One of the things that became clear to me as I conducted my GLOSS test at the end of last term, was that I have a group of really bright mathematicians in my class who aced the test. Some who just managed to get it, and some who completed the test with ease.
So although my target students are those who are just below the national standards, I started thinking about my achievement challenge I'd chosen in my original post and my hunches I had about Achievement Challenge #4. How are we preparing our students for high school to try and avoid the 'summer effect' in which students show a slump when they start Year 9.
This made me realise that I wasn't doing justice to my top group - my extension group. I wasn't providing them with work which challenged their thinking and broadened their understanding of mathematical concepts.
To get a better idea of just how far 'above' the standard they were, I decided to use resources from NZ maths which brought together current learning about measurement and problem solving.
The following slides give a snap shot of the 5 students in my extension group and their responses to a level 3 and level 4 maths problem. I thoroughly enjoyed watching and listening to this group as they expressed their thinking. This definitely served as a reminder that although I have a target group, I also have a wide range of learners who ALL need to be pushed and catered for.
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