Strategies for Improving Performance Organized by the Achievement Chart Categories

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

• Teach new concepts through problem solving.

• Use a variety of lesson styles: exploration, guided, direct.
• Make the mathematics as real as possible: concrete and in context.
• Have students write stories and/or act out situations with peers, or with manipulatives,
and so on.
• Have students model with manipulatives or dynamic software.
• Point out relationships in other areas of the curriculum.
• Ask “why” questions across the curriculum.
• Model thinking aloud.
• Activate knowledge before introducing new concepts (e.g., What do you know
about …? Was there a time when …?).
• Build on known ideas/concepts.
• Encourage students to construct and test their own skills using personal algorithms.
• Encourage independence and have students practise articulating their confusion by
having them ask three peers for help before going to the teacher.
• Whenever possible, model concepts and procedures using concrete materials.

THINKING

• Provide many opportunities for students to solve appropriate and rich problems.
• Provide many kinds of problems to solve.
• Have students create their own problems.
• Ensure that problems have a context that is meaningful and age appropriate for
students.
• Program for success (e.g., allow students who struggle with problem solving to solve
the problems independently using smaller numbers or scaffolded steps).
• Name and list known problem-solving strategies with examples on a strategy
wall that students can refer to as they work with problems (e.g., act it out,
make a table).
• At times, explicitly model problem-solving strategies.
• Model manipulative use and organization.
• Provide opportunities for multiple representations (e.g., varied manipulatives, visual,
abstract representations, etc.).
• Use strategic praise (e.g., I like the way you organized the information in a table.
Why did you choose to use a table?).
• Ensure that students estimate/predict first using meaningful situations/problems.
• Make it a habit to ask: Does it look right? Does it make sense?
• Frequently have students work with a variety of partners and in small groups.

18 Ontario Numeracy Assessment NEL

 COMMUNICATION

• Provide lots of talk time before writing.

• Model talking/thinking aloud and ensure that students have opportunities to hear
other students’ thinking as well.
• Have students keep a mathematics dictionary and build math word walls.
• Provide students with a glossary of terms.
• Teach procedural writing formats and explicitly link process to writing mathematics
responses.
• Give students a checklist/coaching rubric for communication.
• Provide students with exemplars of good and weak mathematics communication;
discuss what makes each exemplar good or weak; and further discuss how to
improve the quality of communication.
• Model ways of recording thinking visually using a variety of methods, including
labelled diagrams, symbols, pictures, sketches, and charts.
• Provide opportunities for multiple representations (e.g., varied manipulatives, visual,
abstract representations, etc.).

APPLICATION

• Activate knowledge before introducing new concepts (e.g., What do you know
about …? How is this like …?).
• Build on known ideas/concepts.
• Encourage students to construct and test their own skills and algorithms.
• Encourage students to see the mathematics across the strands; provide larger
investigations that require students to apply a number of concepts to solve a
problem (e.g., creating a floor plan for an area of the classroom may involve
calculations, geometric reasoning, and patterning).
• Brainstorm ways mathematics is used in other subject areas (e.g., interpreting charts
and graphs in social studies).
• Have students participate in the real mathematics involved in their daily lives or in
the running of the classroom (e.g., planning a class outing, preparing for a party at
home or at school).
• Have students keep a personal diary of how they use mathematics in their daily
lives and where they see mathematics in the world (e.g., time needed to prepare for
school, sorting card collections, constructing materials, or playing video games).

NEL Ontario Numeracy Assessment 19