Challenging Maths by Ammiel Wan - which grades?
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NickleBee Tutors:
Hi Nicklebee Tutors,An Overview of \"Visible Thinking in Mathematics\" written by Mr Ammiel Wan (Marshall Cavendish, 2011)
Overall, i think \"Visible Thinking in Mathematics\" is a good \"Broad-Based\" resource (as compared to \"OnSponge\" which only focuses on Problem Sums) to complement the school's textbook in helping the students master basic and advanced mathematical concepts through both conceptual understanding and critical thinking.
I personally think this would be a good resource for those looking for a assessment book to help them build up their fundamentals while improving their thinking skills and understanding of mathematical concepts.
Yours
Zhou Shicai
Nicklebee Tutors
Thanks for your detailed analysis on the above; appreciates :thankyou:
I am using the Visible Thinking too and find that it helps me as a parent to understand the concept better before coaching my gal with her Maths. I agree that it is one of the \"good resource for those looking for a assessment book to help them build up their fundamentals while improving their thinking skills and understanding of mathematical concepts.\"
I chanced upon this book when one day my gal brought back her Maths \"Impromtus\" test paper and looking for \"clues\", I found the small print at the bottom of the page \"Visible Thinking in Mathematics 3A\"
. Called up the publisher and came to know that this is a new publication (that was on the 2nd or 3rd week Jan 2011) and only available in The Big Bookshop then. But now it is available in Popular Bookstore as well :celebrate:
Since then, I have been the book as a supplmental book to guide my gal in her Maths. Very challenging questions and she has to understand the concept before attempting. -
plum-cake:
Hi PlumCake,NickleBee Tutors:
An Overview of \"Visible Thinking in Mathematics\" written by Mr Ammiel Wan (Marshall Cavendish, 2011)
I personally think this would be a good resource for those looking for a assessment book to help them build up their fundamentals while improving their thinking skills and understanding of mathematical concepts. It gels in very well with my own teaching methodology and after a couple of weeks of analyzing the new books and planning on how it will fit into my teaching curriculum, i will provide an update on my review.
Yours
Zhou Shicai
Nicklebee Tutors
My heart felt thanks and appreciation to for your classic answer.
I first thought if I buy this book it will be an addition to my pile of other work books.
can you reccomend any english work books please ?
Thank you.
I am sorry but as i specialize in teaching only Maths and Science, i am afraid that i am not qualified to recommend good English workbooks for your child.
I think other educators in this forum can help you in this area.
Yours
Zhou Shicai -
tianzhu:
Onsponge has only problem sums like Fabian Ng's Problem-solving processes. Visible Thinking is an assessment book.Hi
What are the differences between Onsponge and Visible Thinking Maths books?
Is Visible Thinking a textbook or assessment book?
Son's school asked the students to buy Onsponge on top of 'My Pals' Maths Homework book, 'My Pals' activity book
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Leanne:
Hi Leanne,Hi \"NickleBee Tutors\"]
There are 2 ways to combat this.
The first way is for the Parent or Educator to sit beside the child while he is using \"OnSponge\" or doing other problem solving assessment books and guide him on how to read and understand the context of the problem, think through the proper usage and application of the methods as taught and understand the reasoning on how the various concepts and methods can help you use the facts and information in the question to solve it.
The 2nd way is to start from basics and start getting the child used to a thinking and reasoning based approach rather than a rote -learning approach of learning basic mathematical concepts. This would help the parent or educator to cultivate the child's thinking skills and help direct the student's thought process on key concepts. And in so doing, the student would be better able to integrate the Problem solving concepts and Heuristics as they come along .
Could u pls kindly illustrate with an example?Am still trying to unlock the math processing skills in ds.thanks alot.
Leanne
A good example would be.
\"Person A told Person B, \"Give me $100 and I will have 2 times as much money as you.\"
Person B said, \"Give me $10 and I will have 6 times as much money as you.\"
How much money did each each of them have originally?\"
Now, for parents or educators who are unused to heuristics or model drawings would instantly gravitate towards the usage of Algebra in solving this problem. And when their child can't solve this, the parents or educators would then use algebra to show how the student how to solve this question. Of course a large proportion of students who are not exposed to algebra in school (due to the simple reason that MOE schools do not teach abstract algebra necessary for problem solving, only some simple algebra in Pri 6) will find difficulty in understanding how to apply this algebra method to another such problem when it comes along again.
For students who use Model, this question can be solved with model drawings and if done correctly, will be a commendable effort. However it may get so cumbersome and messy that careless mistakes will start to creep in. All in all, a classic case of too much effort for too little returns.
A good way to approach this question is to ask the child to read and understand the context of this question. Any child will realize after some prompting that both A and B were simply exchanging money back and forth. You can role play this out with your child. So the main concept here is that no matter whether A give B or B give A, the total sum of both A and B altogether in both scenarios DID NOT change at all! With that in mind, and using some ratios, the answer is pretty easy to get! And when another question (which is slightly different) comes along, the child will then have a better understanding on how the context of the question is still the same and have a better idea on how to solve the problem sum.
Yours
Zhou Shicai
NickleBee Tutors -
Hi NickleBee Tutors
Thanks for the examples.
I notice ds has the problem not careful when doing math question.He tends to overlook small details in question.I guess the focussing power is not there.
Each time after I marked the papers, before I go thru the question, he is already able to identify the mistakes, dont have to explain.Its plain careless.What shall I do?That is the reason that he is not able to get close to perfect score.Thank you.
Rgds
Leanne
There are 2 ways to combat this.
The first way is for the Parent or Educator to sit beside the child while he is using "OnSponge" or doing other problem solving assessment books and guide him on how to read and understand the context of the problem, think through the proper usage and application of the methods as taught and understand the reasoning on how the various concepts and methods can help you use the facts and information in the question to solve it.
The 2nd way is to start from basics and start getting the child used to a thinking and reasoning based approach rather than a rote -learning approach of learning basic mathematical concepts. This would help the parent or educator to cultivate the child’s thinking skills and help direct the student’s thought process on key concepts. And in so doing, the student would be better able to integrate the Problem solving concepts and Heuristics as they come along .
Could u pls kindly illustrate with an example?Am still trying to unlock the math processing skills in ds.thanks alot.
Leanne[/quote]
Hi Leanne,
A good example would be.
"Person A told Person B, "Give me $100 and I will have 2 times as much money as you."
Person B said, "Give me $10 and I will have 6 times as much money as you."
How much money did each each of them have originally?"
Now, for parents or educators who are unused to heuristics or model drawings would instantly gravitate towards the usage of Algebra in solving this problem. And when their child can’t solve this, the parents or educators would then use algebra to show how the student how to solve this question. Of course a large proportion of students who are not exposed to algebra in school (due to the simple reason that MOE schools do not teach abstract algebra necessary for problem solving, only some simple algebra in Pri 6) will find difficulty in understanding how to apply this algebra method to another such problem when it comes along again.
For students who use Model, this question can be solved with model drawings and if done correctly, will be a commendable effort. However it may get so cumbersome and messy that careless mistakes will start to creep in. All in all, a classic case of too much effort for too little returns.
A good way to approach this question is to ask the child to read and understand the context of this question. Any child will realize after some prompting that both A and B were simply exchanging money back and forth. You can role play this out with your child. So the main concept here is that no matter whether A give B or B give A, the total sum of both A and B altogether in both scenarios DID NOT change at all! With that in mind, and using some ratios, the answer is pretty easy to get! And when another question (which is slightly different) comes along, the child will then have a better understanding on how the context of the question is still the same and have a better idea on how to solve the problem sum.
Yours
Zhou Shicai
NickleBee Tutors[/quote] -
Hi Hifive and NickleBee Tutors
Thank you for your reply.
Best wishes -
janet_lee88:
Hi
Son's school asked the students to buy Onsponge on top of 'My Pals' Maths Homework book, 'My Pals' activity book
Thank you for your reply.
With so many books to complement the school textbooks, do the students still have time to refer to their textbooks?
Furthermore, books do not come cheap nowadays.
Best wishes -
Hi,
Based on feedbacks from my 2 girls, most of the time the school teachers do not make use of the textbook in the class ......... the in thing from the teacher is now fanciful powerpt presentation .... just wonder why the school make buying the textbook compulsary ........... we can be 'greener' if MOE phase out the textbooks .............. LOL
:oops: -
Suz855:
Son's school does use textbook quite a bit. I use it as reference esp when planning CA/SA revision. Maths & Science are subjects, so I feel that textbooks are required. But I pity son for having to do Onsponge, My Pals Homework book as well as activity book...never ending.Hi,
Based on feedbacks from my 2 girls, most of the time the school teachers do not make use of the textbook in the class ......... the in thing from the teacher is now fanciful powerpt presentation .... just wonder why the school make buying the textbook compulsary ........... we can be 'greener' if MOE phase out the textbooks .............. LOL :oops: -
janet_lee88:
But I pity son for having to do Onsponge, My Pals Homework book as well as activity book...never ending.
Hi
And, maybe, Visible Thinking in the future.
Best wishes
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