I need an intervention for a 1st grade math student

[Cheswick2.0]

I have a little boy in the class I am student teaching who got a 23 percent on the first test I gave. I am so upset because obviously this kid did not get what I taught.
Out of 23 kids, one was absent, 10 got 100%, two earned a 96%, five more had 90%, two earned 86%, one 76% and one 66%. The last one didn't finish the test she simply drifted off as usual, but got a perfect score on the ones she did.

But the little boy who got 23% was consistant. The test was simple addition. For instance 2+7=15, 8+2=17,3+5=12, 1+3=6, 6+4=15.... do you see the pattern? I have no idea why this is happening.

I can't send this test home to his parents without some idea of how to help him. He does fine with reading and is a sharp kid otherwise, though he seems to have a lot of anxiety about being at school. He goes to the nurses office a lot.


HELP!

[toddzilla]

1. he may be guessing..?

how old is 1st grade?

[brokensymmetry]

2. Umm...

For instance 2+7=15, 8+2=17,3+5=12, 1+3=6, 6+4=15.... do you see the pattern?

I guess I don't see the pattern. Perhaps it would help if you spelled it out for us (or at least for me)?

Unless you're suggesting dyslexia?

[Cheswick2.0]

5. here is the pattern

take 2+7. 7+7 is 14 plus two is 16, his answer is 15.
take 8+2. 8+8 is 16 plus two is 18, his answer is 17.
take 1+3. 3+3 is 6 plus one is 7, his answer is 6.
take 3+5. 5+5 is 10 plus three is 13, his answer is 12.

He is adding the larger number twice plus the smaller number minus one. Weird, so no he can't be quessing. He has a system and he is getting them all correct according to his system, but of course it is all wrong.

[Ellen Forradalom]

8. This hypothesis is definitely worth investigating.

Good job Cheswick.

[Philosophy]

20. He could in reality be a math genius

If this is really how he's doing it. Simple addition is just to mundane for him.

[Cheswick2.0]

24. well he is a really good reader and a smart kid

he is also a sweatheart and I feel like I have let him down. I feel so bad about this, though I know because of the other test scores I taught the lessons correctly for everyone but this one child. All week he was asking for help and I never had time to give it to him. 23 kids is way to many for a first grade classroom.

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. Damn, I'm pretty good at finding patterns,

and I don't know if, had I seen his test, I'd have thought "Is there a pattern in these answers?"

Kudos to you for getting it!

I bet he has an interesting reason for doing this.

Reminds me of the first Dr. Who TV episode, in which the Doctor's niece or granddaughter or whatever is on earth in a school, and they're doing algrebra, and the teacher asks her to solve the thing for A, B, and C and she (the doctor's female relative) keeps saying, "YOu can't solve it without D and E!" and the teacher says "There is no D or E!" and the girl says, "I know! And it can't be solved without them!"

Love it!

[Cheswick2.0]

22. LOL, I never saw that show

I should have clearly.

I am a math phobic since 5th grade when they taught division and then taught short division. It completely blew my mind. To that point I was a perfect student. After that I was a perfect student in everything but math (because I would find ways to get the right answer, but not how we were taught and I would get graded down) and soon it all fell apart for me.

When I finally had to take math for college this past year, I announced at the beginning of both College Math and basic Statistics that I was not good at math and would take all the help I could get. I studied hard (joined a study group) and got an A- and a B-. I swear they gave me points for forming the numbers right and knowing the addition and subtraction signs.

[TrogL]

34. That could be something within the autistic spectrum

[trof]

38. numerical dyslexia?

weird

[Kamika]

41. it exists

Everyone thought i had it

[DS1]

3. see what other talents he has

some people have brains that just aren't wired for math

[RuB]

4. There should be no stigma for holding children who don't get it back.

Too many children are pushed through to the next grade without regard for that child's ability to handle the grade. And alot of children are started in school way to soon.

[Wonk]

6. I see a pattern: Inability to distinguish between similarly shaped numbers

2+7 = 15
(8 + 7)

1 + 3 = 6
(1 + 5)

6 + 4 = 15
(6 + 9)

:shrug:

[Cheswick2.0]

11. That is interesting

I never thought of that. I do think it is a process problem though. I htink somehwere along the way the process confused him. He seems to be adding the larger number twice and then the smaller number minus 1.

[Ellen Forradalom]

7. Isn't there another, more experienced teacher you can turn to?

If you can't figure out what's going on, escalate it.

How has he been responding to the material when you teach it? Does he do his homework?

[Cheswick2.0]

13. He was stressed out all week over not getting it

I had no time to spend with him one on one. I would like to and will if I can, but it doesn't seem to be in my co-op teachers aggenda. She thinks he is babied at home. I think he is confused and anxious.

[TennesseeWalker]

30. Fascinating.

I admire what you're trying to do. How fulfilling the work must be....and how stressful..their successes are your successes, their failures must feel like yours as well.

You have my respect. A good teacher. I remember all my teachers who really helped me....

[cally]

33. I admire your efforts and your concern

You will be a wonderful teacher. Please don't adopt your co-teachers attitude that he was babied at home. I know you have not on this thread at all, but it is just wrong to blame a learning diffuculty on this. I hope you post again on what the outcome of the next stage is. You are wonderful to question why the student got a bad score instead of just assuming he can't get it.

[Nikia]

9. Maybe he's confused

I don't know how they are teaching math these days. My friends daughter is having trouble because at her school they teach them every possible way to do it. They are supposed to pick the way they find easiest, but she confuses the different methods. Personally, I learned simple addition by memorization and this may be the easiest way for a young mind who isn't strong numerically. If it is taught by some kind of counting or visualization method, this may be confusing him. With memorization, you could send home a pack of math facts cards. Tell his parents to practice with him for a certain amount of time every day until he has memorized the facts.

[cmd]

10. Here is where I would start.

First of all assess what he knows. Can he do +1 problems? If not, he may not have a basic understanding of numbers. You will then have to go back to counting activities with him. If he can do +1s, go on to only +2s, then mix +1s and +2s. After that work on facts up to the sum of 5. He may need more intervention than you have time to give. Ask for help if you need it. Here is a site that I used to save time in making up worksheets. Hope it helps.

http://www.saxonpublishers.com/activities/games.jsp?grade=1

Let me know how it is going. I have other resources I can give you. 30+year teacher, ret.

[Cheswick2.0]

16. thanks for the great site

I saved it to favorites and will use it.
He does need more help then I can give. I have 23 1st graders and a very rigid schedule to keep the class moving forward. We spend an hour a day on math. clearly this little boy needs some individual help.

[TrogL]

35. Get him assessed

He may have some sort of Sensory Integration issue.

I'll post this to a Sensory Integration newsgroup I'm a member of and see if they have any ideas.

[cally]

12. How is addition taught at this school

I've volunteered in many classes for math and thought about becoming a special ed math teacher. If you have the time, try to see how he does with blocks or pennies. Can he get it then? How about adding equations with the blocks or pennies. I would be curious to find out if the problem is with understanding the mathematical equations or the concept of addition.

[Cheswick2.0]

18. they use this touch math method

I think it sucks! It has nothing to do with the concept of real amounts or numbers of things. I would rather see them count on their fingers.

http://www.touchmath.com/about.php

[cally]

19. I would try something else

like fingers then. See what happens when you try something else. It might also help identify the problem better.

I saw many kids finally get it when give objects and then later put the equation above the object. Good luck.


As an aside: My eldest gets math. I finally noticed that in fifth grade she still used her fingers for math. I finally asked and she had basically created an abacus. It took forever to retrain her to not use it.

[Snow]

47. What's wrong with fingers? Koreans have been using them

for centuries:
http://klingon.cs.iupui.edu/~aharris/chis/chis.html

[Nikia]

21. I'd be confused too

I had to read it a couple times to figure it out and I was good at math and they expect first graders to understand this. This method is obviously not the best method for his learning style. Send home the flash cards and have him practive putting things (such as pennies) in groups (1 penny + 2 pennies) and count them (3 pennies) to understand the concept of additon .

[JVS]

23. Maybe he is having trouble with the arbitrary placement of "touch points"

I made up a system similar to those touch points when I was a little kid, but my points were never duplicated and I don't remember using points for some numbers like 7. Basically, I always approached addition like it is counting. Maybe if you asked this kid to develop his own "touch points" or showed him a deck of cards to demonstrate how each number represents a multiple of one, then he might understand better. I could easily see confusion about the "touch points" ruining an answer.

[Cheswick2.0]

25. yes I think the touch points are the problem

I think he got confused when we started the idea of double touching a point on numbers larger than 5. I think he needs to go back to basics and be left alone to do it his own way. He is a kids like I was who doesn't want more than one option to solve a problem. He needs to learn one way to solve a problem and not be confused by arbitrary touch points and things that are not concrete.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. What is the touch points system?

:shrug:

It sounds like something dreamed up by a Ph.D. candidate at some School of Education and pushed by school "curriculum specialists" without being adequately field-tested.

What's wrong with counting marbles or apples?

[Cheswick2.0]

29. I think you are correct

it is one of those ideas cooked up by someone and because it works for many kids, some schools are buying it as the solution for all kids. Like I said, I would rather see them counting on their fingers. At least fingers are real objects.

[cally]

39. I finally read the link

Touchpoints is the stupidest way to teach math that I have ever seen. That is ridiculous. I was fighting some of the changes our local schools adopted and my sister was fighting some in her district. None of the ones I looked at compared in stupidity to this. :crazy: Shows that some kids can overcome whatever obstacles given them. Try blocks or pennies.

I do know that you have to use what the district requires. I am not criticizing you at all, just the system.

[TrogL]

44. Ewwwwwwwwww!!!

No wonder the kid's confused. That would drive me bonkers.

[burrowowl]

15. Has he had

an eye examination?

[dflprincess]

17. There was a kid like this in my first grade class

I don't know if he was adding in a pattern like this or not. I do recall that he just didn't get it while the rest of us seemed to be progressing. And, as I recall, he was behind in everything. I think he was held back. Everyone had to work problems on the blackboard so we all knew who could add and who couldn't.

But, the teacher gave him an abacus like device she had her husband make and that seemed to help. (We were all a little envious). It had three lines on beads strung on it, she'd move beads on the first two and then have him add the number of beads on the third line to match the total from the first two lines. He seemed to get it when he worked with that.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. If he's as bright as you say

give him some simple problems, and ask him to talk through the way he solves it.

I used to do this when I had students who seemed totally baffled by Japanese (more baffled than average :-) ). Usually I found that for whatever reason, they had some fundamental misunderstanding about learning a language.

For example, one guy would memorize the dialogues perfectly but completely fall apart when it came to making up his own sentences. When I asked him to talk through the thought processes he used on a test, I discovered, incredibly enough, that he didn't realize that the sentences were made up of separate words! :wow:

Personally, I had a lot less trouble with math after I learned that I had to study it in a different way than I studied social sciences and humanities.

So see if you can figure out what he thinks he's doing.

[Cheswick2.0]

28. good idea

I will ask him to go over some problems and tell me how he is solving them.
My biggest challenge is going to be trying to get some time with him.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

31. Math anxiety is something I can relate to...

I performed well in other subjects, but math literally set my stomach churning from the time I was in 1st grade through 11th. Since I fulfilled my basic requirement in 11th grade, I didn't take any math courses after that. I was placed in advanced courses in secondary schools; and somehow I managed Bs and Cs, though I never felt I really understood the subject matter...with the exception of Geometry.

My father attempted to correct my lack of understanding in an abusive fashion, which may have been a contributing factor to the slow development of my math skills. It could be that your student is in a similar situation. Or he may be feeling anxious because he wants so much to please his parents, and doesn't feel capable in this area.

I vividly remember often being under the impression that the method involved in solving certain problems was far more complex than it actually was. This sounds like what your student is experiencing.
I'd suggest that he needs tutoring and some sort of counseling to help him navigate his anxiety.

[davsand]

32. My kid didn't even recognize a minus sign.

We literally just discovered it this weekend! They just finished the first quarter of the first grade and she didn't know a minus sign or a plus sign!!!

Se gets the concept, but had no idea what minus and plus signs were. I asked her if the teacher said take away instead of minus--no, sure didn't. I asked if the teacher said remove instead of minus--nope! Tried every variation on subtraction I could think of and she'd never heard of it. She didn't recognize a plus sign or an equal sign either!!!

I sat down with her tonight and we played games with plastic disks adding some and taking some away. We wrote down what we were doing (formed equations) and she was fine with it once it was explained.

I honestly think the kid had never had it explained... I have no idea what to do with her at this point in time. This is a vetern teacher, and she's not my favorite one in the school, but I am seriously unhappy with this latest development...

All you Math teachers--am I being too hyper about this?

Laura

[dsc]

36. This is going to sound really wierd

but ask him what he is doing. Since he is in first grade it may take a while to figure out what he means but ask him to tell you how he is coming up with his answers. I am somewhat familiar with that touch system and find it total nonsense. Even after someone explained why the chosen points were chosen I had no clue what they were saying. And I certainly can't tell you why they are chosen either.

Also make sure he knows what each number actually represents. Use blocks and have him show you 2 or 6 or 8 or whatever. I hope that and the other good ideas you got help. Finally, doesn't your school have title one? If it does see that teacher and he or she should have even more ideas.

[roguevalley]

37. You may have several things working here all at once:

1. He could be immature. No ammount of teaching will make him
ready to learn it if he can't at this point. Boys tend to be
immature, at least a year or two behind girls in development.

2. He could be concrete in his thinking, thus counting on his
fingers or having something to do his sums with is essential.
Do you have unifix cubes? Anything will do. Number lines on his
desk will do. Once you pass ten, the sums become very abstract.

<By the way, I taught first grade 11 years, 26 years altogether
in elem>

3. Reading and being bright isn't necessarily a marker in math.
He could be language oriented and math -clearly abstraction in
another language- is going to be hard.

4. He could be immature or emotionally immature -goes to the
nurse a lot- and could need another year. Is he small physically?
Look at his drawings. Have him draw a picture of his family
and tell you about it. How big is his picture? Is he placed
in the family group? It could tell you about his maturity. :)

5. He is internalizing anxiety over math. It could be either
the reason he is going to the nurse or other things could be
the reason.

Drill is the key with manipulatives. Check for understanding.
Making the jump from zero to ten (which you can do on your
fingers because you have that many) to eleven and above is
very difficult for some kids. Count on his fingers. I allowed
my kids that option. It works. They will drop it eventually.

Good luck, honey.

RV

[Kamika]

40. He obviously doesnt get it and is too scared to ask.. my own experience

You have to talk to him and maybe teach him after class.

OR go up to him during class and make sure he understands everything but thing is he will probably say he understands just to get rid of you because he's embarassed. So anyway please check him after class or do something because i know how it sucks to not understand math and being too shy to ask during class. It made me totally hate math during HS and i have no idea how i passed.

[TrogL]

42. I got answers back from the group

PM me your email address as I'll forward it as it's rather length

[LynneSin]

43. Send the test home with a picture of Bush attached to it

And ask if they want their kid to grow up as stupid as this man

:shrug:

There is a reason I don't teach kids

:shrug:

[thom1102]

45. I think I may be on to something...

I was just reading that RIDICULOUS touch point procedure. I think he may be misunderstanding the whole touchpoint procedure. It tells you that 5-9 have 2 touchpoints per digit. Well, and maybe I am off base on this, but perhaps he thinks that that means he has to count it twice, which would explain why the larger digit is always doubled. (I know that in one instance he doubled the 3, but maybe he thinks that he always double counts the larger digit.) He may be having difficulty understanding the touchpoint procedure, and maybe mom and dad at home have been trying to teach him a different method and now he is all confused.

Could you hold him during recess one day? How about calling the parents to express your concerns. It might make it easier to send home the grade if it is followed up with a phone call from you expressing your concerns.

[retread]

46. When the test is given, are the illustrations of the digits

with their touchpoints available or are they recalled from memory?