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News

October 2011

In this month's News you will find:

Red Square Maths Fiesta

Red Square Eric the International Sheep

Red Square Poly Plug in Short Supply

Red Square Tasks of the Month
Task 137, Training for Maths
Task 138, Rectangle of Squares

Please feel free to distribute this information.

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Maths Fiesta
Kylie Wall is numeracy coach at Clontarf Beach State School, Queensland, where they place great emphasis on kinaesthetic learning. One of the tools they have used very successfully several times to:
- build student confidence in mathematics,
- make explicit kinaesthetic links,
- connect activities to the real world and
- promote the fact that maths can be fun!
is a Maths Fiesta.
These events take more organisation than a regular maths lesson, but with a team on the job the outcomes are extensive and positive. Kylie has submitted a short article, about their work in the hope that it will help others to achieve similar success. It has been added to the Research & Stories link and has messages for both primary and secondary teachers. Included in the article is a description of the concept, brief analysis of outcomes, sample activity descriptions and a maths passport. See Link List below.

Eric the International Sheep
Sue Wilson and Tim Wilson-Brown have found a recent American blog discussing Eric The Sheep. It is extensive and discusses Eric from several mathematical and educational perspectives. The bloggers have listed our task as the source and linked to its Cameo, which we appreciate. Many readers will be familiar with the task so we encourage reading the blog. You can contribute too if you wish.
Our primary aim is to generate and support discussion about what makes for better maths teaching. We are delighted that Eric is contributing to that conversation world-wide. In this case, as you would expect, is approached through the expectations of the American view of mathematics education. Our view of the task is that it encourages creative teaching craft that involves students in learning to work like a mathematician. The bloggers' view seems to be that it encourages creative teaching craft that involves students in algebraic reasoning. Same or different? See Link List below.

Poly Plug in Short Supply
Poly Plug is becoming an increasingly popular resource in both primary and secondary schools. Poly Plug is Australian designed and manufactured, but the raw material is a patented product that is obtainable from only one supplier in the UK. At the moment our manufacturer is experiencing supply delays from England, so please be aware that Poly Plug might be in short supply this term. Ina Koetsier, our Distribution Manager, is still happy to receive any orders involving Poly Plug, but she asks you to understand that delays may occur. You will be contacted if your order is affected.

Tasks of the Month
Two new cameos this month.
- Training for Maths encourages students to make all the possible trains of a given length if they can use only 1-unit and 2-unit carriages. It involves organised reasoning to find all possibilities, including make a table, and can be tackled at several levels of experience. At the higher end it involves combination theory, Fibonacci Numbers and Pascal's Triangle.
- Rectangle of Squares, as the name implies, involves making a rectangle from squares. Of course, any rectangle can be made from squares, if the squares are all the same size, but in this case they are not. The challenge is a spatial one that is guided by side length and area measures. It also offers a segue (I've always wanted to use that word) into Fibonacci Numbers, the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci Spiral.
Training for Maths Rectangle of Squares
Click a photo to access its cameo, or access all current cameos through the Link List below.

Keep smiling,
Doug.

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Link List

Did you miss September?
If so you missed information about:
1. Working like a mathematician at Mt. Carmel
2. Poly Plug on NRICH, UK
3. PD from MC: Working Mathematically with Infants
4. Update to Task 113, Calendar
5. Iceberg Information about two Task of the Month
  (Tasks 135, 136)
6. ...and more...

Did You Know?

You can find tasks coded by Year Level and Curriculum Strand in the Task Centre Catalogue (PDF file).
The Activities link of Calculating Changes offers Content Finder & Year Level Finder tools.
Our Site Map acts as a Table of Contents to help you find what you need in Mathematics Centre.
You can search for lessons by Year Level, Curriculum Strand, Lesson Features & Keyword at Maths300.
You can connect Tasks to their Maths300 companion lesson using Tasks & Maths300 (a PDF file).
All these links, and more, appear in Working with Mathematics Centre (a PDF file).

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Previous News

August 2011 ... July 2011
June 2011 ... May 2011 ... April 2011 ... March 2011 ... February 2011 ... Dec 2010/Jan 2011
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Continue exploring our history back to July 1992 through the Sense of History link.

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