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Task Centre News

August 2009

455 tasks placed in schools during July.
315,760 placed since the project began in July 1992.

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In this month's News you will find:

MOTM Reports

Additions to Task Cameos

Buddy System

Tasks of the Month
Task 93, Leading The Blind
Task 94, Crossing The Desert

Note Paper
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  • MOTM Reports
    Our most recent Maths on the Move workshop day was in Shepparton for Hume Region. Their chosen title was Fractions in a Fraction of the Time. Comments from the day included:
    • The Mixed Media Model was excellent. The most valuable idea I felt was threading. This day gave me numerous ways to change my teaching craft.
    • Differentiating of these tasks to meet the needs of each of my students was very valuable. We hear this all the time, but to see it was invaluable.
    and you can see more in the Link List below.

    Now is the time to be looking ahead for 2010 professional development. Maths on the Move offers a huge range of programs, one of which is likely to address your needs; and if none of them seem to, we will work with you to design the program you want.

    If your school is in part of the country where professional development days are specified by government, you most definitely should be looking ahead. For example, January 29th 2010 is already booked.

    More sessions are planned for this year, including one for Lake Cargelligo Central School on the last day of the year. Some people are really keen!

  • Additions to Task Cameos
    These task just got richer through the inclusion of extra material in their Task Cameo. It's time to revisit:
    • Task 30, Truth Tiles ... an adaptation of the task for early years children.
    • Task 31, Cube Nets ... addition of a reproducible sheet with the net of a special pyramid; three of these pyramids make a cube.
    • Task 32, Tetrahedron Nets ... addition of a reproducible sheet with two nets of a special object; four of these objects make a tetrahedron.
    See Link List below.

  • Buddy System
    Tasks have always been advertised as suitable for Years 2 - 10. The first life of a task is as an independent problem for two students to tackle as if working like a mathematician. The textual demands of almost all task cards make it less likely that this independence can be achieved in the early years of school. Thus the Year 2 lower limit. However, creative teachers have seen that many tasks in our set can be adapted for infants. Sometimes they are used to stimulate whole class or small group investigation. Sometimes teachers use a Buddy System with a Year 6 'tutor' supporting a younger pair. This model has been added to the Models & Structures section of the Integrating Tasks link. See Link List below.

  • Tasks of the Month
    Two new cameos this month.
    • Leading The Blind challenges students visual imagery and supports the development of precise mathematical language. It also has a place in a social education unit related to visual impairment.
    • Crossing The Desert is a surprising challenge because of its multiple solutions. It requires the application of reasoning skills and problem solving strategies largely free of traditional mathematics content. The task encourages discussion, refinement and agreement about the parameters of the problem.
    Leading The Blind      Crossing The Desert
    Click a photo to access its cameo, or access all current cameos through the Link List below.

  • Did you miss the July News?
    If so you missed information about:
    1. National Rugby League playing board added to Task 1, Final Eight, so this task is now equally usable for both NRL and AFL.
    2. Addition of Task 239, Money Charts, to the collection.
    3. Iceberg Information about two Tasks of the Month (Tasks 91, 92)
    4. ...and more...

Keep smiling,
Doug.

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Previous News

June 2009 ... May 2009 ... April 2009 ... March 2009 ... February 2009 ... Dec.2008/Jan.2009
November 2008 ... October 2008 ... September 2008 ... August 2008 ... July 2008
May/June 2008 ... April 2008 ... March 2008 ... February 2008 ... Dec.2007/ Jan.2008
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November 2005 ... October 2005 ... September 2005 ... August 2005 ... July 2005
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November 2004 ... October 2004 ... September 2004 ... August 2004 ... July 2004
June 2004 ... April/May 2004 ... March 2004 ... February 2004
December 2003 ... October 2003 ... August/September 2003 ... July 2003
June 2003 ... April/May 2003 ... March 2003 ... February 2003 ... January 2003
December 2002 ... November 2002 ... October 2002 ... September 2002 ... March 2002
December 2001 ... October 2001

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