Bob Hogen's and Char Forsten's book explaining how to construct bar models for word problems is expensive.....but that's never stopped me before, so now I have it.
Seems terrifically useful, probably the single most useful book I have on Singapore Math apart from the textbooks and assessment books (that's workbooks in Singaporean* according to lrg) themselves. Only 150 pages in all, and many of those pages are simply practice problems. On the other hand, I'm not sure this book has problems at the "Challenging" level contained in the Challenging Word Problems books.
This is the second book I've seen that teaches U.S. teachers the bar model method, Sybilla Beckmann's college textbook being the first. I'm thinking we may begin to see bar models incorporated into U.S. texts and classrooms.
Dan Greene of Downtown College Prep is teaching them to his "numeracy" students.
8-Step Model Drawing: Singapore's Best Problem-Solving MATH Strategies
Bob Hogen & Char Forsten
Mathematics for Elementary Teachers and Activities by Sybilla Beckmann
Challenging Word Problems series, books 1-6
*What's the word for the kind of English people speak in Singapore? (You know, the kind of English everyone speaks but isn't supposed to speak.... something like that....)
Singaporeans speak "singlish", I think.
ReplyDeleteTeaching techniques for solving bar modeling problems is like putting wheels on crutches. The point of bar modeling is to ultimately link up with algebra. It provides a way of seeing what is known in a problem, what is unknown and linking the two, pictorially. The goal is to link the two algebraically. There are those, including Sybilla Beckmann who believe that SM's 6th grade texts should include more algebraic practice to make that transition.
ReplyDelete"Teaching techniques for solving bar modeling problems is like putting wheels on crutches."
ReplyDeleteHarsh, but I agree. The goal is algebra in 8th grade, not bar modeling.