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Introduction Anchor Tasks

Presented by Linda West

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Mathematics is an excellent vehicle for the development and improvement of a person’s intellectual competence…

‐Rationale for teaching mathMinistry of Education, Singapore

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WHAT DOES A LESSON LOOK LIKE?

1. Anchor Task –1. Exploration2. Structure3. Journal

2. Reflection –Using textbook– Seeing from the Point of View of others

3. Guided practiceVocabularyExplanation

4. Independent Practice

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ANCHOR TASK

Where is it in the text?

What must all students learn?

How should students be grouped?

What materials should students use?

What questions should I ask?What are the expected responses during the activity?

How can we differentiate this lesson?

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SAMPLE KINDERGARTEN ANCHOR TASK

1. Count 5 square tiles.

2. Make a shape using the 5 tiles.

3. Talk to your friends. Do any of you have the same shape?

“Oh, I forgot to tell you that there are some rules.”

Rule 1: All tiles must be flat on the table.

Rule 2: The tiles may not be stacked.

Rule 3: When square tiles touch, they must touch completely.

“How many shapes can you make?”

Last rule: If you can lay one of your shapes on top of the other and they line up, they are not 2 different shapes.

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DE-BRIEFING ANCHOR TASK

What must all students learn?To count to 5

How should students be grouped?Probably heterogeneously

How can we differentiate this lesson?1. Allow struggling students to listen to the ideas of

others.2. Ask advanced students more open-ended

questions.3. Challenge advanced students to convince others

if their opinions differ.4. If advanced students get done early, ask them

how many shapes they can make with 4 tiles.

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JOURNAL WRITING

Start in kindergarten to develop the habit.

Ask students to name the lesson after they have completed the foundational activity.

Ask students to draw or write about their favorite method for solving the problem.

Challenge advanced students to draw or write about more than one method.

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JOURNAL WRITING

Title _____________________  #                     Date___________________________

Problem:

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GRADE 1 ANCHOR

• Nishi has a large brownie. She wants to share it equally with 4 of her friends. Using your patty paper work with a partner and show how she can share the brownie.

• What is the objective?

• What manipulatives should be used?

• What would the journal look like?

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• Objectives:

– Break an area into fourths

• Manipulatives:

– Patty paper

• Journal:

– Draw different shapes.

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STRUCTURE

• Show different ways.

• Discuss the relationship between the four parts of the brownie.

– How is each part alike?

– How are they different?

– Do they have to have the same shape to be fourths?

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GRADE 2 ANCHOR

• Amanda has 416 stamps. Sam gives her 32 stamps. How many does she have now?

• Amanda has 416 stamps. Sam gives her 38 stamps. How many does she have now?

• What is the objective?

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WHAT WOULD THE STRUCTURE LOOK LIKE?

• Objectives:

– Use base-ten blocks to add numbers with regrouping

– Add up to three digits with regrouping

– Solve real-world addition problems

• Manipulatives:

– Base-ten blocks, place value chart, place value disks

• Journal:

– Record the decomposition strategy strategy.

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STRUCTURE

• Give students a chance to work through the first problem. Record solutions but save discussion for second problem.

• How are the two problems alike? How are they different?

• How are the solutions alike, different?

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YOU HAVE 50 ANIMALS IN YOUR ZOO.

• 20 are Giraffes; 30 are elephants

• You only have 5 pens

• You must have the 10 animals in each pen.

• How many ways can you arrange them?

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Is there any way the Giraffes could control they majority of the pens?

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GUIDED INTERACTION

Asks carefully sequenced, differentiated questions.

Models with manipulatives or pictures and has groups do the same.

Rarely answers the questions!

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CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

• Track not Watch

• Manage Your Tell and Withhold the Answer

• Getting It Wrong, Then Getting It Right — normalizing and valorizing that sequence as essential for learning

• “Why did you change your answer?”

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EXPLANATION

In Singapore classrooms, the teachers NEVER

explain first.

Explanation is done at the end, to help students refine their understanding.

REFINE not DEFINE…

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GRADE 3 ANCHOR

Stacy Steamer Carpet Cleaner is having a sale! They will clean a large bedroom for $99 and a small bedroom for $98. If Mrs. Green has 3 large bedrooms and 2 small bedrooms, how much will it cost in all to have the carpet cleaned?

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GRADE 4 ANCHOR

Jim will put 658 baseballs into 8 boxes. About how many baseballs will he be able to put into each box? Once you have estimated, find the exact number of baseballs that he can pack into each box? 

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GRADE 5 ANCHOR

How old are you in minutes? 

Draw a picture of your age with a place value chart or disksWrite your age in standard form, word form and expanded form.

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5TH GRADE

I have 3/4 brownies. I want to share evenly with my best friend. How can I share the brownies?

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Why?

Can you explain that?

How do you know for sure?

Draw a picture of that.

Is your answer reasonable? How do you know?

How is this task like the one wedid before? How is it different?

Convince me that both numbersare odd.

Why might we want to know this?

What information do we need to answer the question?

What advice do you have for next’syear’s students in solving this?

What do others think?

Who has a different way?

Do you share your classmate’s perspective? Do you have a different perspective? Why?

Prove it using the number line.

Summarize what your classmate shared.

Is your thinking more like John’s or Suzy’s? Why?

What’s the relationship?

How has it changed?

What conclusion can you draw from the data?

Explain it to your friend who was absent today.

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TLW…

Estimate and compute the sum or difference of whole 

numbers and positive decimals to 

two places.

How can we use what we know about 

adding ones, tens and hundreds to help us 

add tenths and hundredths?

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QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF!

What do I want my students to learn?

What do I want them to be able to DO?

How will I know they learned it?

What do I want to SEE and HEAR?

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What’s the plan if they are struggling or

they just don’t get it?

What if they get it quickly?

What do I do to make sure they get stretched?

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GRADUAL RELEASE VS Workshop

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LET’S GET PRACTICAL

What does this kind of teaching look like and

sound like in a

Primary Math classroom?

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FEATURES OF THE ANCHOR TASK

• Less is More!!

• Multiple Strategies

• Key question so that students begin to generalize

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Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice:  first, on the 

social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (inter‐psychological) and then inside the child  (intra‐psychological).  

This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of 

concepts.  All the higher functions originate as actual relationship between individuals. 

(Vygotsky, 1978, p57)

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http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2015/08/24/square‐root‐of‐kids‐math‐anxiety‐their‐parents‐help/?ref=health

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Quality Homework

Consolidates learning

Deepens Understanding

Allow for opportunity to construct knowledge

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KINDER

GARTE

NEX

AMPLE:Teach someone at your house how to play 

“How Many are Hiding?” 

Remember the rules….

Choose a number of       and show them to the other player.

Hide some of the   

Draw a picture of one round of your game and bring it back to school tomorrow. 

____ were hiding

The other player has to figure out how many are hiding!  Check their answer then take turns hiding.

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1.  Solve #5, 8 and 9 using bar models.  2.  Tell how these problems are alike and how they are different.  (Be sure to refer to your bar models to justify your thinking.)  Be prepared to share your ideas with your shoulder partner tomorrow!3.  Now using one of your bar models as a guide, write your own percent problem with a different, realistic situation and solve it using a model.  

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