Case Scenario and Estimation

Today, Dr Yeap gave a case scenario of a child named Tim who cannot count. As a teacher, what are some of the strategies can one work with him so that he is able to count?

1.      Get him to rote count together. If he can’t say it, perhaps teacher might want to say it out loud first then get him to repeat.

2.      Give Tim concrete materials to work with. Here, the teacher can do a 1 to 1 corresponding with him.

3.      Teacher might want to suggest aid or advice to parents to do the necessary follow up at home as well.

We did another problem sum that is to estimate the number of paper clips in the bottles.  Dr Yeap gave us a bottle that contained 3 paper clips as a benchmark to do a comparison with the other bottles that contained x number of paperclips. Benchmark is an important concept and is best used in fraction.

So, how did I guess the number of paperclips in the cans…

ü  I did so by moving the bottle back and forth and shaking it from left to right

ü  Listening attentively to the sounds of the paperclips.

ü  Estimate the number of paperclips in the other bottles by making comparison using the bottle that contained the 3 paperclips as the benchmark.