SHEILA KING spoke of Spelling By Routman to DAN TRIPLETT on 11-10-96
sk> Basically in fifth grade he learns that he
SK>doesn't understand fractions, he feels frustration and probably fears
SK>that this is a complicated topic that he is likely to experience
SK>difficulty with forever, and then he sees it again in sixth grade.
SK>What attitudes and expectations is he bringing with him to the sixth
SK>grade math classroom with regard to fractions? I'd bet he has an
SK>instant disadvantage for having been exposed to them unsuccessfully
SK>the previous year.  
You are probably right.  I would think that this child would bring with 
him/her to class and attitude and expectation of "I'm not going to get 
this."  At the same time, what would make a difference to that child.  
What can 5th grade teachers do differently?  And how far back does the 
responsibility go for this child not getting it.  Since we promote 
students to the next grade based on age and not mastery, it seems 
logical that we will always have students in every class that rest on 
the bottom of the bell curve.  I don't think this is the way it should 
be....
SK>To get back on track with the question about the basic math facts,
SK>suppose a student has made it all the way to fourth or fifth grade
SK>without learning these facts, having seen them presented every year
SK>in school up to then. What must such a student think of math? For
SK>their whole school life they've been exposed to these dull and boring
SK>basic facts. The kid probably thinks that this IS mathematics! (poor
SK>child) If I were in that situation, I'd probably hate math and think
SK>that I could never learn these facts. After all, I've spent 5 years
SK>of school already trying to learn them and still haven't. No wonder
SK>Carl says it is almost too late for these kids. Their attitude is
SK>probably so set against even believing that they can learn these
SK>facts by this point that it must be an incredible task to get them
SK>over this.  
Good point...but what's the answer? Ahhh...see below... 
SK>Seems to me that, just as students shouldn't leave third grade
SK>without knowing how to read, and call in the RR teacher and other
SK>intervention methods, kids shouldn't leave second grade without
SK>knowing their basic addition and subtraction facts nor third without
SK>knowing multiplication. Get intervention for these kids, what... a
SK>Math Facts Recovery teacher?...and get them set up for success in
SK>math in fourth and fifth grade instead of re-hashing basic material
SK>they should have already learned.
Many educators in primary education would argue that these children 
don't know these facts because they are not developmentally ready for 
such concepts.  If what they say is true, then no amount of tutoring 
will bring about mastery.  Should a child in third grade know that 
9x9=81 and understand numerically what that means (i.e. that 9x9 is the 
same as 9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=81?  I would think that understanding the 
concepts behind the facts is equally important. 
SK>As for going too fast in school...I don't know. Maybe in some things.
SK>But seems to me that allowing until the end of second grade to learn
SK>addition and subrtraction facts isn't going too fast. There should be
SK>plenty of time in there for working with manipulatives and all other
SK>things so that the kids can get that down by the end of second grade.
SK>I think that to allow the kids longer than that does them a terrible
SK>disservice and sets them up to do poorly in subsequent classes.
Not having much experience in this area puts me at a disadvantage.  I 
tend to agree with what you have had to say throughout this post.  I 
thought 3rd grade was to early to have mastered all multiplication facts 
but it seems to me that by the end of 4th grade nearly all students 
should have mastered them.  I know that this is not true in our school 
however.  Even by the end of 5th grade some don't know their basic 
facts.  The teachers in 3,4,5 are mostly more traditional in their 
approaches though not entirely.  I'm not sure what's up.
Dan
--- GEcho 1.11+
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