In this professional development course for teachers, you will get the training you need to start teaching model drawing, the powerful Singapore Math strategy that gives word problems a visual context. As a teacher, you know that many students groan when it's time to solve word problems. Why is that? Are the problems too difficult? Do students get lost trying to decipher the wording or figure out the computation? Do they simply not know which strategy to use? Actually, it's a combination of all these issues. Luckily, model drawing, a Singapore Math strategy for working word problems, will help your students start to enjoy math in a way they may never have before.
The secret behind model drawing is that it gives students a concrete, reliable set of seven steps that they can use to solve 80% of the word problems out there. They won't have to memorize 20 different techniques and know when to use which anymore. Instead, they will learn how to read the problem, determine its variables, draw a unit bar (the visual model), adjust that bar, place the question mark to indicate what they're solving for, do the computation, and write a complete sentence at the end.
Does it sound too good to be true? This course will prove just how effective model drawing can be in your classroom!
Anni Stipek holds bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Special Education from University of Puget Sound. She has more than 20 years of experience in the K-12 classroom and worked as a Staff Development for Educators math consultant for five years. She has written and facilitates numerous online courses, including "The Foundations of Singapore Math Model Drawing Grades 1-6" and "The Foundations of Singapore Math Number Sense/Computation Strategies Grades 1-6."
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.
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A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.
All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.
Lesson 1
Discover Model Drawing
In your first lesson, you will discover a wonderful solution to your students' aversion to word problems. It's a Singapore Math strategy called model drawing, which gives students seven reliable steps that will help them solve every word problem they encounter.
Learn the Model Drawing Process
Are you ready to learn about your model drawing process? This lesson focuses on model drawing and how to read the problem. You will learn to determine variables, make a visual representation of the problem, adjust that model for problem information, do the computation, and write a final sentence.
Addition Word Problems
In this lesson, you will solve a variety of addition problems. Whether you teach first grade or sixth, it's helpful to know how to solve basic addition problems with model drawing. These are great learning exercises for older students because the computation is simple, and they can focus on the process.
Subtraction Word Problems
Subtraction word problems can be tricky. Sometimes it's hard to keep track of what goes where, and other times, it's confusing to do the math itself. This lesson focuses on harnessing the power of a visual model that shows students how the subtracted quantity fits into the problem.
Multiplication Word Problems
Remember those problems where Sally types 62 words per minute and you had to figure out how many words she types in 15 minutes? Well, guess what? These problems don't have to be as hard as they seem. In this lesson, you will learn how easy it is to show each quantity in your model drawings.
Division Word Problems
Now that you've mastered multiplication problems, it's time to discover their cousin. Division word problems are often the ones students stumble on the most. But after this lesson, you will soon be gliding through them with ease. You will even discover how to solve those tricky before and after scenarios.
Fraction Word Problems
This lesson tackles fraction word problems that are easy to visualize with a unit bar model. You will be amazed by how much a simple model can help students understand complex fraction concepts.
Rate Word Problems
If you've ever needed to figure out how many miles you will get out of a few gallons of gas, you will appreciate this lesson on rate word problems. You will learn how to set up the two different things being compared in a typical rate problem (like miles per gallon or cookies per plate).
Ratio Word Problems
Now that you've discovered rates, it's time to learn about ratio problems. Imagine that you have 3 candy bars to Timmy's 1, and Jill has 2 to your 3. That's a 3:1:2 ratio. These problems don't have to be any more complex than multiplication problems—it's all about finding the base unit and working from there.
Percent Word Problems
This lesson introduces the Singapore approach to percent word problems The nice thing about percent problems is that most of the time, you're not working with more than 100%. With your handy percent ruler (a great model drawing trick), these problems become a snap.
Practice Word Problems
By now you may feel like a Singapore Math pro! In this lesson, you will have the opportunity to apply what you've learned so far in this course. This lesson focuses on solving word problems and matching each word problem with a pre-created model.
Using Model Drawing Every Day
Now that you've learned how to successfully integrate model drawing with so many kinds of word problems, you will learn how you can take all of this information into your classroom. This lesson is all about how to introduce model drawing the right way, how to practice before you present the lessons, and how to give your students ample opportunities to learn with you and on their own.
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