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Elizabeth Troup
12/08/2018
Introduction:
Brandon is a third grade student at a suburban elementary school in the Ohio Valley. He
is a smart child who struggles in math at times. His teacher explained that he does not always do
his homework when he goes home. Before working with him for the math tutoring project, the
tutor worked with Brandon for America Reads. She took the time to work on his homework with
him for math and to work with him in other content areas as needed. Brandon often works in his
head, and does not write anything down until he has an answer. He can also become frustrated
with himself when he does not understand a concept, and as a result shuts down by putting his
The other student that the tutor worked with is a child named Kylen who is in transitional
kindergarten at the same school as Brandon. His teacher expressed a desire for him to receive
extra help, so the tutor worked with him for America Reads as well as the tutoring project. She
worked with him on counting numbers 0-20 and also writing the numbers. Kylen is a sweet
child who works well, however he is always pulled from recess for tutoring so he is reluctant to
Brandon’s demeanor was quiet but he was willing to work and it did not take him very
long to finish the test. His strengths are in addition, I would say. However, there were several
concepts he was unfamiliar with, in particular multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals.
He did not seem to recognize the multiplication and division signs. With the decimals, he treated
it like it was an extra number. Unfortunately since it was a screening test, I could not explain the
concepts or help him solve the problems. I was still encouraging and I told him it’s okay and to
just solve the problems that he did understand. His scores for each section are as follows:
Procedures: 1.5, sequences: 1.2, simple: 1.4, complex: 2.6, manipulation: 4.2, zero: 2.3,
2.9 in subtraction, a zero in multiplication, and a zero in division. His total basic score was a 3.0.
The goals I will establish throughout the learning sessions are to teach him the concepts he is
learning in class in order to reinforce what he is learning and to ensure understanding as well as
tutoring him in concepts he is not yet familiar with, such as that of multiplication and division. I
will teach him using methods that we learned in class and from the book.
When I’m tutoring Brandon I will also keep in mind the content curriculum focal points
for third grade, particularly that of number operations and algebra. I will work with Brandon
ways of multiplying such as skip counting, using arrays, and using known facts. I will utilize
both invented methods and standard algorithm for multiplying. I will also help him understand
multiplication through use of the commutative property, for even if numbers are arranged
differently they will still have the same product. I will also introduce smaller numbers for
multiplication before bigger numbers are introduced, so that it is easier when he is just learning
I will also utilize the website Desmos for one of my tutoring lessons. Using technology
lesson. Instead of Brandon having to listen to me explain the math, he will be working
completely on his own. I will be there of course to answer any questions or to clarify any
misunderstandings, but by using Desmos Brandon can take charge of his own learning to solve
the problems presented to him. The Desmos lesson will present concepts and offer a variety of
involves building on prior knowledge when presenting new material, and all my sessions will
include building on prior knowledge, since math in particular is a subject that accesses prior
previous conceptions in order to learn something new. I will also have Brandon justify his
methods for why he solved a problem the way he did and to have him explain his thinking
process. This involves metacognition, which is thinking about one’s own thinking. I will also be
sure to find multiple ways of explaining concepts, for one strategy might be easier to understand
than another. Using a constructivist approach I think will be especially beneficial to Brandon
when I am tutoring him, because he will be the main focus since I will be working with him one-
wanted to work with him on his homework as well as the concept he had learned in class. His
teacher informed me that he hadn’t really paid attention during class so I wanted to reteach the
concept to him, which was multiplication. The common core state standard I used for this lesson
the total number of objects in 5 groups of 7 objects each. For example, describe a context in
which a total number of objects can be expressed as 5 × 7.” When I had given him the
assessment, he didn’t know what multiplication was, so this was a perfect opportunity to help
him learn a new concept. I really struggled to engage Brandon because unfortunately he was not
responsive at all because he was exhausted. He didn’t communicate with me at all verbally, so I
asked him to write down for me how he was feeling and he wrote “sleepy”. I still tried my best
to explain multiplication to him by drawing diagrams, such as 3 groups of 6 equals 3x6 and then
that that is the same as 3+3+3+3+3+3 (this was one of his homework problems). I also used
smaller numbers to illustrate but I wasn’t receiving feedback from my tutee. I think on
Wednesday I’m going to try to use other multiplication strategies with him and I’m really hoping
Tutoring Reflection #2
10/24/2018
Today was a refreshing change for Brandon, because he was more interactive. He did
communicate with me verbally and his teacher informed me that he was more attentive today
seemed to grasp the concept of multiplication better than last time, however I think he is still
drawn as stick figures and each time I added four more to represent another group as the
numbers went up. I also told him that each time we are simply adding four more. After we
finished filling that out, we worked on some problems in his book that showed how addition
relates to multiplication.
Tutoring Reflection #3
10/31/2018
Today I worked with Kylen, who is in transitional kindergarten, on numbers 0-20. The
goal was to practice writing them as well as being able to count up to 20. The common core
state standard I used was “CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.A.3 Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent
a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).”
I had a marker board with a marker and eraser and crayons to use as counters. I helped Kylen
count the numbers as he wrote them and if he got stuck I helped him find the next number. I also
taught him the concept of any of the numbers over 10 being “10 and-X” such as “15 is the same
as 10 and 5 more”. I counted out 10 crayons and put them as a group and then counted the
crayons after that. After making it to 20, I wrote a 10 frame on the whiteboard and asked Kylen
to put a certain number of crayons in the 10 frame. I would then have him fill it with more
crayons to introduce the beginnings of addition. After practicing with our 10 frame, I had him
practice counting even more by asking him to tell me how many green crayons there were, and
then I had him count how many pink, blue, and purple crayons there were.
Tutoring Reflection #4
10/31/2018
This was the first time I got to work with Brandon this week since he was testing on
Monday. Since he is still grasping multiplication, I decided to keep working with him on that,
arrays, and I showed him the difference between the rows and how many there were in each row,
and that the only difference between the problems with the same product (example, 3 x 2 and 2
x3) is that the rows and the number in each row are reversed, but the product is the same. I also
practiced writing arrays from multiplication sentences. Some of the multiplication facts we
worked with included 4x2, 6x2, 4x5, 2x3, and 5x2. I think that the arrays are helpful for
Tutoring Reflection #5
11/05/2018
I worked with Kylen today again on his numbers. The standard used was:
quantity that is one larger.” The goal was to count numbers on dice and be able to discern the
number that is one more and one less than the numbers on the dice. We used soft, large (but
small enough to roll) dice. Kylen rolled the dice and then counted the numbers individually, and
then all together. I would then ask him which number comes before the number rolled, such as
“what number comes before 6?” and then which number comes after that, “what number comes
after 6?” I would also use the terms, which number is one less than 6 or one more than 6. He
would often say the number that came after instead of the one before, so I would then
demonstrate on the dice by covering up one of the dots and having him count the dice again. I
also had Kylen practice writing his numbers using markers and a white board.
11/07/2018
Tutoring Reflection #6
Today I worked with Kylen again using the soft dice, but this time I added counters as a
manipulative to pair with the dice. The objective was to read the numbers on the dice and then
count out the corresponding number of counters in order to deepen his understanding of these
numbers. The standard used for this lesson was: “ CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.B.5 Count to
answer "how many?" questions about as many as 20 things arranged in a line, a rectangular
array, or a circle, or as many as 10 things in a scattered configuration; given a number from 1-20,
count out that many objects.” Kylen enjoyed using the counters in addition to rolling the dice.
Sometimes he rolled multiple times because he wanted to get specific numbers, so we ended up
11/14/2018
Tutoring Reflection #7
Today I worked with Kylen again using counters and the soft dice. The objective of this
lesson was to reinforce counting numbers 1-12 and comparing numbers that are greater than and
less than. The standard used was: “CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.K.CC.C.6: Identify whether the number of
objects in one group is greater than, less than, or equal to the number of objects in another
group, e.g., by using matching and counting strategies.” I worked with Kylen at his desk in
the classroom and he rolled the numbers on the dice and then counted the total number from both
the dice. I then had him count out corresponding counters. I separated the counters by the
numbers on the dice, such as a 5 and 3. I then asked him which had more and asked him why.
11/19/2018
Tutoring Reflection #8
objective for this lesson was to find easier ways to multiply bigger problems. I showed Brandon
how to use different ways to multiply, for instance skip counting and multiplying easier numbers
such as splitting 6x4 into 3x4 twice and then adding the products. I had some problems with
Brandon again because he wasn’t responding to me at all. I’m finding that perhaps Brandon may
have math anxiety since he seems to shut down when he doesn’t understand something. From an
article I read, it is important to stay positive about math in order to reduce math anxiety.
Through all my sessions with him, I am positive about the math. (7 Reasons). I tried to see if he
wanted to do any warm ups such as jumping jacks and I stood up and invited him to do jumping
jacks with me but he remained seated. The only way I was able to get him to respond was to
write down for me how he was feeling, to which he replied “I don’t get this”. I explained the
strategies again to him. By the end of our lesson, he said he understood it “a little bit”. I wish I
could have had more time with him today but unfortunately I couldn’t have kept him for longer
than a half an hour at his school. I am glad that I was able to help him understand it a little more
at least. Our next and final lesson will be using Desmos so I hope that by applying technology
Tutoring Reflection #9
Today I had my Desmos lesson with Brandon. The standard I used was
problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities, e.g., by using
drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.” The
objective for the lesson was to reinforce the strategies of using known facts and skip counting to
solve multiplication problems. Mrs. Ballatto graciously allowed me to use her computer so that
Brandon could work on Desmos. I sat with him and let him work on the slides and I was there
for clarifications and help if he needed any. I think it went well because Brandon was engaged
the entire time and answered all the questions correctly. One thing I will say though is that he
mostly stuck with using arrays instead of taking advantage of the skip counting and known facts
strategies. Overall, I believe that the lesson went well. Brandon was able to practice math
without becoming frustrated and he also had time to think about why he solved the problems a
certain way and what he used to solve them. The Desmos lesson I created provided plenty of
12/05/2018
The objective for this lesson was to understand the relationship between addition and
multiplication and to be able to select or make proper equations in order to solve story problems.
The common core state standard used for this lesson was CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.A.4:
Determine the unknown whole number in a multiplication or division equation relating three
whole numbers. For example, determine the unknown number that makes the equation true in
each of the equations 8 × ? = 48, 5 = _ ÷ 3, 6 × 6 = ?. I worked with Brandon to select the
having trouble understanding so I illustrated the problem by showing him what the unknown
means and why we were trying to find it. We then worked on finding alternate equations to
solve problems. This lesson was different because we were not necessarily trying to find
answers, but instead build an equation. Brandon struggled through some of the lesson, but I still
helped him as best I could to find alternate explanations when he didn’t understand.
Diagnostic Screening Test: Math Scores
Procedures: 1.5
Sequences: 1.2
Simple: 1.4
Complex: 2.6
Manipulation: 4.2
Zero: 2.3
Decimals: 0
Simple Fractions: 0
Manipulation of Fractions: 0
Addition: 3.0
Subtraction: 2.9
Multiplication: 0
Division: 0
Ishii, D.K. (2003). Constructivist views of learning in science and mathematics. ERIC digest.
Van De Walle, J.A., Karp, K.S., & Bay-Williams, J.M. (2019). Elementary and middle school
(2003-2015). 7 reasons behind math anxiety and how to prevent it. Retrieved from:
https://www.homeschoolmath.net/teaching/motivate.php