Economics 101
2/23/2018
William Walstad, author of several hundred scholarly works on economic education and director of the National Center for Research in Economic Education, claims that economics should be taught to children because being in a society that relies heavily on informed citizenry and personal economic decision-making, basic economic literacy is just as important as learning science or math. It is, therefore, never too early to start learning economics. At PNA, it is our mission to educate students to become independent thinkers and problem solvers. Being an independent thinker means making wise decisions, not just in school, but in life. In the real world, limited resources influence economic decisions. It is essential to help students learn about available resources and to compare the benefits and cost of individual choices. So in third grade, students are currently learning about how Alaskans use resources (natural, human, and capital) to make goods and services. At the end of this unit, students are expected to be able to identify resources in Alaska and how they influence economic development. As an entry event for this joint PBL unit, second and third grade went to the hatchery to learn about one of the biggest Alaskan economic resources. Stay tuned as third graders take on another PBL unit! Source:
Walstad, W. 1998. Why it's important to understand economics. Federal reserve Banks of Minneapolis. Retrieved from https://www.minneapolisfed.org/publications/the-region/why-its-important-to-understand-economics Social Skills
2/17/2018
A large body of research shows that kids strong social and emotional skills tends to be more successful in academics and are more likely to attend college and enjoy stable employment prospects in life. Scholastic has published an article on socials skills we can teach kids grade by grade. In third grade, it is important to teach the following social and emotional skills: Open-Mindedness Learning the knack of respecting other opinions while giving your own boosts likeability and problem-solving skills. How to teach Open-Mindedness at home: Show your child how to see both sides, explain how to respectfully disagree: “I think bats are awesome! But I think it would be better to study squirrels because there are so many different kinds.” And seize chances to model compromise: He wants McDonald’s; you, the bistro? Find a place where he can get a burger and you, sweet-potato fries. Responsibility With more schoolwork and activities, your kid has to step up responsibility and organization. After all, it’s much easier for him to hit the books when he’s not searching for his pencil. How to teach it Maybe you were inclined to do things for your kiddo when he was younger. Now it’s time to impose routines so he can start managing his own stuff (with reminders). At night, for instance, he can make sure his backpack is ready at the door and his clothes are laid out. In the morning, he can put his dishes in the sink after breakfast. Self-Reliance They need to know how to express their real feelings to friends so that they can solve their own spats. How to teach it Instead of calling the other parent when your child has an argument with a pal, talk through solutions and urge your child to take it from there. Knowing that he can (mostly) solve his own problems — whether social or academic — will give him another big boost in resiliency. At PNA, the small class size does not hinder students from developing social and emotional skills. They all get a chance to socially interact with kids at all ages, helping them become open-minded, responsible, and resilient. Here are some examples: 1. 100th Day - 3rd graders joined younger students from Beginners to 2nd grade on activities celebrating the 100th Day of School. 2. Valentine Exchange with 4th Grade 3rd and 4th grade celebrated Valentine's Day together by exchanging some Valentine cards and gifts. Parents brought in delicious snack and drinks for everyone to enjoy. 3. Collaborative Projects 3rd and 4th graders have been working on a broadcasting project and last week, they successfully implemented PNA's morning announcements live on air! Next week, 3rd grade class is going to begin their next project and this time with 2nd grade students. It will also be Olympics Week at PNA, students will be in multi-age groups to enjoys some Olympic-like games and activities. At PNA, we educate the whole child and we value social skills just as much as academics. Sources:
Dreisbac, S. Social skills grade by grade. Scholastic: Parent & Child. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/parent-child/social-skills-grade-grade Social and emotional research background. US Department of Education. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/earlylearning/talk-read-sing/feelings-research.pdf Communication Skills
2/9/2018
Today's world demands more than Three Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic), today's workplace looks for graduates that are also proficient in soft skills. These soft skills are also known as the 21st century skills: critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication. These skills are essential for students to succeed in life. According to A. Owens (2015), communication tops the list of desired skills in the STEM workplace. Levy and Mundane, economists, wrote that today's workplace involves explanation, negotiation, and other forms of intense human interaction. Furthermore, global citizenship requires linguistically and culturally effective communication making it imperative for graduates to know how to communicate clearly and effectively.
PNA recognizes the importance of helping students develop these 21st century skills so our graduates are better prepared to meet the challenges of their future workforce. So, in the classroom, students are given opportunities to develop these soft skills. For example, third grade's speaking standards expect students to be able to engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners, building on other's ideas and expressing their own clearly. To help students develop communication skills, third and fourth graders are working collaboratively on a broadcasting project that will be live streamed as morning announcements. The videos below show students' first attempt on broadcasting.
Watch the next video and notice some improvements from the first to the second attempt.
This broadcasting project does not only help students develop communication skills but also their research and collaboration skills. Students work in a different team each day with a different broadcasting task. They also learned how to approach an adult or an older student for the interview segment. They apply what they learned in science to find information for weather report. In addition, they use their typing skills to type their script in a short span of time. At the end of every broadcasting attempt, students watch their video and reflect on how they could improve. Students evidently improve each day and we can't wait for the school community to watch the students broadcast live next week.
Stay tuned for live broadcasting!
Source:
Owens, A. 2015. Developing 21st century skills: communication. STEM Jobs. Retrieved from http://edu.stemjobs.com/developing-21st-century-skills-communication. Number Sense
2/2/2018
How did you learn your multiplication facts? Did you just memorize your multiplication table? Or did you have other strategies? In third grade, multiplication is a big chunk of our math program. It is the time when kids are expected to learn how to multiply. But what's the best way to teach kids multiplication?
Some students might be not as good as others at memorizing facts. Memorizing facts would also not tell you if students actually understand that 3x5 is the same as 5+5+5 or 3+3+3+3+3. They might not even what 3x5 actually mean. Brain researchers conducted a study on number facts. They found that the students who memorized more easily were not higher achieving, they did not have what the researchers described as more “math ability”, nor did they have higher IQ scores. Some students will be slower when memorizing but they still have exceptional mathematics potential. Brain researchers have also found that the students who are most successful with number problems are those who are using different brain pathways – one that is numerical and symbolic and the other that involves more intuitive and spatial reasoning (Park & Brannon, 2013). Additionally brain researchers have studied students learning math facts in two ways – through strategies or memorization. They found that both approaches, strategies or memorization, involve two distinct pathways in the brain and that both pathways are perfectly good for life long use. Importantly the study also found that those who learned through strategies achieved ‘superior performance’ over those who memorized, they solved problems at the same speed, and showed better transfer to new problems. The brain researchers concluded that automaticity should be reached through understanding of numerical relations, achieved through thinking about number strategies (Delazer et al, 2005). Bridges, PNA's math program, supports different learning styles. Students are not just taught how to recall facts but they are taught with different strategies, giving students every tool they could try until they pick the right one that works for them. For example, instead of just having students memorize the answer to 4x6, they are also taught the "doubles doubles" strategy where they double the number they multiply by 4 and then double the result (Double of 6 is 12, double of 12 is 24). Strategies help students quickly compute the answers, and some strategies also make it possible for them to calculate mentally with larger numbers. Watch how students multiply by 11 before they were taught strategies.
After teaching strategies, students were able to multiply larger numbers mentally.
At PNA, we celebrate different learning styles. We equip students with a variety of ways to solve problems. In math, we don't just teach them how to memorize facts, we also teach them strategies that will help them solve problems with larger numbers just like how we prepare them for the big world.
Sources:
Park, J. & Brannon, E. (2013). Training the Approximate Number System Improves Math Proficiency. Association for Psychological Science. Delazer, M., Ischebeck, A., Domahs, F., Zamarian, L., Koppelstaetter, F., Siedentopf, C.M. Kaufmann; Benke, T., & Felber, S. (2005). Learning by Strategies and Learning by Drill – evidence from an fMRI study. NeuroImage. |
Jessica GrahamMs. Graham graduated from the University of Alabama with a BS in Early Childhood/Elementary Education, and is currently working on her master's in reading. She enjoys hiking, traveling, arts & crafts, and playing the ukulele. Archives
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