How does your EOTP school deal with advanced math students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child is at a Montessori where he works at his own pace. He's in K and has a very strong understanding of the decimal system and can add and subtract 5 and 6 digit numbers. He is also being taught the basics of geometry and pre-algebra.

This is amazing.

My kid is a second grader at Bancroft. He does not seem particularly advanced to me, so I haven't asked this question yet. Surely with a few exceptions (like the one above), they don't need pullouts until they're a little older?

If the kids do get beyond 5th grade math while still in elementary, what do they learn next? Algebra? I was in gifted classes myself in 5th and 6th grade but honestly don't remember what we were doing in math class.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP,
I live on Capitol Hill, too, with math inclined first grader at an immersion HRCS. While I think the school is doing a more than decent job with DC, I have been working, so far unsuccessfully, to hire a math tutor to do supplemental math enrichment with dC on the weekends. Would be awesome if we could get a small group together of three or four kids and split the cost to hire someone to do math enrichment games with the kids for an hour or so every Sunday afternoon, say right before dinner time. What do you think?

[Anonymous]

I would be very into that! Will you post on MOTH or something?-- OP

[Anonymous]

I have a second grader at an immersion charter and the school doesn't do much other than doing math in both languages. Word problems in the immersion language are a problem for DS bc his has trouble reading/understanding the problem. He is nowhere as good in the immersion language as in English. Not sure what to do about this other than get him a tutor for the immersion language.

Mathwise, DS can add and subtract double, triple, etc digits in his head faster than he can do it on paper. The teachers were letting him do math problems without writing them down which meant they weren't telling him that he had to line up the ones, tens, hundreds when he writes them down on paper. I don't particularly care whether they accelerate math but wish they would emphasize the basics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we please stop talking about Cap Hill like they are EOTP schools? Start another thread for their suburban school issues.

Can you stop being a douche?

[Anonymous]

I'm not a parent, but I'm an EOTP teacher at a Title I school serving a high population of ELLs. I meet the needs of diverse learners through small group instruction. I meet with two groups a day, and each group focuses on different teaching objectives that cater to their immediate needs, whether they are remedial, on grade level, or advanced. With this format, I see a total of five groups two times each week.

While I'm working at Guided Math, students are at Math stations that connect with each of the Common Core focus areas, in addition to a fluency station. Tasks at these stations are differentiated through a color coded system, with different colors representing the complexity of the task. Students are assigned a specific color, and those are the tasks they are able to complete.

I also have our whole group math lesson. The "direct instruction" portion of this lesson is less differentiated, but meets the needs of all learners because I'm building up to more abstract questions by the end of the lesson. Then, the performance task/independent practice portion of the lesson is differentiated. The objective I want students to demonstrate is different based on their ability level.

For the PP who was thinking of hiring a math tutor, I would search for online math resources first. Here is something I like using in my classroom: http://www.k-5mathteachingresources.com/

The site offers a variety of resources that are Common Core aligned. I also enjoy the variety; the sight includes journal prompts, station tasks, and project ideas. Most resources are free, but some require a nominal fee. Hope this is helpful!

[Anonymous]

My apologies for the incorrect use of "sight" in place of site the second time around.

[Anonymous]

At Barnard they would split the class and a couple of times a week send advanced kids to one teacher's room and remedial kids would come to the other teachers room for 45 minutes of small group work.

[Anonymous]

Our prek teacher uses groups for math, with choice activities of different levels of difficulty. She also consults with teachers in higher grades for activity suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
LAMB students work at their own level throughout due to Montessori model, but my DD has gotten group instruction in math 2-3 grade levels a over her grade.


how do you know this?

I know this because it's my kid at LAMB. Was this not clear?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
LAMB students work at their own level throughout due to Montessori model, but my DD has gotten group instruction in math 2-3 grade levels a over her grade.


how do you know this?

I know this because it's my kid at LAMB. Was this not clear?

How do you know it is really 2-3 grades above level in other charters of DCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
LAMB students work at their own level throughout due to Montessori model, but my DD has gotten group instruction in math 2-3 grade levels a over her grade.


how do you know this?

I know this because it's my kid at LAMB. Was this not clear?

How do you know it is really 2-3 grades above level in other charters of DCPS?

Yes, I was the one who asked the question because my own child is also at a Montessori and I have no way to gauge how his math skills compare to typical kids his age. So, again, how do you know this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not a parent, but I'm an EOTP teacher at a Title I school serving a high population of ELLs. I meet the needs of diverse learners through small group instruction. I meet with two groups a day, and each group focuses on different teaching objectives that cater to their immediate needs, whether they are remedial, on grade level, or advanced. With this format, I see a total of five groups two times each week.

While I'm working at Guided Math, students are at Math stations that connect with each of the Common Core focus areas, in addition to a fluency station. Tasks at these stations are differentiated through a color coded system, with different colors representing the complexity of the task. Students are assigned a specific color, and those are the tasks they are able to complete.

I also have our whole group math lesson. The "direct instruction" portion of this lesson is less differentiated, but meets the needs of all learners because I'm building up to more abstract questions by the end of the lesson. Then, the performance task/independent practice portion of the lesson is differentiated. The objective I want students to demonstrate is different based on their ability level.

For the PP who was thinking of hiring a math tutor, I would search for online math resources first. Here is something I like using in my classroom: http://www.k-5mathteachingresources.com/

The site offers a variety of resources that are Common Core aligned. I also enjoy the variety; the sight includes journal prompts, station tasks, and project ideas. Most resources are free, but some require a nominal fee. Hope this is helpful!

I applaud you for your efforts but this only cements my belief that ability grouping in different classrooms is truly needed since you are only able to spend time with each group twice a week. If there was ability grouping in different classrooms, then you would be able to spend each day with them in a critical subject area such as math and reading. I think students benefit more by having the teacher's time and attention everyday and not just twice a week.

[Anonymous]

But if classrooms were ability grouped how would you deal with the kid who's great at math but not at reading? Or the kid who rocked probability and statistics but was crap at geometry (that would be me)? Or the kid who is 3 grade levels ahead of the next most advanced kid? Ability grouping only gets you so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But if classrooms were ability grouped how would you deal with the kid who's great at math but not at reading? Or the kid who rocked probability and statistics but was crap at geometry (that would be me)? Or the kid who is 3 grade levels ahead of the next most advanced kid? Ability grouping only gets you so far.

Students can also be grouped in separate classes for reading levels. Doing this is more likely to meet kids' needs than having a classroom with students at widely divergent ability levels.