I think its good for starting a new concept and I like her tests.
However it needs more hands on and higher level thinking worksheets.
Challenging enough for the students in the gifted and talented program.
(PRE'AP)
I think its good for starting a new concept and I like her tests.
However it needs more hands on and higher level thinking worksheets.
Challenging enough for the students in the gifted and talented program.
(PRE'AP) for all students
This is the greatest math program I've ever seen. It is very teacher friendly and covers all areas the children need to become confident at math. Sorry to say my district no longer wants to use it which is a real injustice to the children of this district. I've taught for 34 years and Sharon Wells is the best!!
I understand the concept behind the teaching. But, I have to say, I do not like it at all. My two kids that are learning it for the first time are getting very itimidated of math because of the program. It seems like there are just to many steps.
Hi, my daughter's class uses the Sharon Wells curriculum, she is in 4th grade..they are working on simple 3 digit division using a sketching proof for answers, i have no clue how to help her on that! Can anyone guide me to a website or resources to help her..thanks!
I suggest you meet with the teacher and spend enough time to understand what is being taught. The sketching is of "base ten blocks" that are manipulatives used in the beginning of the lesson. The base ten blocks are passed out to the students and are made of plastic or wood. They show place value for the ones, tens, and hundreds. The sketching your daughter has to do is actually a picture representation of the base ten blocks. Draw a square which = 100, a vertical straight line = 10, and a dot = 1. The number 234 would be drawn as follows: 2 squares would equal 200, 3 vertical lines would equal 30, and 4 dots would equal 4.
All of this is supposed to help your daughter understand the place value and grouping and re-grouping involved in division.
It is not confusing if you spend about ten minutes with your daughter's teacher. Have her/him show you the base ten blocks, then have him/her show you the pictures that represent the base ten blocks, and finally have the teacher demonstrate a problem for you.
If your daughter is struggling with this, I suggest you buy her some base ten blocks or borrow some from the teacher.
Sharon Wells has a website, just Google Sharon Wells Math.
Your district no longer wants to use it because of money and politics.
Federal money comes to a district if they adopt a program that is "research" based. Research based means professors far removed from an elemantary classroom selling their stuff to a national textbook maker. Textbook companies lie, lie, lie, when they say their textbook is aligned to the TEKS. Textbook makers only have to have 50% alignment to claim their book (made for all fifty states) is aligned to the TEKS. You love SW because it is aligned to the TEKS 100%. Make it to the reviews before the TAKS and your kids will be good to go.
Hello,
we just started using it at our school this year, and I agree with the other teachers...big waste of paper and too many steps. I can see it working with some problems, but not everything requires a quadrant.
It's a great program. It's all done for you. Lesson plans TEKS and so on. Very easy to use. The only catch is you must make each student a set of copies for every six week section. Our school had the school print shop make them in advance for the entire school. They also purchased the student binders. You will also have workshops for every six week section. You wil have 6 session.
We used it at our school and at first we did not see the need to get 'trained' to use elementary math, hadn't we seen it all? However... after using it we discovered there was another way to skin a cat and the new method and approaches were valuable. I personally had the highest Math scores I have EVER had after using this program. 15 students out of 18 recieved Academic Recognition!! I am a believer! The loved the way the daily routine is broken down and I loved the way she teaches Problem Solving. SOOOOOO GREAT!
I used it and had the same experience. By the time we got to the test, my students knew their content backwards and forwards. I teach ELLs and it was fantastic for making them confident in what they were doing. I had lots of commended students and only 1 out of 19 didn't pass the test the first time.
I am a high school teacher with 2 elementary age kids. I am totally NOT impressed with the Sharon Wells curriculum. Both of my kids are GT, and absolutely HATE all the steps required with this program. I have also had the teacher pages in my hands to help my son & daughter - and was appalled at the number of typographical, grammatical, & spelling errors in the teacher pages.
To me, I feel like this is nothing more than a complete cop-out for an elementary teacher. Perhaps for a lower-level student it works, but for my 2, it's an absolute waste of time & paper.
I have to agree w/ Mathman, it's all about politics and funds and so on. I loved S.W. it is aligned to the que! My district won't buy her anymore though and my school needs it badly!!!
Surely you are joking. I am a parent, grandparent, teacher, counselor, with 2 masters and a doctorate in education, and I absolutely dumbfounded by the silliness of the Sharon Wells maths. My observation is that children get totally involved in drawing trash cans and sketching but do not make the relationship with what the math problem is. I don't know a teacher but you who like Sharon Wells math. I see children struggling with all the drawings and sketching, but give them simple instructions in sequential order and all the fog lifts. It's pure gimmicktry and totally confuses children. I have also observed that all the comments that are positive here refer to help it is to the teacher. I find that interesting.
I echo Charle 100%. Lessons are planned out for teachers to the nth degree, so yes I can imagine it must be a major help for the teacher but I'm not so sure about the kids. I am not a certified educator, however I am a central office admin as well as a parent.
I see my daughters struggle with all those drawings and strategies...I mean, they work out the problem the old-fashioned way and then go back and spend twice the amount of time doing the strategies - after the fact!!! It may help struggling learners, but the kids that don't need to know the 10 different ways to skin a cat to solve a problem should not be regressed to have to do this.
I must disagree, I too have an EDD and two Masters, however it is obvious that our educational status alone does not deem us experts, EXPERIENCE does!!!! As a principal at an EXEMPLARY campus, our Math scores are always 100% with more than 90% commended...this due soley to the hard work of my wonderful staff and to the intentional implementation of the Sharon Wells Curriculum!!! This curriculum is based on Conceptual based learning, this type of instruction is strategic in ensuring that students are introduced to the fundamentals of each concept at a concrete level first, thus building a strong foundation to build on a they transfer to the abstract. Every experienced educator knows that this is the key to mastery learning! The sketching is a strategy that should be used, as needed, only for those children that are not developmentally ready to work at the abstract level. The "gimmicktry" you speak of in such a negative manner, is noted in the state curriculum, TEK 14B! !!! I do believe that if more secondary schools stopped teaching "the old fashion way"(the easy way out) scores would reflect it and groves of students would not be turned off to math!!!! Maybe if we look out of the narrow minded box we live in we may broaden our horizons to new ways of teaching and learning!!!
I just hope Sharon Wells does not get a penny for every worksheet bearing her name. That would be a true travesty, earning money off
the process of alienating children from mathematics.
My brilliant sons have had nothing to say but negatives about the S.W.
worksheets they have been forced to waste hours upon hours on. All the positive reinforcement in the world you can imagine mathematically inclined parents might provide has MAYBE kept them from being completely turned off by math after having to put up with the mind-numbingly stupid exercise called "UPSET", but only just. Imagine all those other poor children, who view math as that most deadening and boring of exercises, rehashing and slowing way down to do what they thought of doing in the first 3 seconds. And getting graded punitively if they don't follow those exacting, idiotic procedures ... Please.
If your school doesn't currently use it, PLEASE don't adopt it. If your school district is mired in it, like ours is, please complain about it and get your PTA to give it the shove.
Sharon Well almost mutilated my child's math interest and imagination in 1 and 2 grade. It's the perfect program for lazy teachers. I know. I used it for two yrs.
Hello everyone... My students have been very successful with using the Sharon Wells material as a key component of my instructional program This scope and sequence of the skills seems to be very logical to me, and Sharon's team puts time in to be sure the tests are accurate. The test is a great assessment of the week's unit. I'm very resourceful and creative enough to supplement if needed, and all good educators know how to plug in the higher thinking skills . It's a great program and it's up to the educator to monitor it's usage and gauge its effectiveness. I'm a strong supporter of the program.
Thanks for posting your note in support of this curriculum material..... I congratulate you on being wise in letting your teachers use this as a guide. Tracking student achievement is made easy with this program and allows me to quickly identify the students in need of remediation. This upset chart method does not have to be tedious unless the teacher lacks creativity in presenting the lesson concept for the week. Teachers need to use their own judgement on when to ween the students away from the process. I'm glad that you made mention of this strategy as being a TEK... The person bashing the program may not be familiar with the TEKS. Good job with your posting. Thanks.
Valleyguy
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01-01-2006, 05:14 PM
