Re: Excerpts from alleged 5th grade math anti-textbook

["dancinglight" <dancinglight@sbcglobal.net>]

I'm teaching investigations grade level 5 right now, have been all year, and
haven't seen anything like this, or close to this in any of my teacher's
materials.  It bears no resemblance at all to what I see in my teacher's
manuals every day.  Now, I can't say I've read every page of every manual,
since there are several 5th grade manuals.  But I sure haven't seen it.  And
my kids know range, median, and mode.

Kelley


> I copied this from my kids teacher manual for the
> new world -class math text that Lake Washington has
> adopted, and urged stopped teaching of traditional (normal)
> math. Comments? By the way, Washington State Essential
> Learning Standards and WASL definition specifies that 4th
> graders are supposed to know that average is what you get
> when you divide the sum by the number of items, and 7th
> graders are supposed to be able to add and subtract
> fractions, which is not taught at 5th or 6th grade versions
> of this text.
>
>
> Investigations grade level 5
> 159 pages
> Supported by National Science foudation
> p. 6 Investigation 1 Balancing act
>
> 5TH GRADERS SHOULD KNOW RANGE, MIDRANGE, MODE, AND MEDIAN, BUT....
>
> Ask the class to consider what single value we could use to represent
> the entire data set - a typical value. Students may suggest quantities
> such as the mode (most frequent value) [Talk about concepts most
> adults have never heard of] or the midrange, (the middle of the range;
> for example, if the range were 2 to 92, the midrange would be 47,
> halfway betwrrn 2 and 92) Others may focus on the value that has the
> biggest clump of data around it. These are all appropriate measures,
> but for this lesson, turn their attention to the median as a good
> indication of what's typical
>
> WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T USE THE AVERAGE, IT'S BEYOND ADULT COMPREHENSION
>
> You are likely to have students who suggest the arithmetic maen, or as
> they may call it, the average. They may know how to find it with the
> "add-'em -all-up -and -divide -by -the -number" technique. Although
> this algorithm is iften taught in elementary school, research has
> shown that it is often not understood, even by older students and
> adults.,At this point, it is better to stay away from the mean and the
> confusion it may introduce. Focusing on the median and related
> measures is more apprpriate for upper elementary students
>
> MEDIAN IS TOO COMPLEX TO FIGURE OUT, SEE TEACHER NOTES
>
> take some time to review the median, see Teacher Note, Finding Medians
> and other fractional parts of data sets. Although the definition
> appears simple, medians are quite complex (and you said adding and
> dividing was confusing??) and it often takes students some time to
> figure out how to find the median of a data set.
>
> KIDS CAN'T HANDLE AVERAGE, BUT THEY DARN WELL BETTER BE ABLE TO DO A
> WORLD CLASS CHART.
>
> Does the poster ask and answer an appropriate and interesting
> question?
>
> Do the data answer the question?
>
> Are the data organized in a way that communicates to the audience?
>
> Are the data summarized in a few concise sentences?
>
> Are the charts and graphs accurate? appropriate? helpful to the
> reader?
>
> Has everyone in the group participated in making the poster?
>
> In the discussion, do the students describe their data accurately?
>
> Are the students' conclusions based on the data?
>
> Are the students statements and recommendations upheld by the data?
>
> LETS KEEP IT MULTICULTURAL
>
> Multicultural extensios for all students
>
> some students might bring in newspapers from their own communities.
> Some may be in different languages
>
> discuss playgound games from different cultures
>
> UNFAMILIAR WORDS?
>
> .. some words that may be unfamiliar to students with limited
>
> injury, serious, emergency room (!@#$% emergency room??)
>
> compare, range