About the Making Meaning for Operations Module
As with all seven Developing Mathematical Ideas modules, the Making Meaning for Operations (MMO) module consists of a casebook and a facilitator’s package with embedded videos. To conduct a MMO seminar, each participant needs a casebook; facilitators need entry to the online MMO module, which gives them access to the casebook and the facilitator's package, which includes the videos.
The casebook includes an introduction and eight chapters. Participants prepare for each session by reading one chapter of the casebook. For the first session, participants should read both chapter 1 and the introduction to the casebook itself. The first seven chapters contain cases written by teachers of kindergarten through grade 8, relating classroom discussion and describing the thinking of their own students. Chapter 8 is an essay that provides an overview of the mathematical ideas of the whole seminar.
The facilitator’s package includes a session-by-session account for each of the eight sessions. Components of the facilitator’s guide include the following:
- An overview of each session to be distributed to participants
- Detailed agendas that describe the timing and activities of the session and list the goals for each discussion
- Video cases of real-life classrooms and one-to-one interviews of students
- Handouts, such as math activity sheets, focus questions, and homework assignments, to be downloaded and duplicated for use in the seminar
- Maxine’s Journal, a narrative account of the session from the point of view of a facilitator, including examples of participants’ writing and facilitator responses
Overview
This section summarizes the main mathematical themes of the session and provides a chart that indicates the order of the activities along with suggestions for grouping discussions and the timing for each activity.
Facilitator’s Preparation
This segment includes a checklist of readings and materials for the facilitator to complete and to prepare before leading the session. In this edition, mathematical background notes on topics specific to that session have been added to provide insights on particular mathematical concepts that the facilitator can draw upon during discussions.
Detailed Agenda
These pages describe each activity of a session and the amount of time recommended for both small group and whole-group work. Within an activity you will find suggested questions that can be used to shape each discussion.
Video Cases
While written cases allow users to examine student thinking at their own pace and to return as needed to ponder and analyze particular passages, the video clips offer real student voices in real time and provide rich images of classrooms organized around student thinking. The video cases show a wide variety of classroom settings, with children and teachers of different ethnic and language groups. Videos can be previewed online through the link on the facilitator’s checklist page for each session; they also are embedded in the in-class facilitator agendas for easy access during a session.
Video Summary
For sessions that include a video component, there is a summary of the video case or cases. These summaries are not full transcripts; rather they are brief narrative descriptions of the video content.
Handouts
These include focus questions to guide the small- and whole-group discussions of the casebook chapters, math activities that participants work on to deepen their own mathematical understandings, and homework sheets that describe the reading and writing assignments for each session. A link to full-size handouts for a session, ready for downloading and copying, is listed in the facilitator’s checklist for each session.
Maxine’s Journal
This is a session-by-session narrative account of a seminar written from the point of view of a facilitator (Maxine). For each session, Maxine records small- and whole-group discussions, considers comments made by participants, and shares her own thoughts, questions, concerns, and decisions. Reading “Maxine’s Journal” as preparation for a session allows facilitators to envision the main mathematical issues that are likely to emerge, provides examples of questions that facilitators can use to drive discussion, and presents images of ways facilitators and participants might interact. In addition, “Maxine’s Journal” includes examples of participants’ written work for the portfolio assignments, Maxine’s responses, and her comments about what she was trying to accomplish with those responses.