What is Everyday Math like?

Question

What is Everyday Math like?

Answer 1

Go to the grocery store. Pick up the 6.75 ounce can of soup @ $1.09 and the 14 ounce soup at $2.29. Which is cheaper per ounce?

Answer 2

lol. this is a LOADED question. half of the teachers you ask will tell you they like it, and the other half of the teachers will tell you they hate it. but, that's teachers for ya.



everyday math is a spiral program that does not offer the students enough time to get those basic math skills mastered before moving onto the next subject. so, as a teacher you will need to supplement that (perhaps in drills or homework).



a good side to everyday math are the math games. children LOVE them and they reinforce the things in the lessons. i have found that i do not always have time for the games because the lessons are a lot longer than district requirements for actual instruction time in math. what i have done as a teacher to make sure my kids get the math games in, is to get the lessons in mondays through thursdays and have a game day on fridays (or every other fridays).



every school is different, but if your district allows you to assess in certain ways, you may want to consider weighting certain skills more than others. a beginning skill might be worse less points than a secure skill.



the one thing that you will encounter will be frustrated parents. everyday math teaches every which way to do certain operations (like multiplication) and you will have parents basically coming to you saying "what the heck is that?"...google "Lattice Method Multiplication" and you'll see something unlike anything you learned when you were a child: http://www.coolmath4kids.com/times-tables/images/multiplication46.gif



here's another website with some examples of the different operations: http://mb.msdpt.k12.in.us/Math/Algorithms.html



like a lot of teachers, i don't use all of the books that come with a curriculum...but there is an operations handbook with everyday math that you may want to use to send home to parents, when you reach certain operations and methods. it will ease some of the pain at home...lol...

Answer 3

For sample questions, go to:



http://www.pasd.wednet.edu/school/mathWASL/3a.htm



The overall web site begins at:



http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/





Everyday Math just expects kids to know simple reasoning, multiplication, division, story problems, etc. without any mathematical insight or proofs.



In short, arithmetic and calculation.



This is a laudable goal, however it supposes that the world is fair and square and honest. As the subprime mortgage lending market shows, that world is anything but.



The debt ratios used to qualify people for mortgages are WAY too generous to start with. Selling a poor credit risk too much house knowing they will most likely default in a couple of years unless the breaks go their way ... is just taking advantage of them.



And if you think any merchant wants you to compare prices, forget it. They go to great lengths to ensure that you can never compare apples to apples, only apples to oranges.



The odds of winning a lottery are over 1 in a million. The odds of dying in a car accident are less than 1 in 100 (lifetime).



Why do people think they will win the lottery but not die in a car accident?

Answer 4

Everyday Math is a program that came from researchers from the University of Chicago. There are three guiding principles for the program:



"

• Students acquire knowledge and skills, and develop an understanding of mathematics from their own experience. Mathematics is more meaningful when it is rooted in real life contexts and situations, and when children are given the opportunity to become actively involved in learning. Teachers and other adults play a very important role in providing children with rich and meaningful mathematical experiences.


• Children begin school with more mathematical knowledge and intuition than previously believed. A K-6 curriculum should build on this intuitive and concrete foundation, gradually helping children gain an understanding of the abstract and symbolic.


• Teachers, and their ability to provide excellent instruction, are the key factors in the success of any program. Previous efforts to reform mathematics instruction failed because they did not adequately consider the working lives of teachers."



The program addresses learning in the following mathematical strands:



• Algebra and Uses of Variables

• Data and Chance

• Geometry and Spatial Sense

• Measures and Measurement

• Numeration and Order

• Patterns, Functions, and Sequences

• Operations

• Reference Frames



There are a lot of hands-on activities. Also there is a great focus on problem solving. Students don't learn from drill and kill. Students learn may different ways to solve a problem. The lessons are well-designed. I do say the program is short of the necessary practice that students may need.



You will hate Everyday Math when you first begin as is it might not be the approach as you are used to. (Students and parents feel this way too.) My advice to you is to be patient. It gets better over time, and once your students have had this program for a couple of years, your school should notice a definite increase in student scores.



You may need to do some aligning with the standards of your particular state, but I found that for my state, lessons were closely aligned.