Teaching Tip: Bruce-Monroe at Park View Elementary’s Success Story with Singapore Math

Name:

Jacqueline McMillan and Lucrecia Almazan-Johnson

Economy:

United States 

School:

Bruce-Monroe Elementary School at Park View

Subject:

Mathematics Instruction

Tip:

Bruce Monroe at Park View Elementary school, located in Washington DC, responded to the increase in Spanish speaking students by creating a dual language program in 2003. Bruce Monroe at Park View has been committed to providing positive and rigorous academic and social experiences to its student population and continues to adapt to suit the needs of all of the students in the learning community.

While we considered our math teachers to be strong, our students were not performing well on assessments. It seemed that many of our students were not retaining information from years past and they were struggling to make sense of the mathematical vocabulary as they switched between languages. The prescribed math curriculum was written with the belief that repeated exposure to a topic would eventually spiral back and lead to mastery. Our English as a Second Language students, in particular, struggled to comprehend and solve mathematical problems, while other students could solve simple problems using algorithms but were unable to explain what the algorithms represented or when they should be used. Similarly, the students became frustrated when breaking apart story problems in either language to decide upon the correct mathematical process. Our students’ mathematical confidence was dwindling as they continued to spiral past foundational topics.

In our desperate quest for an appropriate and effective curriculum, our school came across the Singapore Math program with the help of a grant from the Rosenbaum Foundation. Dr. Yoram Sagher and his mentee, Ms. Robin Ramos, brought in intensive training and have been instrumental in the successful implementation of the program. Singapore Math is focused upon mastering a topic before moving on to the next topic. This focus on the fundamentals appealed to our teachers and seemed to lay a solid foundation for future mathematical success.

Singapore Math presents students with several visual strategies to represent abstract ideas. This is of great benefit to our bilingual students who are dominate in one language but need to successfully complete mathematical problems in both languages. One of our second grade students this year, Alejandro*, is spoken to in Spanish at home, but he has great difficulties producing clear speech in Spanish and English at school. He is unable to read basic second grade words and stories, yet he has become one of our top math students. When asked to represent the number 782, Alejandro immediately draws a place value chart. He then eagerly fills it with number disks to represent the large number. Alejandro then uses this chart to answer complex questions about the value of the tens place and what would happen if he were to subtract nine tens from the whole. He smiles, wiggling his loose front tooth with his tongue, and discusses the process involved in bundling and unbundling tens and ones which he reminds me that he has done using Popsicle sticks and rubber bands.

Another student who has benefitted greatly from the Singapore Math curriculum is Gerishom*, a newcomer from Ethiopia. Gerishom came to our school last year in December. His father wanted Gerishom to participate in the dual language program, which would allow his seven year old son to speak three languages. Because of the oral and written repetition of Singapore Math, Gerishom was able to learn the appropriate vocabulary rapidly. Gerishom was a fierce competitor during Singapore Math sprints, where he buried his head over 46 math problems and completed them all in one minute. Then he stood, smiling as he did jumping jacks and arm circles while counting by 3s and 4s. The students are encouraged to repeat after each other and the teacher throughout the entire lesson and have a lot of practice speaking in mathematical language. This enabled Gerishom to communicate his thought processes in English and Spanish. His confidence soared and this contributed his eagerness to learn both languages at a faster rate.

One of our Special Education students, Carlos*, tried hard but was unable to focus his attention. He came to our classroom and was unable to write his numbers, let alone add or subtract without concrete physical manipulatives. The Singapore Math method of using repetition, physical movement, the place value chart and dry erase boards, enabled him to grasp the concept, maintain his focus and create a positive self concept in regards to mathematics. Carlos had spent his short educational career feeling lost and unsuccessful but after Singapore Math, he was eager to begin mathematics class. He ended the year above second grade level in mathematics and was practicing two digit multiplication and long division.

Our Singapore Math curriculum is still developing and improving. Just this week, we have implemented a quiz component. After the second quiz, our dual language students already showed progress. As teachers, we experience firsthand how the Singapore Math program is improving our schools’ teaching and learning.

• Names have been changed.