The Big Ideas.
Have you heard of this concept before? When it was first presented to me in Teacher's College, I didn't have the faintest clue. What's the point of having this "Big Idea" when you have a whole Math curriculum to teach? Isn't it more work?
In the Guide to Effective Instruction in Mathematics, big ideas are described as major mathematical concepts that "achieve the goal of helping students gain a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts" (Number Sense and Numeration Grades 4-6, Volume 1, The Big Ideas, p. 5). For example, the Big Ideas in the strand of Number Sense and Numeration for Grades 4-6 are: quantity, operational sense, relationships, representation and proportional reasoning. When you focus on big ideas in your programming (especially if your are using the three-part lesson format - see that page next!), students are able to delve deeper into the mathematical concepts and gain a deeper understanding overall.
There are really an immeasurable amount of benefits for focusing on the big ideas in your math planning and programming. Big ideas help connect ideas that were once unrelated into "chunked" topics that make more sense to students, learning becomes more authentic and real-world as students are encouraged to problem solve and are able to learn cross-curricularly ... the list goes on and on. Basically, Big Ideas are the beginning point of where you should begin your Mathematics planning.
Goals for the Future
As an Occasional Teacher, I do not have my own classroom to plan for. My current goal is to network with teachers (through my AQ course and through occasional teaching) to learn more about how to fully implement Big Ideas into planning. As a classroom teacher, I will utilize the information about Big Ideas that I glean from them as well as from this AQ course in order to begin planning the best possible Math programming I can for my students.
For more information on Big Ideas, please check out the following resources:
The Guides to Effective Instruction: http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/math/guides_effective_instruction.html
The Guide to Effective Instruction in Mathematics, Grades 4-6, Volume 1: Big Ideas
http://eworkshop.on.ca/edu/resources/guides/NSN_vol_1_Big_Ideas.pdf
No comments:
Post a Comment