Using Geometer's Sketchpad to support and promote student learning in Mathematics

1. Students can create geometric shapes with ease choosing the point, line segment or polygon tool allows increasing degrees of scaffolding. Once a shape has been created the shapes' properties using the measurement tab for example. There's also a built in calculator which allows a student to select elements on the page (eg. angle measurements) to do a quick computation.

2. Use GSP to manipulate elements similar to on an interactive whiteboard.

Images from other sources can be copied and pasted onto a GSP page. Then tools can be incorporated so that the page works like an interactive whiteboard. Add shapes to chunk and cover elements on the page. Use the pen tool to fill in information. As well, use the text tool to type in vocabulary and create written answers.

3. It's a flexible programme that can be used in conjunction with assistive technology software Read and Write Gold - word prediction and text-to-speech to help support students' written communication. To differentiate tasks teachers can put in Action Buttons - either to link out directly to a web site resource or the Hide/Show Action Button - where text hints or eg. success criteria can be accessed and then hidden to ensure a decluttered page.

4. There are many dynamic custom tools which can be used with the basic Geometer's Sketchpad interface. See the Ontario Association of Math Educators (OAME) Mathies learning tools site here to access the GSP Virtual Manipulatives file. And for more support documents and sample activities visit the GSP Resource Center.

Preparing for the end of the day - SEA IWB in-class session David&Mary Thomson C.I. spotlight

Home Time at David and Mary Thomson C.I.

Raj Singh, Low Incidence Teacher at David and Mary Thomson Collegiate Institute, has been participating in Learning Communities through the SEA Interactive Whiteboard Group Claim. Along with attending sessions throughout the school year to learn various ways to use the Promethean Board to engage his students and promote independence and learning, he partnered with the Itinerant Resource Teacher leading the Learning Community to Co-Plan and Co-Teach a lesson.

During the Co-Planning session, a home time schedule was created. Visuals were used to support his students’ independence in preparing for the end of the school day and in writing a journal about what activities they participated in.

(left) End of the day “Checklist of Daily Chores.”  (right) Students take turns checking off items.

(left) Students select the activity they did from templates created on the Promethean Board. When the picture symbol is selected, the corresponding sentence appears. (left) If the students did an activity that is not represented on the Promethean Board, the student will write it in using the pen tool.

Students then write their journals for the day using the sentences as prompts. Some students will copy the sentences, while others are able to create their own.

David and Mary Thompson C.I. also offers real life employability skills training. They have converted one of their classrooms into an area where their students can practice skills that will support their future employment.

Curriculum and Resource Technology - Have You Seen The SEA C.A.R.T. Claim In Action?

The response to the SEA C.A.R.T. (Curriculum and Resource Technology) Claim has been both exciting and inspiring.  To date, 108 claims (1 080 laptops) have been approved and delivered to schools.  Support and training has been ongoing in the schools and in our training labs.  Take a look below at how staff and students are embracing the use of the technology to differentiate instruction and to support individual student learning needs.

Everyday Learning at Scarborough Village

It is all about developing independence.  Students in Ms Taylor’s HSP program retrieve their assigned laptop and begin work immediately upon entering the classroom.  A.T. is consistently embedded into the success criteria for their language and math assignments.  In the students’ integrated classes, the laptops are used to facilitate group work incorporating the technology.   Students readily support one another to select the tools for the task and to customize those tools to meet their individual needs (as evidenced by each student’s customized Read and Write toolbar).

Only the Second Session of Training at R.H. McGregor

It is hard to believe that the grade 2, 3, 4 and 5 students at R.H. McGregor have only completed one session of their C.A.R.T. support with the A.T. team.  Students have already customized their Read and Write Gold toolbar and selected the best voice and speed to comprehend a text. 

Today the focus is on using more tools in Read and Write to build their comprehension skills.  As the students build a visual vocabulary list using the vocabulary tool, a student comments “Something cool just happened!”, as images and definitions for new vocabulary appear in an organized chart.  Another student evaluates both the text and picture dictionary tool and reports, “I like the picture dictionary better”. 

The support from the A.T. team is all about selecting the right tools to support a student’s individual learning needs.

Investigating Read and Write through a Mathematics Lens

C.A.R.T. Project schools that have completed their in-school training and support were invited to select two teachers to attend a professional learning session focusing on how to use tools in Read and Write Gold to differentiate math instruction for their students.  Sessions took place at both our East and West training labs.

Through modelling, hands on exploration and sharing, participants investigated how tools like the picture dictionary, talking calculator, fact mapper, highlighters and voice note could be used to support students to chunk, comprehend and communicate in mathematics.

Take a look at some of the ways teachers shared how they would differentiate a math task using A.T. during our Gallery Walk.

Teachers attending the session noted that they appreciated the hands on learning model and opportunity to share ideas with others.

We look forward to sharing more information about the SEA C.A.R.T. claim in action in our secondary schools.

Javier Sanchez's

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The Butterflies have Landed at Park Lane P.S. - co-teach example using alternative access devices (switches)

The Butterflies have Landed at Park Lane

Two teachers at Park Lane, Paula MacLellan and Cindy Price, were involved in the Alternative Access Device Project this year.  Both teachers co-planned and co-taught a lesson with Itinerant Resource Teacher, Renée Keberer, around using various software and “switch” devices to further allow their students to interact and engage in lessons and activities. The school received caterpillars this year and thus lessons were created around this theme. Voice output devices were used for the morning welcome and to “call” the butterflies. These devices allow students to have a voice and communicate in a different way. PowerPoint software was used to create Cause and Effect activities and Choice Boards.

Math Mission in-class session: ActivTable and IWB to support math communication Buchanan P.S spotlight

At Buchanan Public School, special education teacher Natalie Hatt wanted to see how the ActivTable could be incorporated into her classroom for a Math lesson for her grade 4 students. So as part of the Math Mission project's job-embedded professional learning session, Ms. Hatt co-planned a three-part lesson with itinerant teacher Valia Reinsalu that would have her students estimating and actively measuring objects. The lesson incorporated both the Junior Autism ISP classroom's Promethean Interactive Whiteboard and the classroom's ActivTable.

One of the main goals of the Math Mission is for special education teachers to incorporate assistive technology software tools and peripherals as accommodations in order promote Math talk between students when they are solving Math problems in the classroom.

Minds On
To start, the students used the Promethean ActivExpressions to text in answers to the following questions: "What can you measure?" and "What tools would you use to measure?" Students discussed and compared each others' answers. Ms. Hatt also had students provide further examples about the kind of measuring they can do in the school environment.

Once Ms. Hatt 's students responded, their answers were "word-seeded" and pasted onto the flipchart. Students discussed and compared each others' answers. An image of Buchanan Public School was used  for the Minds On. Students are able to generate ideas about measurement in a familiar context.

Action

Students transitioned to the ActivTable where they estimated and then measured the length of various familiar objects found in the classroom. Using the Windows side of the ActivTable, the ActivInspire software was used for these measurement activities. The ActiveInspire flipchart had elements placed on the page in an orientation to allow all participating students to have access to the activities.

As for tool use, students were able to choose the pen tool and use their fingers to write in their estimate of the objects lengths. After they used the ruler to measure the object, they wrote in their actual result. Ms. Hatt also provided students with real-life objects and rulers to help them complete the tasks. 

Communication between the teacher and students, and talk between students were natural results of the lesson. Students discussed and compared both their estimations and actual measurements to determine if their answers were accurate. Students had to talk and come to consensus about pen and colour use. And since only one tool can be used by all students at one time, if one student needed to use the eraser, he would ask the group to switch to that tool. Another student would pick that tool and then choose the pen tool again when that student was finished.

The Windows side of the ActivTable allows teachers to use ActivInspire software. The ActivTable page is designed so that each student has his/her own working space around the table. 

Students use the eraser to reveal the criteria about the object they need to find in the class.

A view of the differentiated activity page. Students erased below their names (replaced by "Student" in this screenshot) and were given specific measurement criteria for an object to find. Differentiating tasks are simple to do on the ActivTable since each student has a separate working space. 

A student completes his assignment "find an object between 20 cm - 30 cm". He has drawn a book which measures 26 cm. (left) Another student has chosen scissors as an object he thinks meets his criteria. (right)

Consolidation

To consolidate the lesson, Ms. Hatt's students returned to the IWB. By examining a corner of their classroom, they used the ActivExpressions again to share their ideas about "What can you measure?" and "What tools can you use?"