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Teaching Primary-Grade Mathematics Skills with Calculators Author(s): Joan Spiker and Ray Kurtz Source: The Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 34, No. 6, FOCUS ISSUE: CALCULATORS (February 1987), pp. 24-27 Published by: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41193091 . Accessed: 12/06/2014 14:00 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Arithmetic Teacher. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 91.229.248.152 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 14:00:52 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: FOCUS ISSUE: CALCULATORS || Teaching Primary-Grade Mathematics Skills with Calculators

Teaching Primary-Grade Mathematics Skills with CalculatorsAuthor(s): Joan Spiker and Ray KurtzSource: The Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 34, No. 6, FOCUS ISSUE: CALCULATORS (February 1987),pp. 24-27Published by: National Council of Teachers of MathematicsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41193091 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 14:00

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to The Arithmetic Teacher.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 91.229.248.152 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 14:00:52 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: FOCUS ISSUE: CALCULATORS || Teaching Primary-Grade Mathematics Skills with Calculators

Fig. 1

Teaching Primary-Grade Mathematics Skills with Calculators

By Joan Spiker and Ray Kurtz

When colleagues see calculators in my first-grade classroom they ask, "How will they be used in the first grade?" Professional pride dictates that I come up with the best answer possible. I tell them I am going to teach (1) what calculators are, (2) what calculators do, and (3) how cal- culators are used. Children should be- come comfortable using these tools. The goal is to teach and reinforce the objectives currently required in the first-grade curriculum.

Since the calculator is one of the tools of our era, it should be intro- duced in the primary grades. Using calculators in the classroom offers children the opportunity to "grow up" with technology. The four-func- tion solar-powered calculator is an ideal choice because it is inexpensive. It is important to place calculators in the hands of every student to involve them in technology. In this way they do not have to wait to participate, which is counter to most small-group models used in grades K-2.

The activities in this article have been developed and used in a first- grade classroom with twenty-eight children, one teacher, and a teacher's aide. The calculator activities proved to be an exciting component of the standard curriculum. The children

Joan Spiker is a first-grade teacher at North- view Elementary, Manhattan, KS 66502. Ray Kurtz is a professor at Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66502. They are both commit- ted to enhancing classroom activities through the use of technology.

were thrilled to use calculators. Math- ematics time became more interesting for the children when they knew cal- culator activities were to be done. These were a unique supplement to textbook mathematics.

In covering the first topic, "What calculators are," we discussed the needed vocabulary. The word calcu- lator was written on the chalkboard, discussed, and repeated in unison. The cover of the calculator was opened and the light-powered solar calculator was described. The key- board was identified. The children were shown how to enter their tele-

phone numbers (without dashes) and how to clear the display.

A class discussion was held of the second topic, "What calculators do." Even though the children knew what calculators were, very few had a grasp of what they do. One said, "My dad has one in his checkbook." Another student said, "My mother used one when she shopped for groceries." The class discussed how the calculator would add, subtract, and "remem- ber" lots of numbers. The children were encouraged to find out other possible uses and report back.

The third topic, "How calculators are used," took most of the classroom time. Activities were designed to teach and reinforce listening skills; the meaning and use of numbers; reading of number words; application of the "greater than," "less than," and place- value concepts; and prob- lem solving. Many of the activities involve worksheets that can be used with individuals, small groups, or large-group instructional settings.

Introductory Activities

Keying

Distribute calculators and introduce the following vocabulary words: cal- culator, keyboard, and display. Do location exercises with a large key- board chart. Locate each number, key it in, and clear. Practice entering num- bers as shown on the fingering chart (fig. 1). Point out that pencil erasers

fcñSjmTQRSl

24 Arithmetic Teacher

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Page 3: FOCUS ISSUE: CALCULATORS || Teaching Primary-Grade Mathematics Skills with Calculators

should not be used to key because the erasures will fall into the keys. Use of the eraser can be compared to the use of only one finger in typing. Locate the function keys 0, 0> and 0- Practice some basic addition and sub- traction problems. Allow students free time with partners to become familiar and comfortable with the cal- culators.

Enrichment: Dictate random num- bers from 1 to 100 to be keyed in by students. To check, point to a large hundred chart or write the number on the chalkboard. Try numbers beyond 100.

Electronic addition and subtraction

Practice calculator skills with teacher- made worksheets on simple and diffi- cult addition and subtraction prob- lems.

Enrichment: Student should write their own problems for addition and subtraction practice and use the cal- culator to solve them. Encourage stu- dents to use multiple addends in addi- tion problems, for example:

303020? or 701020O0403B?

Patterns

Demonstrate skip counting using the 0 key. Record the patterns on a grid:

iE iBBBBBBB (by ones)

(by twos)

(by fives)

(by tens) Enrichment: Have the students

work in pairs and experiment with other patterns, such as 100 0 100. Record these patterns on a large post- er for all to see. The title of the poster might be "Wow! Look at These Pat- terns!" (fig. 2). These posters generat- ed a great deal of enthusiasm and set up an important link between home

Fig. 2

and school when parents and siblings became involved.

Skill Lessons The order of things

Objective: To develop the concept of the commutative property of addition

Sample activities

Solve these problems:

9020 ? 2090?

Then construct similar equations:

Enrichment: Experiment with con- struction of more difficult equations:

500 0 100 0 ? 100 0 500 0 ?

200 0 100 0? 100 0200 0? 600 0 300 0 ? 300 0 600 0 ?

Greater than or less than

Objective: To develop the concepts of greater than and less than

Sample activities:

a. Use the (calculator key sequence 0 1 to find a number that is one greater than each of the following: * 72 99 81 19 35 40

b. Use the codes 0 1 and FI 1 to find a number that is one more than and one less than each of the following: _ - 29 94 75. 31

_ 100

Enrichment: With the same format find numbers that are two more than and two less than a given number, five more than and five less than, and so on. Move on to more difficult num- bers, such as these:

324 710 995 1000 1005 (example)

February 1987 25

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Page 4: FOCUS ISSUE: CALCULATORS || Teaching Primary-Grade Mathematics Skills with Calculators

Fig. 3 A challenging variation is to give the three numbers and ask students how to get from one number to the next one: 705 710 715 (Answer: five less than and five greater than 710)

Circle the larger number in each pair. Use the calculator to add the three circled numbers. Check your sum.

6 9

3 1

4 3

16

Circle the smaller number in each pair. Use the calculator to add the three circled numbers. Check your sum.

4 7

32 30

9 11

43

Guess and check

Objective: To develop the guess-and- check strategy

Sample activities

Supply the correct sign, I+Iorf-I :

7D3B106D6B0

Supply the missing addends:

3 El? 020 7 |T]? 015 ? El 4 B io

Circle three numbers with a sum of 11:

7 2 13

Circle the three numbers with a sum of 19:

8 4 3 8

Circle three numbers with a sum of 12:

3 4 7 2

Enrichment: Use the guess-and- check strategy to determine your an- swer. Circle it. Then check your an- swer on the calculator. (See fig. 3.)

The sum of 29 and 10 is about

20 30 40.

The sum of 50 and 18 is about

50 60 70.

The sum of 41 and 30 is about

60 70 80.

Number sense 1

Objective: To develop the foundation of estimation (counting on)

Sample activities

Find more than two addends to make combinations for these numbers:

9 3[+] 1 [+1 5 FR 0 1 [+l6[+] 1 [+1 1

42

100

Enrichment: Try starting at the first

number and count down four times with your calculator to reach the last number.

100 B 30 El 20 El 10 El 8 0 32

Problem solving Objective: To develop problem solv- ing. Calculators allow the students to focus on a process in story problems, which alleviates computational frus- tration.

Sample activities

Construct story problems and solve them with the calculator:

Jim had an aquarium with 7 goldfish, 21 guppies, and 3 angelfish. The gup- pies had 20 babies. How many fish were in the aquarium? Susan had $5.00. She then received an allowance of $4.00 and earned $1.00 helping her mother clean the house. Would she be able to buy a record that costs $7.95?

Enrichment: Play "store" using calculators as cash registers. Use ac- tual items, catalog pictures, or gro- cery ads (fig. 4).

26 Arithmetic Teacher

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Page 5: FOCUS ISSUE: CALCULATORS || Teaching Primary-Grade Mathematics Skills with Calculators

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Ordinals

Objective: To develop the concept of ordinal numbers

Sample activity Add the first, third, and sixth numbers in these rows: Check your sums.

10 9 3 0 20 15 4 8 28

40 11 6 1 10 2 0 7 48

Number sense 2

Objective: To develop number sense in addition and subtraction

Sample activity

Key in ¡35] . Add two tens. Now you have . Key in [57] . Take away all the tens. Now you have . Key in [Ï9] . Add four tens. Now you have .

Key in |99] . Take away all the ones. Now you have .

Number words

Objective: To help students recognize number words

Sample activity With calculators and cards with num- ber words on the front and numerals on the back, students read the name, key it in, and turn the card over to check. (See fig. 5.)

| nine |^>9 | seventy-twoj^^y 72

| forty 1qí40 I eighty-four j^> 84

Summary The question facing primary school educators is not "Should we use cal- culators?" but "How should we best use calculators more efficiently and more enthusiastically to meet the ob- jectives of the existing curriculum?" Calculators should not be thought of as a shortcut or a crutch or used in lieu of children's learning the basic facts. Rather, they should be used in developing computational skills. Most important is that by using calculators, children will be at ease with technolo- gy and be able to move into the com- puter age. m

February 1987 27

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