You will see a strong emphasis on numeracy
in this course. In fact number sense is a critical skill. Older
students who receive an emphasis on counting strategies often do not develop
the number sense they need for later operations including work with integers in
algebra.
The multisensory math approach basis many
of its practices and strategies on the foundation skill of subitizing. It
is at the heart of estimation, and general math reasoning. In this course
we apply the concept of subitizing in many different areas and on many
levels.
As a reading for this course, you are asked
to read Douglas Clements' article on subitizing and learn the two levels of
subitizing he articulates: perceptual and conceptual.
Occasionally we find other resources which
may support these ideas. I recently came across this website from
Australia which lists the research supporting the teaching of subitizing.
It is always good to be able to cite sources and produce evidence to support
practice.
The website also lists several
activities for the classroom or individual session. It is worth a
look.
https://subitizing.weebly.com/exploring-the-research.html
Thank you for this extra resource!
ReplyDeleteI found the subitizing website link very helpful. I went into "Activities for Teaching the Topic" and found many activities to teach subitizing. The youtube video on subitizing was especially interesting. It was helpful to see how subitizing can be used in a Kindergarten classroom, at a representative level. I noted how the instructor prompted the student to explain his thinking after he gave an answer. The research shows that students who reason and explain their thinking as they are doing an activity will develop a better understanding of the concept.
ReplyDeleteFollowing another link in the "Activities for Teaching the Topic" section http://love2learn2day.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/subitizing-making-sense-of-numbers.html. also produce many good finds. Several additional links I reviewed and that I'll be able to use include: the free Number Rack app, staff development with 1st grade teachers youtube video that demonstrates subitizing activities for 1st grade teachers to do with students prior to teaching adding and subtraction, and Dr. Nicki's youtube using story dice with the free number rack app mentioned earlier to provide scaffolding for students in developing story problems.
I'd like to recommend another resource that relates to subtilizing and numeracy. The book "Number Sense Routines: Building Numerical Literacy Every Day in Grades 1 to 3" by Jessica F. Shumway is fantastic! I used it for a multi-part math PD last year and have used it ever sense. She also has a separate book by the same title but for upper elementary.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I just ordered both of these from Abe Books!
DeleteI find the distinction between perceptual subitizing and conceptual subitizing helpful. I'm afraid I don't see much subitizing work in math classrooms. It seems to me that the manipulation of quantities by composing and decomposing is a huge missing piece in math classrooms.
ReplyDelete