Glastonbury Public Schools Mathematics Department
Learning Strategies
As always, our goal is for students to be independent. We want students to be able to assess where they are in their learning, what they need to do to learn, and make the choices they need to make in order to be successful. Graphing organizers and other strategies are so that students can be independent. Eventually students choose their own strategies and create it independently.
Certainly, one of the most important parts of learning math is to maintain a positive attitude. The positive attitude actually opens up our brains so that we can think better. Here is an article that supports the importance of our attitude toward math and learning.
Graphic Organizers
Sometimes it's hard to line up numbers and symbols in math problems. This grid of boxes can help.
The Frayer Models can help you learn new words or concepts in math. You can use this version of the model to break down a word or concept.
A word problem can be easier to solve when it is broken into pieces. Here is one graphic organizer for breaking down a problem. (Remember that "key words" are at times deceiving.)
This graphic organizer helps you find the ordered pairs in an organized way.
Sometimes a graphic organizer can really help us to work slowly and step by step.
Learning Strategies
Use Colors
Our brains remember colors better than black and white. Write important words and pictures using a variety of colors.
3 Way Flash Cards
By folding an index card in two places, we can create a flash card that helps us to connect the vocabulary word, the drawing, the definition and an image. Visualizing is extremely important in learning concepts completely. (See the video below.)