Learning Strategies Lesson According to Dr. Deshler, most students begin to experience a performance gap in the fifth grade (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012a). The bridge to close this gap is built by changing the pedagogy of the teacher and the learning strategies of the students. The learning strategies taught to the students enable them to develop into independent thinkers and learners (Friend & Bursuck, 2009). Student-centered learning incorporates effective learning strategies with the mathematics curriculum and provides students with the means to meet their potential. Every sixth grade student learns to transition from multiplication with numbers to variables. This transition also includes a development from the distributive property of a monomial times a binomial to the product of two binomials. Finding the product of two binomials can be a daunting task, unless students are presented the material in connection with a learning strategy that they are able to master. The lesson, found in the appendix, is designed to facilitate the evolution of multiplication of monomials and binomials. It was taught to one struggling seventh grade student who is the product of social passing throughout her mathematical career. The mathematics was written to help the young lady succeed, despite other mathematical shortcoming that could stand in her way. The lesson was designed to begin with a review of mathematical vocabulary and the distributive property. Students learn better when new concepts are anchored to known or familiar ideas. The young lady has a solid understanding of the distributive property, but struggles with vocabulary. The warm-up program and Activity 1 provide the opportunity to align the vocabulary with the process that she has already mastered. This prior knowledge was then completed under a guided practice, with the student summarizing the process in her own words giving her ownership of the concept.
Learning Strategies Lesson According to Dr. Deshler, most students begin to experience a performance gap in the fifth grade (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012a). The bridge to close this gap is built by changing the pedagogy of the teacher and the learning strategies of the students. The learning strategies taught to the students enable them to develop into independent thinkers and learners (Friend & Bursuck, 2009). Student-centered learning incorporates effective learning strategies with the mathematics curriculum and provides students with the means to meet their potential. Every sixth grade student learns to transition from multiplication with numbers to variables. This transition also includes a development from the distributive property of a monomial times a binomial to the product of two binomials. Finding the product of two binomials can be a daunting task, unless students are presented the material in connection with a learning strategy that they are able to master. The lesson, found in the appendix, is designed to facilitate the evolution of multiplication of monomials and binomials. It was taught to one struggling seventh grade student who is the product of social passing throughout her mathematical career. The mathematics was written to help the young lady succeed, despite other mathematical shortcoming that could stand in her way. The lesson was designed to begin with a review of mathematical vocabulary and the distributive property. Students learn better when new concepts are anchored to known or familiar ideas. The young lady has a solid understanding of the distributive property, but struggles with vocabulary. The warm-up program and Activity 1 provide the opportunity to align the vocabulary with the process that she has already mastered. This prior knowledge was then completed under a guided practice, with the student summarizing the process in her own words giving her ownership of the concept.