Brad Hoffman, Author at My Learning Springboard

Alternative Multiplication Methods: Partial Products and Lattice Multiplication

April 28, 2015 Brad Hoffman

$Partial Products$ To compliment a previous article on Alternative Methods in Elementary Math: Partials Sums and Differences, we wanted to present information for upper elementary students learning multiplication through alternative algorithms that include partial products and lattice multiplication.

These algorithms are helpful for parents to know and be able to use to help their children. Often parents don’t feel qualified to help their child with a specific subject, but with the great resources available to parents online it can take only a few minutes to familiarize yourself with these alternative methods, including partial products and lattice multiplication:

First, the partial products method, which works based on the same premise as partial sums and differences. You multiply in parts and then add to get your final answer. By using knowledge of place value to separate a larger number into its parts–ones, tens, and hundreds–a large number becomes much more manageable. The video below shows a sample with a 1-digit multiplier:

Partial Product- 1 digit multiplier

Watch this video on YouTube

The second multiplication algorithm is called lattice multiplication, which uses a highly visual format to break down multiplication problems. This method helps students to get the right answer, but it doesn’t build upon or reinforce the underlying concept of place value in multiplication. You set up a lattice grid based on the number of digits in the numbers you are multiplying, and use the grid to separate large numbers into more familiar single-digit multipliers.

We often use this method as enrichment for students who have mastered the place value concept taught through partial products multiplication as well as the standard algorithm. It feels like a “trick” so students usually enjoy exploring it! Check out this video for a step-by-step guide:

Lattice

Watch this video on YouTube

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed.
Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist
My Learning Springboard

Found Poetry for the Reluctant Writer

April 23, 2015 Brad Hoffman

In honor of National Poetry Month, I have decided to contribute some ideas on how to introduce poetry writing that is fun and accessible. I require all my students to write poetry and have enjoyed experimenting with alternative styles that are accessible to the reluctant writer. Before my first unit on writing poetry, I ask my students to respond to the prompt: What is poetry? Their honest and eloquent responses moved me. Students have said:

Anything can be poetry. Poetry to me is feelings on paper.
It could be a story that just seems to flow and isn’t choppy.
There is no limitation.

These responses open up the discussion about poetry, removing any inhibitions that students may have about “creative writing.” To boost this creative spirit, I teach students how to write “Found Poems”, poems based on printed material (from magazines, newspaper articles, advertisements, etc.). Found poetry is a great way for students to make observations on social and political issues; it provides a structure, removing the pressure of coming up with the “right” words. Students’ poems can be vehicles for class discussions about topical issues in the media, allowing students to voice their opinions in an artistic form without directly sharing their personal view. The directions below are guidelines and can be modified.

Here’s how it’s done.

Look through the newspaper and magazines for hidden poetic potential. Peruse the articles, advertisements, horoscopes, personals, classifieds. What strikes you?
Choose and isolate at least three consecutive lines from the text and re-arrange the words and lines to expose new meanings.
Eliminate words. Do not add words.
Add spaces, break up lines any way you wish in order to created new meanings or sound effects, keeping the words in the original order.
Look for ways the poem can turn the ordinary into something serious, shocking, ironic, sarcastic, clever, witty, or humorous.
Title it. Cite the source at the bottom.
Alternate sources can include a textbook, novel, song, poster or other texts.

This writing can usually be done in a class period. I’ve extended the lesson over several days, incorporating discussions about poetic devices, such as alliteration, metaphor, and personification.

Here are a few poems for inspiration:

Jupiter

Earth’s big brother in the sky
that glowing ball of hot gas known as Jupiter
we all owe Jupiter gratitude
life might never have survived

Massive gravity
sheltering Earth
from comets and asteroids
could smash into our planet

Patti

Punching
the air
with her fists

Fans go crazy with Joy.

Patti’s voice is better,
richer,
darker.
She learned to effect

during a long hiatus as
housewife and mother.

By Daria Pennington, Private Tutor

CLOVER: 6 Syllable Types

April 21, 2015 Brad Hoffman

As a strategy to teach decoding, students can learn to identify and categorize within 6 syllable types. The acronym CLOVER helps students to remember the 6 types.

Closed
Consonant Le
Open
Vowel Pair
Magic E
Bossy R

Once students develop an understanding of these six syllable types and can accurately code words by categorizing the syllables, then this learning can be applied to multi-syllabic words to help with more advanced decoding. That said, the English language has many exceptions, so relying only on syllabication rules isn’t full proof. But it’s a good tool to have available. Here’s how it works:

Closed syllables produce a short vowel sound, such as cat, box, red, or ten/der.
Consonant Le syllables are found at the end of a word and include the consonant that comes before the Le, such as trou/ble, bub/ble, or jun/gle.
Open syllables allow a vowel to say its name. When a vowel says its name, we call it a long vowel.

Examples include he, no, mo/ment, or va/ca/tion.

Vowel pairs are generally digraphs, which means that two vowels make only one sound. Another rule that helps here is that “when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.” Examples of syllables containing a vowel pair include teacup, steel, or tie.

But English has a lot of exceptions, just to keep things challenging. Other examples of vowel pairs where the first vowel DOES NOT do the talking include great, steak, or moon.

Magic E words are the famous “silent E.” A little fairy dust gets sprinkled around the magic E to make the vowel before the consonant say its name. Examples include cake, bike, tone or microphone. Magic E words become a little more confusing to identify when a suffix is applied, such as making or toner.
Bossy R words describe syllables where a vowel precedes the R and the R sort of takes over. Examples of these syllables include car, nor, fur, stir, turn or driver.

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed.
Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist
My Learning Springboard

5 Reasons to Teach Coding

April 20, 2015 Brad Hoffman

By Merle Huerta
Original Source: Edutopia
Originally posted April 17, 2015

Coding is a new type of literacy

Wired Magazine reported that reading and writing code is the new literacy. Those students who master it are better prepared for a technical revolution that spans cultures and language boundaries. That’s because coding isn’t just a language. It’s a way of thinking about problem solving.

Coding is a tool to improve educational equity

Coding in the classroom is a means of bridging the digital divide. That means more than granting technological access — it’s a way for all students to use technology for creative engagement. Without coding in the classroom, many students in lower socioeconomic communities will miss the opportunities it affords. In fact, Holfeld et al (2008) found that schools in poorer neighborhoods restricted computer use to rote learning rather than using technology for creative engagement. Discouraging a more creative use of technology in the schools creates a butterfly effect. In Washington State, where 93 percent of high schools don’t offer AP computer science, a 2012 study found that out of 1,200 AP computer science students, just 48 were black or Hispanic. By making computer science a required course for high school, especially in lower socioeconomic schools, educational equity and opportunities improve.

Coding offers inclusion

Temple Grandin, author and professor at Colorado State University and an autistic adult, said, “Without the gifts of autism, there would probably be no NASA or IT industry.” Non-profits such as nonPareil are acting on those talents. Created by two parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, the organization actively recruits high school students with ASD, trains them in software development, and then places them in IT jobs. The environment, a cross between a school and a company, is a natural segue between high school and the adult workplace.
Knowing there are programs for kids with ASD is good news for parents who shoulder the responsibility. Of those children with ASD who do enter the workforce, nearly 80 percent will be unemployed or underemployed. By teaching coding to students with developmental disabilities, teachers aren’t merely harnessing and developing innate talents. They’re better preparing these kids, making them more marketable and employable in a high-tech economy.

Coding can improve neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity, a term that essentially means the brain can change, has assumed a pop-culture status, and any activity linked to it takes on a magical, brain-promoting aspect. While not all activities genuinely classify, in the case of foreign language acquisition, there is evidence. Researchers in Sweden observed visible brain changes in those children and teens who learned a foreign language. Over a three-month period, the brain structure in those who acquired a second language grew, specifically in the hippocampal area (which is involved in learning new material and spatial navigation), and in three areas in the cerebral cortex. Students who “had better language skills than other students, who put in more effort in learning, experienced greater growth.” In another study, Mechelli found that children who acquired a second or third language, even a computer language, showed functional changes in the inferior parietal cortex.

Coding improves STEM proficiencies

Analysts suggest that by 2020, there are expected to be one million more computing jobs than students in the U.S., which could leave an untapped market of $500 billion. Currently, the U.S. is ill prepared to fill these jobs. In one international study across 65 countries, the U.S. ranked 23rd or 24th in most subjects and 27th in math and science. Girls were particularly at a deficit.Forbes Magazine reported, “Women hold nearly half of all jobs in the U.S., but less than 25 percent of all STEM jobs.” By making coding a classroom requirement, educators are better equipping students for this market.

Despite the documented benefits, coding in the classroom is offered in only a smattering of U.S. schools. Less than ten percent offer AP computer science, and students who have access aren’t necessarily being encouraged to pursue programming.

Why the Lack of Emphasis?

Teacher Shortages

Hadi Partovi, founder of Code.org, cites lack of trained teachers as the biggest obstacle to getting computer science into the classroom, and software developers have little motivation to shift from the private sector into education. Why teach if the corporate world is far more lucrative? Partovi feels that policy makers and private funders must come together and fund training for teachers in computer science. In the interim, TEALS (Technology Education and Literacy in Schools) is placing computer scientists in high school classrooms across the country. Their goal is two-fold:

Get computer science education to the students.
Educate teachers in code literacy to make them technically proficient to teach coding.

Bias

A report by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows a bias in how teachers perceive abilities of male and female students when it comes to STEM subjects. Researchers found that “when teachers knew the children’s names and identities, they graded the girls lower in math than the outside grader, while scoring the boys higher.” The trend had long-term ramifications. Those girls tracked in the study were less likely to sign up for advanced math, science, and technology courses in high school.

Other Priorities

If computer science isn’t a requirement, why bother changing policies? Currently, 15 states allow computer science courses to count toward high school graduation. Private schools have an easier time implementing curricular changes. The problem is in federally funded schools. With tight budgets, public schools are mired in layers of decision making that makes it hard to change curriculum. The key, with the help of corporate sponsors, is to help policy makers see that computer science merits the same weight as math and science prerequisites.

Educators and parents who agree should write to their state’s department of education, and get involved with non-profit organizations such as Code.org and companies such as Microsoft who are working to improve digital literacy in the schools. For digital initiatives with the developmentally disabled, nonPareil can partner with schools, and organizations such as TEALS can expose students and teachers to the opportunities that coding in the classroom provides.

Is coding part of your school’s curriculum? Please tell us about it in the comments below.

How To Detect If Your Child Has A Handwriting Problem

April 17, 2015 Brad Hoffman

It seems that handwriting for young children is often a struggle that becomes manageable with maturity. In fact, handwriting involves many areas of coordination and thinking. When learning how to write letters properly, a child is required to implement their visual motor skills, spatial conception, as well as, kinesthetic memory and muscles. This can be overwhelming for many children, and especially children who are struggling readers and writers. Preventive Academic Failure (PAF) is an Orton-Gillingham based reading and writing program that intentionally includes systematic handwriting instruction. Handwriting Without Tears is another popular program that may be used. This explicit instruction can be managed by a classroom teacher or skillful private tutor trained and experienced with handwriting instruction unless there are more significant coordination challenges, in which case an occupational therapist may be more appropriate.

Handwriting, however, is so essential to the learning process because it helps children to make associations between graphic symbols (alphabet letters) with the sounds they make, and actually produce the motor pattern to be able to write the letter on the paper. It is therefore, important as the parent, in addition to your child’s school teacher, to look out for signs of a handwriting problem.

The first thing you should do when evaluating your child’s handwriting is inspect their pencil grip. Basically all you have to do is ask your child to pick up a pencil and write something. If you notice that your child’s pencil grip is off you may want to point this out to your child and try practicing the appropriate pencil grip by making a mark on the pencil where it should be held. It may be helpful to purchase a pencil grip attachment to facilitate a proper grip.

You may also notice that your child has shaky hands, writes too lightly or too hard, or complains that their hand hurts. These are signs that your child has trouble writing fluently. At this point, especially if your child is just learning how to write, you should make note of this to your child’s school teacher and administration so that they can help to determine appropriate next steps. Your child may need more explicit handwriting instruction with a teacher and/or specialized support from an occupational therapist.

If you know that your child has slower development of visual motor skills, weak kinesthetic muscles, or spatial difficulty, you should reach out to your child’s school or related service providers ahead of time, so that you can take care of the issue before it becomes a problem most likely in 1^st grade. Not only is your child learning or going to learn how to formulate letters, but also, your child will be learning to write from left to right and make appropriate spacing between letters and words. As mentioned above, all of this requires great coordination that may require support for your child. Thus, it is important to monitor handwriting progress and seek support from a teacher and/or occupational therapist as appropriate.

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.