Reciprocal Maths Update

Background:

Previously GO for teaching and The Wong Teacher posted about their Reciprocal Maths idea. After a number of weeks gradually introducing the context, then the skills, the process has turned out well on at least a surface level.

Issue:

With any new technology or development, the first pass is always improved on. The Reciprocal Maths idea is no different. Several areas for improvement were found.

While the reciprocal reading concept of continual cycles for each section works for texts, it doesn't work for maths problems which tend to be only one or two sentences that need to be comprehended then acted upon. Reworking the roles with a single cycle in mind resulted in many consequent changes including altering the roles, the flow, and the example questions.

Fix:

Two of the most critical changes relate to clarifying when events happen in the cycle. Those changes were adding a "solve" step into the cycle and grouping the Questioner with the Comprehender and Clarifier is meant to clarify when they are needed.

Sentence prompts were another part adjusted.

   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Reciprocal Rea...Maths!

The issue:

Comparing various data points over several years, GO for teaching and The Wong Teacher came across a trend within students' numeracy skills. Students seemed to be capable of interview style assessments and problems that were pure abstract maths, but were less capable when solving word problems.

The hunch:

Students are having difficulty comprehending word problems therefore reducing their test scores and not presenting an accurate measure of mathematical capability. This is not to say that students' numeracy skills are in fact much greater than they test or that the assessments were flawed. In fact the comprehension of word problems may be closer to a reading comprehension issue than a numeracy issue.

The proposed solution:

GO for teaching and The Wong Teacher figured that if a literacy component is required to solve mathematical problems, then literacy skills in maths should be taught. To achieve this, we took the concepts of reciprocal reading and tried to adapt them for usage in a mathematical context. See our first attempt below. This Reciprocal Maths™ is intended to leverage peer learning and increased oral language use.

Teacher Inquiry 2021

 This year we will be focusing on increase maths achievement through oral language.

Below is a brief introduction to the planning of this initiative, including a backwards map and initial data of a cross section of our classroom. 

Most changes will be implemented through a range of activities in a range of groups by both teachers at different times.