sarah is finding ways to support her mathematics pedagogy and help students connect with the playfulness and simplicity of exploring math.
"The gamification and novelty has increased acceptance and engagement for my students. Students were more engaged in homework. Parents connected with me to share their excitement! This work has eased student anxiety with multiplication."
Secondary Numeracy -- Workplace Math in the TechEd Classroom
Salmo Secondary School (Principal Jon Francis)
Join us in celebrating the dynamic Apprenticeship and Workplace Math 11 program, led by teacher Charles Messinger through Salmo Secondary School's technology education program.
Our innovative approach to math education blends theory with hands-on projects, empowering students to apply math concepts in real-world scenarios. From designing projects using measurements, estimations, scaling, and 3D thinking to calculating project costs with precision, our students are gaining valuable skills that will serve them in their future careers.
Take a glimpse into our program through the eyes of student Mike Horvath, who brilliantly calculated material costs for his rocket stove design. Witness our students in action as they use the stove he crafted to cook bacon, demonstrating the practical applications of math in trades and technology education.
At Salmo Secondary School, we believe that math is not just a subject, but a means for developing lifelong career-oriented numeracy skills!
