More Fun With Addends And Symbols For Little Kids

More from the make math fun file. Two brothers playing and learning together.

Here is a clip from a session with a couple of little boys who are just getting the hang of addends. One is 5 and has had very little exposure to math concepts or numbers and the other is older but has a few 'challenges' but is eager to learn.

The basic concept here is numbers are made out of other numbers and we also get some addends practice by solving for x (which is of course "the trick") where they figure out what's under the cloth...listen to the excitement and the laughter. IT'S FUN.



Math can be fun if you let it.

Also note that like a lot of kids the one child is still not sure of the symbols and what they mean so we do a quick digression into what the symbols mean but then return to the fun part where we are basically playing what's under the cup but have a cloth instead. It's not magic it's math. The younger boy still has to count because he doesn't know his addends. The older boy has more experience and it builds his confidence as he gets answers right.

They both laugh and have fun and although there is always competition and sibling rivalry we use it to best effect as motivation, and we keep it lively, light and fun.

This is a fun way teach addition using addends. As the younger boy gets some practice he won't have to count one by one he'll be able to use the addend to make it faster.

At the end the older boy has made a problem for me...that's fun too. It also tells you if they understand the problems well enough to create one. It helps them attain mastery to make up their own problems and is an extremely effective teaching tool. The children are placed in a math rich environment where they can not fail, and then encouraged to do some self directed learning. Note how we can see the associative property of addition but we never even mention it, but when we do it will be easy to understand because they have SEEN it already.

Obviously I don't have permission to show their faces, you are forewarned, starting Jan 1, 2013 those who don't give permission to use their kids in vids and on the websites are going to get 86'd as 2013 will be all work on the web all the time. My one on one tutoring days are drawing to a close. Will be focusing on groups and if it is solo then the sessions will be used to train others too via youtube vids and web pages and maybe even video products.


http://www.crewtonramoneshouseofmath.com/

If they have Autism EVEN MORE emphasis on FUN is required.

More on the MAKE IT FUN theme. Here are couple of vids where we play math and the math portion is done many times because it's fun to shoot the walls down. They will do it over and over again because knocking down the walls with a Nerf gun is FUN.

These kids are having fun and the little boy you see there is only 5...note that the NO is removed from the lesson and he is encouraged to try and see if the pieces fit to make ten...ask questions: Is that tall enough...is that too short etc...build tens and nines and eights.


Out of an hour this was only a small portion of the math we did...this boy Tamu has Autism and is a little shy, but as you can see he is quite able to join in the fun. The idea is to keep the games quick and not to spend too much time on drill. They will get math facts as a matter of course.

Here what you see is us building a house for a lego craft. I also couldn't bring out the camera much because as soon as I did the dynamic changed, and as I have said before the first obligation is to the parents who are paying me money to teach their child. We also had fun building walls and shooting them but I didn't get these guys on camera.

As it turned out this was just the beginning of a large house...which I also didn't get on camera. Tamu got a lot of math facts presented to him and had fun while it happened. Many more exposures will be required before he "knows them" but this is a good start and the repetition is fun not drudgery.



We also did multiplication as well as addends for other numbers but most importantly we kept it fun and engaging. People always ask me how do you make math fun? Just play math.

Seriously. Get out your blocks and fool around, especially when the children are young. You just play and point out math concepts to them as you go. Simple things like a three and a four is the same as a seven...three 3's is square and the square root is 3...that means count one side...etc. Later when they see symbols the explanations make sense...

For more fun and games check Crewton Ramone's House of Math. This page has become popular: Math with Playing Cards. I keep meaning to add more games because there are a lot more games you can play using playing card this pages only gives you a partial list. Use your imagination and MAKE UP some games of your own.

The blocks are only limited by your imagination. Get creative. Have fun. Play math.

Ratios With Sarah

Ratios are easy. All you do is cross multiply. Why? And what if you for get the rules? Here is a series of videos staring Sarah who is studying for her GED. This series gets cut off before we finish but what is on vid is worth sharing. Remember this kid is autistic...but I don't treat her with kid gloves (anymore), and she is doing quite well with math. Look for other blog posts where she is featured and prepare to be amazed. Also look for a future post where the autistic savant rears it's head...she is beginning to recall math facts and remember seemingly random facts that she has seen before.

{I'll put a link in when I make the post. Note to self.}

In these vid we begin to see what do when presented with ratio problems and rather than give rules on when to multiply or divide we think about the relationships. Once we understand that then we can start making up rules to describe what's happening and what to do to get the answer. Note I give her no rules. Later she tells me the rules...unfortunately I did not get it on video. But by the last video you can see she understands it. Then and only then do we move on.



Note I put the P1 in front to make it easy to search and find the next vid...P1 Crewton Ramone and Sarah Playing Ratios and Relationships.



Note when I say tricky I am using her verbage because there's nothing tricky about these it's just math.



As they understand it they do it easier and faster.



And here is the final one where she shows she understands it.



After these we move on to problems where it's not just whole numbers but fractions but we didn't get any of it on vid...you can see more with Sarah on Sarah's page.

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Crewton Ramone Takes Two

My favorite part about this vid is the comments: people just don't know what to make of me or it. This is a proof of concept vid...needs more work but I want to make math music vids that are current. Like Weird Al Yankovic except for math...change the lyrics of popular songs to explain math concepts...and then have puppets and good looking kids and base ten blocks dancing around to the beat.

This is just a proto-type if you will. I need a small crew to do camera, song covers and puppets and most of all editing.

Anyhow this one was designed for little kids...three to five. And it was designed to be watched more than once...the concept is multiplication by twos...and getting to know the names of the base 10 blocks.



Unconventional. Odd. Different. People not sure what to think. No pocket protector. No nerd glasses. Multiplication by two's for the little kids.

No. This ain't your grandma's mathematics. It's Crewton Ramone for the wee ones. Just a few math concepts at a time. Math needs to be cool again...currently it is the domain of nerds who do not reproduce...

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Go to Crewton Ramone's House Of Math for more.

Monomials: Play Find The Ones.

 Monomials can look scary and be confusing for some, but if you make it a fun game they are actually easy and fun. Once the concepts are understood rules can be discovered by the student, not given by you as things to memorize.

Here is a poor screenshot showing a breakdown of the monomial with pictures and symbols so that finding the one is easy.  Little kids enjoy this game and students with various disabilities can really understand what they are doing and more importantly WHY.


Here is a very short vid covering one problem:



Algebra doesn't need to scary or hard. It can be fun. Endeavor to make a game of it whenever possible...make it child's play.

At Crewton Ramone's House Of Math there are tons of games and activities to make math fun.

"You make math fun and easy. I am so glad to have found you! Thank you so much." ~ALH

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Why Invert and Multiply.

Used to be to get this info on teaching fractions using manipulatives you had to come to a seminar or training, usually held in Idaho...now I think the next one will be in LA or maybe Las Vegas...if we ever do one again. It's on my list but it could be a while. Nothing like in person training but it's costly and you have to travel and all that goes with it and blah, blah, blah.  Much easier to just learn how to use base ten blocks by going the the house of math. Yes I know my fraction page needs serious work.

Now you can learn to use your base ten blocks for much more than addition, subtraction, and place value plus you have all the pages on this blog. First we see fraction multiplication and why nothing is getting smaller, we are just counting parts of a part and if you insist yes a third of a half is smaller but we were counting not doing magic and with 1/2 ÷ 1/4 = 2 really nothing got bigger we were counting quarters. Two of them. Observe:



Here is a quick lesson with the symbols no blocks for why invert and multiply. Division of fractions. Also easy to understand. If you want to see the whole lesson go to Sarah's page. There you will see us use manipulatives to make fractions clear and easy. And you will get the joke about "clear"...



If you actually take some time to study the picture above you can see that the symbols are quite confusing to some students particularly to deaf students who couldn't for the life of them figure out the relationship between those numbers if they didn't understand division, or even if they did. How the heck does it turn into 2/9?!?

Well, it doesn't turn into anything: we are counting. The rectangle we see has the one sixth in lowest terms instead of 6/36 which is what you get if you multiply 3/4 x 2/9...which is equal to 1/6...but getting there with symbols only and no concepts is impossible and modern math teaching doesn't even attempt to clear this up they just give you the rule INVERT AND MULTIPLY.

WHY?

And it's right about here many students make the fatal decision that math doesn't make any sense...I mean the rules changed for addition and subtraction, you can just add 1/2 and one 1/3 and get 2/5, it works for multiplication though, and then it's some crazy rule for division and they get bigger when you divide: this math is arbitrary crazy stuff.

No. It's not. It is consistent and beautiful and simple. The five basic concepts are alive in well in our fractions games...knowing what one is, same, rectangles, the how many part the what kind part, and economy of symbol...but the problem with that last part is 95% to include the teachers don't understand what the short cut is doing. It's economy of symbol: fewest symbols possible, and it's a short cut and work saver. Now, if you want to see more with manipulatives to make it clear why we invert and multiply a 15 minute video on this (and a lot more vids) is on Sarah's page you need a password. Just get a month and I think you will see an annual pass is worth it because you won't get through everything I have up in a month and as the months go by I add more and more. I will be offering a special where you can apply your monthly to the annual if enough people get a monthly pass.

One example with symbols only may not have been enough, a couple more examples with manipulatives should clear the whole thing up. The idea being if an autistic student can glean the concepts SO CAN YOU. Same when you see me using 5 and 6 year olds as students for algebra...if they can "get it" so can teen-agers.

Passwords used to cost a buck. Now they cost 5 times as much...inflation and the fact that there's 10 times as much stuff on the password protected pages and then someone sending me a $24.99 vid that had basically 30 minutes on it, and not even a good 30 minutes just 4 math concepts poorly explained with lots of special effects and production. Here you get ZERO special effects and very, very low production value but very heavy on the information and concepts, well explained...or so I am told.  AND HOURS AND HOURS ARE NOW UP. It's worth the 5 bucks. Here is a free page on addition and subtraction using manipulatives. But I digress.

What we are doing is finding how many times one number is contained in another number. In order to do this we have to make them same or we can avoid all that work with the rule...basically we are just skipping a lot of steps and in the process skipping a lot of students who throw in the towel and change their belief to math is hard and arbitrary. How do teachers teach students who already know they can't learn whatever math it is later on in high school? This will be discussed in depth with another little girl who got a convenient label put on her. She loves playing math but as soon as we bust out the school work, math is no longer fun and she knows it's hard even though we were just doing it with ease a minute before. That's how powerful beliefs and paradigms are. Her page is here. Both of these pages will grow over the coming months, and are especially good for home schoolers and teachers.

Also now lots of Mortensen Math Materials available on my site, if you buy something there, a password used to be free. As of 20014 this is no longer the case. The fractions Page was going to go up in it's new form Monday but it's MLK day so I will have DBoyz and I doubt it will get done...although it is on the agenda for Wednesday...fractions from beginning to end.

People on face book and twitter got the vid FREE for a day...it has since been taken down...joining us there has it's benefits.

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Learn how to use base ten blocks at my website.

Fraction Subtraction Simplistic Though Autistic

Sarah is getting better at fractions. Her mom wants the focus on algebra because the test coming up will have a lot of algebra on it, but I see students all the time that have trouble with algebra because they don't understand fraction concepts. Rules and process are quickly forgotten. Concepts aren't.

So far we have covered addition and a little subtraction of fractions and she understands that "the name of the game is to make them same." Then we can add, subtract or divide...with multiplication we just multiply and I'm going to try and get her to discover WHY we can just multiply without making them same and why we invert and multiply when we divide. Hint for you it's a short cut to making them same.

For now we spent a little over an hour doing this and by the end of the hour she was getting pretty good.

Here is 15 minutes of that hour.



Note there are fewer pictures and symbols here but we started with the blocks and drew pictures and then I remembered to turn the camera on for a bit. You always start in the concrete then draw THEN go to symbols only, and here at the end I went back to tie it together. You can gauge your students understanding by their facial expressions. Here I could see she was "getting it" but more reinforcement is needed not just because she is autistic but because repetition is the mother of skill for ALL children. If you have young students, you can do these lessons and then months or years later do them again...after many impressions the knowledge is ready for instant recall.

Homeschoolers have the opportunity to cover the same ground like it's new if you start them very young. The idea that they cover it once in 5th or 6th grade and then they'll have it forever is ludicrous to my mind.

The idea that autistic kids can't do this is being disproved right before your very eyes. Due to the brain damage caused more than likely by mercury injections, she will need EXTRA repetitions but that's all. Once she understands it the nuero-pathways can be built and reinforced.

You can now get fractions materials at the house of math. That page has lots more info than just how to by a kit plus some free PDF's and a caution on using fraction worksheets too early in the game. Fractions FUN begins with manipulatives not worksheets.

Also Sarah's page is expanding. More vids are there, some of which you won't find here or anywhere else...but you need a password.

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