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?"

Math Mission update - using Read and Write Gold tools with other software

The Math Mission update

Special education teachers participating in the Math Mission project gathered for the final Learning Community session of the year at Burnhamthorpe Adult Learning Centre in early March. The Math Mission, facilitated by SEA Consultant Christine Harvey-Kerr and itinerant teacher Valia Reinsalu, is a year-long project focussing on using assistive technology in special education classrooms in a way that supports student communication in Mathematics.  

Using Activ Expressions and using Read and Write Gold tools in various contexts such as Google Docs and in Microsoft Word were two of the main topics explored during the session.

SEA Consultant Christine Harvey-Kerr shares the agenda for the afternoon session.

A starting point for use of Read and Write Gold tools with Microsoft Word. The key is to match the right tool to the student's particular need to support their communication of concepts learned.

Natalie Palubiski,  ISP ASD teacher from Buchanan Public School, shares how she creates vocabulary lists for her students using Read and Write Gold's Vocabulary tool.

Sarah Smart,  ISP LD teacher from Briarcrest Junior School, uploads an Interactive Whiteboard lesson onto the Math Mission Desire2Learn site. Math Mission teachers access and share student work on the Math Mission D2L site.

Throughout the year teachers have been part of an on-line community -  accessing and using the Blended Learning / Learning Management System - Desire2Learn to access resources, lessons and even post student work. Also Some students have had the opportunity to bolster their written communication skills by providing feedback on other student's work.
TDSB teachers can find out more about Desire2Learn from the intraweb site: Desire2Learn.

Math Mission teachers have a chance to continue to build interpersonal connections via Job Embedded Professional Learning Opportunities via co-planning, co-teaching and observation.

Part of the Math Mission group of special education teachers - exploring and sharing ways they support their students communication in Mathematics.