Thursday, March 19, 2020

A Student Lesson Plan for Writing Story Problems

A Student Lesson Plan for Writing Story Problems This lesson gives students practice with story problems by teaching them how to write their own and solve the problems of their classmates. The plan is designed for third-grade students. It requires 45 minutes and additional class periods. Objective Students will use addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to write and solve story problems. Common Core Standard  Met This lesson plan satisfies the following Common Core standard in the Operations and Algebraic Thinking category  and the Representing  and Solving Problems Involving Multiplication and Division subcategory. This lesson meets standard 3.OA.3:  Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word 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. Materials White paperColoring pencils or crayonsPencil Key Terms Story problemsSentencesAdditionSubtractionMultiplicationDivision Lesson Introduction If your class uses a textbook, choose a story problem from a recent chapter and invite students to come up and solve it. Mention to them that with their imaginations, they could write much better problems, and will do so in todays lesson. Instruction Tell students that the learning target for this lesson is to be able to write interesting and challenging story problems for their classmates to solve.Model one problem for them, using their input. Begin by asking for two student names to use in the problem. Desiree and Sam will be our examples.What are Desiree and Sam doing? Going to the pool? Getting lunch at a restaurant? Going grocery shopping? Have the students set the scene as you record the information.Bring the math in when they decide what is going on in the story. If Desiree and Sam are getting lunch in a restaurant, maybe they want four pieces of pizza, and each piece is $3.00. If they are grocery shopping, maybe they want six apples at $1.00 each, or  two boxes of crackers at $3.50 each.Once the students have discussed their scenarios, model how to write a question as an  equation. In the above example, if you want to find the total cost of the food, you may write 4 pieces of pizza X $3.00 X, where X represents the t otal cost of the food. Give students time to experiment with these problems. Its very common for them to create an excellent scenario, but then make mistakes in the equation. Continue working on these until they are able to create their own and solve the problems that their classmates create. Assessment For homework, ask students to write their own story problem. For extra credit, or just for fun, ask students to involve family members and get everyone at home to write a problem, too. Share as a class the next day- its fun when the parents get involved. Evaluation The evaluation for this lesson can and should be ongoing. Keep these story problems bound in a three-ring binder in a learning center. Continue adding to it as students write more and more complex problems. Make copies of the story problems every so often, and collect these documents in a student portfolio. The problems are sure to show the students growth over time.

Monday, March 2, 2020

Is ACT Aspire An Accurate Predictor of Your Real ACT Score

Is ACT Aspire An Accurate Predictor of Your Real ACT Score SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips In 2014, the makers of the ACT rolled out a new pre-ACT test: the ACT Aspire. Unlike the ACT Plan, which was given just to tenth graders, the ACT Aspire is meant to be given to 3rd through 11th graders, with the goal of testing Common Core standards as well as ACT readiness. The ACT Aspire has its own scoring scale, content, and goals compared to the ACT. But it provides a predicted ACT score based on your performance. So is that predicted score accurate? We’ll give you the answer. History: The Plan Test Before we get into the details of Aspire, it’s helpful to know about the ACT’s old pre-ACT test: the ACT Plan. It was an ACT-style test for tenth graders, shorter in length than the ACT, but with similar questions. Like the ACT, the Plan was a traditional paper and pencil multiple choice test. It did not include a writing section like the ACT Plus Writing does. The ACT Plan was essentially considered the ACT’s version of the PSAT – a shorter, less-difficult version of the same test. ACT also offered the Explore test for 8th and 9th graders. Explore was also a version of the ACT, but shorter and designed to predict the future success of middle school students. The Plan was scored between 1-32, whereas the ACT is scored between 1-36. It predicted an ACT score between 1 and 5 points higher than the Plan score. Table 1. Score predictions via ACT Plan. For example, a plan score of 32 mapped to an ACT score between 33 and 36. These predictions were by no means set in stone. Some students would score higher than the PLAN predicted because they didn’t really try on the Plan and took it without studying, whereas they would study for the ACT. It’s easy to find archived discussions online about Plan scores and ACT scores, with many students reporting they outscored their Plan predictions by 5-10 points. Sometimes, students would also fail to meet their Plan predictions, since the Plan doesn’t have the same depth as the ACT, especially on the math section (there was less plane geometry and no trigonometry on the Plan). The old ACT Plan website itself says to â€Å"Keep in mind that these scores are only estimates, not guarantees. Improving your study habits and taking more challenging courses are likely to improve your ACT scores.† So even with a test very similar to the ACT, the estimated ACT score was just that – an estimation. So what happens with something as different as the ACT Aspire? What Exactly Is ACT Aspire? Aspire is a new test for third through eleventh graders designed to assess the new Common Core standards and college readiness, with alignment to the ACT subject areas. That means it tests Math, Reading, English, Writing, and Science. Aspire can be taken with computers or on paper, though paper is more expensive, so most schools are using the computer-based test. This is different than the ACT, which is still given on paper. Aspire is still quite new. It rolled out in 2014 and schools are adjusting to the change. It’s more expensive than the Plan, and many schools are still new to giving computer-based standardized tests. Unlike the ACT, Aspire doesn’t just have multiple-choice questions. There are short writing responses, longer responses including essays and narratives, questions that have you construct an argument or timeline, math questions that have you explain why someone else’s work is incorrect, and lists that you have to select all of the correct answers from. To see sample Aspire questions, visit this ACT site to access login information for the all the test sections and grade levels you're interested in. ACT is hoping Aspire will become the national standard for testing college readiness and Common Core standards, similar to other achievement tests like the PARCC. How Is ACT Aspire Scored? Aspire is not graded like the Plan with an ACT-like scale. Instead, it assigns scores between 400and 460 for each subject. We have included the current score ranges for each subject below. English This score scale lists the score ranges for each grade from 3 to 10. Note that while the bottom of the range is consistent, Aspire expects students to steadily improve over time as they acquire more knowledge in each grade. Via ACT Aspire. Math The ACT Aspire website also provides score benchmarks for each grade, in addition to the score ranges. You can see the benchmarks for each grade for the Math test below. Via ACT Aspire. Reading Via ACT Aspire. Science Via ACT Aspire. Writing Via ACT Aspire. These score scales are obviously quite different from the ACT's 1-36 range, and even the Plan's 1-32 range. However, the ACT still uses those scores to map to future ACT scores, based on when you took the test. For example, they would predict a higher future ACT score if an eigth grader earned a 425 versus a tenth grader, since an eight grader has more time to learn and improve. Since Aspire is new, there isn’t a ton of data yet to see if their ACT score predictions match up with what students actually earn. It will take a few years of students taking Aspire and then going on to take the ACT as juniors and seniors to get a sense of how accurately Aspire maps to ACT scores. Still, we will examine some of the data ACT has released to give you a rough idea of how they predict scores will match up – and help you interpret a score you have already received! ACT Data Sample ACT has released a data sample of 50 students, showing their Aspire scores in tenth grade, and their ACT scores in eleventh grade. It's just one sample, but we can use it to start exploring how Aspire scores translate to ACT scores. Aspire English ACT English Aspire Math ACT Math Aspire Reading ACT Reading Aspire Science ACT Science 411 8 411 11 410 13 414 10 411 17 414 15 413 14 415 17 413 16 417 19 414 15 415 16 419 14 417 16 415 16 416 17 419 10 418 16 415 20 417 20 422 12 419 19 415 19 417 16 423 11 420 15 416 12 419 15 424 10 420 16 419 17 419 19 424 10 421 22 420 17 419 17 425 14 421 17 420 22 421 18 425 15 421 15 421 22 421 21 425 17 422 19 421 19 421 22 426 16 422 20 422 23 422 22 427 19 422 17 422 19 424 18 427 12 423 16 422 17 424 19 428 21 424 22 422 19 424 17 428 20 424 16 423 14 425 17 428 22 425 15 424 23 427 21 428 21 425 18 424 21 427 13 430 17 426 16 424 18 427 18 430 20 426 17 425 16 427 23 432 19 427 22 426 24 427 24 433 21 428 15 426 16 427 20 434 16 428 23 427 18 428 15 434 22 429 23 427 16 428 19 435 23 430 20 427 18 429 21 436 21 430 19 427 18 429 23 436 22 431 26 427 25 429 13 437 22 431 25 427 23 429 25 437 20 432 23 428 22 430 21 437 26 432 17 428 26 430 23 437 21 432 24 429 20 430 25 438 26 434 23 429 26 431 20 438 23 434 22 429 23 431 19 439 25 434 21 429 19 431 24 439 23 437 28 429 31 433 20 439 32 437 26 429 22 434 26 439 24 437 19 431 21 434 23 440 28 437 23 432 28 435 28 440 31 438 28 432 29 435 24 441 26 438 28 432 30 436 28 442 25 441 27 432 21 436 23 442 28 442 26 434 28 437 27 442 24 443 29 434 23 439 24 443 24 443 27 434 25 440 30 443 33 443 28 434 33 440 25 444 26 444 28 435 31 441 30 447 31 446 32 435 31 442 29 448 32 448 33 435 32 442 33 448 35 455 30 435 34 443 34 Table 2. ACT Aspire to ACT Score Equivalencies As the Aspire score increases, the ACT score generally increases, though there is no steady pattern or prediction for what kind of Aspire score will lead to a certain ACT score. For example, in the English scores, both a 440 and 447 Aspire score led to a 31 ACT, and 428, 434, 436 and 437 all mapped to a 22 ACT. From these tables, we can observe the following general ranges: Aspire 400-420: ACT 1-16 Aspire 420-430: ACT 12-24 Aspire 430-440: ACT 20-32 Aspire 440+: ACT 26-36 These ranges are just estimates. For example, note that there were no scores higher than 440 for the Reading section, though ACT scores in the 30s were still reported. Obviously, this isn’t nearly as neat as the old Plan predictions, where you could simply add 1 to 5 points to your Plan score to guess your ACT score. Plus, there are other complicating factors that make it hard to predict an ACT score based on the Aspire score. Complicating Factors for Aspire Accuracy Different Test Scales Since the test scales are different, the score predictions for Aspire aren’t quite as straightforward as they were for Plan. Whereas the Plan used an ACT-like scale, Aspire has to translate the 390-470 scale to the ACT 1-36 scale. Although ranges can be created, like we showed above, they are certainly less straightforward. Differing Questions As we’ve seen, the ACT Aspire and the ACT are very different tests. One student might do better on Aspire – since it has free response, short answer, and more question variability – while another might do better on a straightforward multiple-choice test like the ACT. Unlike the Plan (as well as the PSAT compared to the SAT), there isn’t as much similarity between the Aspire and the ACT, making score mapping difficult. Computer Versus Paper Furthermore, taking a computer-based test is quite different from a paper-and-pencil one. Since you can usually see only one question at a time on the computer, it could be easier for some students to focus on the Aspire. Also, it only takes a split-second to log an answer choice, whereas for paper-and-pencil tests, bubbling takes time. These differences could cause a student to do better on Aspire than the ACT – especially if they lose the paper-taking test practice the Plan used to give them. Different Test Conditions Taking the ACT, unless you live in a state where all students take it, is different than taking a test in school. You wake up early on a Saturday, make sure you have a very specific set of supplies (admission ticket, I.D., No. 2 pencils, calculator), and psych yourself up to do well. Taking a test in school, even required state testing, can blend into a regular school day. Students likely won’t feel the same motivation to do super well as they will when taking the ACT, since the ACT directly affects college admissions. Students may tend to try harder and focus more on the ACT than the Aspire, which could easily allow them to outscore their Aspire predictions. Extra Studying It’s much more likely students will do extra studying on their own for the ACT. It’s very unlikely a student would study outside of class for Aspire, since the test doesn’t matter to their personal college admission goals. Any studying for Aspire would likely happen in school, at the discretion of teachers. Because of that, it’s very likely a student who doesn’t do well on Aspire could still earn a very good ACT score by studying specifically for the ACT. It’s also possible a student who does well on Aspire, with its varying question types and computer-based format, will struggle on the ACT, which is nearly all multiple choice and has very intense pacing. The Bottom Line The ACT Aspire will give you decent information about your progress in school and likely performance on the ACT. For example, its data might let you know you are ahead of your grade in reading and science but are behind on some math concepts, which will help you focus your studying for the ACT on the math section. However, don’t take the predicted ACT score as fact, since Aspire and the ACT are so different, and the Aspire is so new. At the end of the day, a much better predictor of your ACT score is the amount of quality studying you put in before the test. Even if you have a super-high Aspire score, you can’t walk into the ACT without studying and expect a 36. It’s a very tricky test that’s quite different from Aspire. And if you’re really curious about how well you’ll do on the ACT, taking an actual ACT practice test is a better predictor. If you’re a freshman or sophomore, you could add between 1 and 5 points – like the Plan did – to your practice test score to predict your ACT potential. But remember that you have the most control over your future ACT score. Instead of getting caught up in predictions, get caught up in studying! What’s Next? Speaking of studying, start planning out an ACT study schedule with our exclusive guide. Putting in the time, hour for hour, is the best way to improve your college admissions chances! Get some more in-depth resources on the ACT. Get tips for a perfect ACT math score, learn how to write an ACT essay, and get a list of the vocabulary you must know for the ACT. Learn more about how the ACT is scored to help you come up with a target raw score. Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes your prep program to your strengths and weaknesses. We also have expert instructors who can grade every one of your practice ACT essays, giving feedback on how to improve your score. Check out our 5-day free trial:

Saturday, February 15, 2020

Bank (money supply) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Bank (money supply) - Essay Example Any government has the power and responsibility to regulate the economy of a country and not only does it regulate the economy, it has a vital role to ensure that the economic condition remains stable. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that all the aspects of economy maintain a stable level so that the country can grow and expand. Government regulates many things in an economy including inflation, exports and imports, prices of many vital commodities, and many important economic aspects. For example Government of England has entrusted the job of determining the monetary policy, in the hands of Bank of England. Bank of England looks into many other big issues. One of the most important issues is that of ensuring monetary stability in the economy, which can be achieved through a combination of stable prices of goods and services across the economy coupled with a low inflation level and level of confidence of the investors in the currency of the country. The Bank come s out with the monetary policy in order to ensure a certain key objectives like, delivering price stability with a low inflation level coupled with an objective to support the Government's economic objectives of growth and employment. Price stability is taken care of, by the Government's usual inflation target of 2%. There is a need to contemplate the crucial and critical role played by price stability in achieving the aforesaid economic stability, and in providing just the right conditions for a sustainable and longer living growth in output and employment. Chancellor of the Exchequer announces the Government's inflation target every year in the annual Budget statement. Though The 1998 Bank of England Act enables it to set interest rates independently, however, The Bank does hold accountability to the parliament and the wider public, which can not be refrained from. The legislation provides the government the power to instruct the bank on the interest rates issues for a limited per iod of time during emergency, for the sake of national interests. (How Monetary Policy Works) A target of 2% does in no way mean that inflation will be held at this rate constantly. That would be neither possible nor in any way desirable. Interest rates would be changing all the times, causing unnecessary volatility in the economy. Even then it would neither be possible nor feasible to keep inflation at any predetermined level, say 2% in each and every month continuously. Instead, the committee aims to set interest rates so that inflation can be brought back to target within a reasonable and imaginable span of time without creating undue instability and volatility in the economy. The government is also entrusted with the job of regulating property and commodity prices. To have a look into this in detail, we may need to analyze the factors that are generally responsibly for a rise in property prices. Before buying a house property, any buyer's first job is to assess the price of the property depending on the location, as location as a non-economic factor plays the biggest role in determining property prices all over the

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Managing Employee Relations in Contemporary Organisations Essay - 2

Managing Employee Relations in Contemporary Organisations - Essay Example 201). The modern approach to employee relations is people management. The employees to the organization were employed based on their skill and as part of a team that would meet the requirements of the organization (Kessler and Purcell, 2003, p. 28). Human management as a style that is used by the ACME organization concentrates on the skills that an individual brings into the company (Legge, 2005, p.102). Prior to securing a job with the company, it is important that what the employee brings to the table is analyzed and this is part of the enrolment (Purcell, 1987, p. 29). The company has stringent policies on which employees it employs, a fact that is expressed in different settings such as when referring to family, (Legge, 1995, p. 99), i.e. potentially some members may feel offended if they cannot get their friends/family in but so be it. We will never compromise the arrangement that we will go for the best person for the job. But with 500 people there are going to be individuals, but relatively few, we wouldn't recruit again. If one of these few recommended friends/family we would look, but look very carefully. The company has also adopted a structure that is based on personal and team responsibilities within the organization, which differ from any trade union system of operation. The organisation’s policy on performance and pay states that, If somebody is not performing they get told about it. We have annual appraisal and salary is directly linked to contribution across a number of factors, so people get a message both financially and otherwise across the table from the manager at the appraisal, if not at other times of the year, which does not include any responsibilities to any party or individual outside the organisation. The system used is analytical based on the quality an individual brings to the company (Salamom, 2000, p. 291). The approach to management takes on a modern management style that gives employees roles, responsibilities as well as a supervisor to answer to in the course of their employment. The approach means that individual contributions to the company are looked into during the running of ACME. The management considers the goals set by management, in terms of economics, finances, growth, marketing and advertising among others (Williams and Adam-Smith, 2009, p. 102). Although the system makes use of preset performance requirements, the company ensures that it appreciates the efforts put in by the employees at any one given time in every position as it is stated by the company as directly linked to a number of factors contributing to outcomes in the financial and other concepts. 2. Critically discuss why they use this approach (cite evidence from both the case study and academic literature to justify this discussion). The performance of employees in the organisation is an important goal and objective driven element of analysis. The chosen employee management style in relations allows the management to keep t rack of the growth of the organisation on an overall state as well as in the personal concept. The style emphasizes the fact that individual workers are the unit by which the ACME organisation operates. By choosing the individualistic approach to employee relations, the organisation

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Robert Frost Essay -- Biography

Robert Frost once said, â€Å"Always fall in with what you’re ask to accept. Take what is given, and make it over your way. My aim in life has always been to hold my own with whatever’s going. Not against: with†(Quotes). Frost’s life and time period exemplified his quote as he experienced the technological changes of the twentieth century. Through these experiences, he entertained and taught his readers through his competitive poetry like his poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken†. Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California. William, his father, was a Journalist and Isabelle, his mother, was a teacher. His parents’ occupations sparked his early interest as a writer. Isabelle shared her love of literature and poetry with her son. When Frost was eleven, his mother took him and his sister, Jeanie, to live with his father’s parents in Lawrence, Massachusetts. William’s death left Robert and his family poor and dependent upon their cynical family members who believed Isabelle to be at fault for William’s death (DeFusco 13-15). Robert attended Lawrence High School where his mother encouraged him to maintain high academics. His desire to write poetry did not begin until the first two years of high school. Frost’s home life and inability to adjust to life in the North created his artistic aspirations. His first poems were published in the school newspaper his sophomore year. After he graduated, Frost’s grandparents ordered him to attend Dartmouth College, but he dropped out after seven weeks (DeFusco 15-16). Then Frost decided to work at a wool mill to save enough money to marry Elinor White. In the winter of 1895, at the age of twenty-one, Elinor and Frost were married. His first son was born a year later, named Elliot. Ag... ...ntieth century. This theme was one of the many ideals that sparked the Progressive Movement allowing people to have the equal opportunity determine their own destiny. When people are suddenly exposed to freedom of choice, they are slow to react and do not have a grasp of what they want. This inexperience makes people not able to differentiate between two choices thus causing a person to hesitate and doubt oneself when finalizing their judgment. When writing this poem, Frost believed that the content of the poem was more important than the style. He however paid close attention to meter using iambic pentameter and a rhyme scheme of abaab. The only style he refused to write in was free verse because he believed â€Å"a good map carried its own scale of miles†(cite). He wrote his poetry instead in â€Å"natural speaking patterns† because it was more appealing to readers.

Thursday, January 16, 2020

Case Study: King of the Hill Essay

1) What leadership traits account for Denny Hill’s success? Denny is using the perfect traits of a teacher keeping the swim team interested so they do not lose focus in the meeting or the workouts. Denny also shows his team confidence, in himself as well as in his team. Due to this Denny has the faith of his team behind him and their truest in his abilities. 2) How would you describe Denny Hill’s leadership abilities? I believe Denny developed leadership abilities through hard work and practice, because the first year swim team did not do so good. Denny learned from his mistakes and took various steps to make himself a better leader. He also encouraged his swim team members to pick up leadership roles. 3) Leadership includes administrative skills, interpersonal skills, and conceptual skills. How does Denny Hill stack up on these skills? As a teacher Denny is well versed in administrative skills as he has to see to grades, progress reports, and even evaluating student progress on a daily basis. Denny’s interpersonal skills get tested on a daily basis with peer and student interaction. Denny has conceptual skills in that what he did for the swim team the previous year did not work. He had to re-evaluate the situation and come up with another workable plan for the swimmers. Denny is doing a good job utilizing these skills and taking the swim team in the right direction. 4) How does Denny Hill integrate task and relationship behaviors in his leadership? Denny does have task behaviors in his leadership as he has planning to do for the swim team which include team meetings. There is also relationship behaviors included in his leadership when he assigns the students to become a part of the leadership team. 5) From a relational perspective, how would you describe Denny Hill’s leadership? Denny Hill’s leadership is interactive where the swim team has the ability to share leadership roles, authority, and influence. 6) In what way does Denny Hill’s coaching exemplify leadership as an influence process? Denny utilized his influence on the swim team so they can reach common goals. Denny wants a winning swim team and the swimmers want to win, as well as, want to make their leader proud. Reference Northouse, P. (2015). Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice (Third ed.). Los Angeles: Sage.