Something's Missing by Lauren G. WoodbyReview by: Theresa I. DenmanThe Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 23, No. 1 (JANUARY 1976), pp. 47-49Published by: National Council of Teachers of MathematicsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41188904 .

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minimal use of metric measurement (e.g., measuring ingredients for making clay or snacks). In other activi- ties this superficial integration actually changes the nature of the fundamental activity. For example, the tangram constructed by matching edges so as to make true statements, does not involve geometric com- parison or problem solving at all.

Although the author claims that knowledge of the decimal system is not needed to use these materials, decimal notation appears on 15 of the 70 worksheets, and in many cases must be used by the student in completing the activity. - Suzanne K. Damarin, The Ohio State University

Metric Fun Activity Cards: Set A, primary; Set B, inter- mediate. Betty Long and Carol Witte. Manhattan Beach, Calif.: Teachers, 1974. $4.95 per set. S,* Each set contains about forty activity cards (14 cm

X 22 cm). Set A is designed for grades 1 through 4 and Set В is designed for grades 3 through 9. The activities are varied and interesting. Children are given things to do but are also encouraged to embellish or extend the activities with their own ideas. The prices seem high when one considers that a textbook might contain many more activities for the same price. However, the activities are quite good. - R. S.

"m for Meter." Set of 4 filmstrips and 4 cassettes. 40 frames av. Film Communication, P. O. Box 1 13, Northfield, 111. 60093. $54.00 S Each filmstrip contains about 40 frames. The sound

cassettes last about 15 minutes each. The materials are designed for grades one through three. The titles of the strips are, "m for Meter," "Kilometer and Millime- ter," "Kilograms and Other Measures," and "Let's Measure." It is the reviewer's bias that filmstrips are a rather passive manner in which to teach a rather active concept such as measurement. The filmstrips use real objects and realistic measuring devices. Questions are asked of the viewer and time to respond sensibly is given. The voice is lively and interesting. A partic- ularly good sequence on scale reading using colored pencils of various lengths uses the precision of a care- fully prepared frame to good advantage. Generally, however, the sequences mention more units than are likely to be necessary (e.g., dl, cl, hg, dag, etc.). The symbol "У21" could have been avoided. With the ex-

ception of the sequence on scale reading, one wonders if a few measurement activities would not accomplish all that the filmstrip accomplishes with much less cost.- R. S.

"Metric System." Set of 4 filmstrips and 4 cassettes. 46 frames av. Film Communication, P. O. Box 1 13, Northfield, 111. 60093. $66.00. S, ? Each filmstrip contains about 46 frames. The sound

cassettes range from 14 minutes to 22 minutes. The materials are designed for the intermediate level. The titles of the strips are "Metric System," "Meter-Unit of Length," "Liter-Kilogram," and "Metric Practice." This set, designed for older children than "m for Me- ter" by the same company does not appear to be as well done. For example, in one strip "45 km/h" is used while in another "45 Km. P. H." is used. The cassette in one tape indicates that no periods are to be used while showing a sign using a period. A great deal of time is spent on charts showing prefixes that will not be commonly used. While older students may have the patience for the discussion, many are likely to become inattentive. The voice quality and inflection are good but the frames do not add much that could not be found in available printed material. - R. S.

"Let's Go Metric." Series of 6 sound-and-color film- strips and teacher's guide. History of the Metric System, The Meter, The Centimeter, The Millimeter, The Kilogram, Meter, Centimeter, Millimeter, 1973. Teaching Resource Films, Bedford Hills, N. Y. 10507. $75.00 w/cassettes, $72.00 w/records. S, ? Each filmstrip contains about 40 frames. The accom-

panying sound cassette for each filmstrip is about 7 minutes long. The sound tracks for these filmstrips are not very animated. The voice seems particularly pa- tronizing and lifeless. There are some attempts at hu- mor, but voice inflection and timing probably make the humor ineffective. In the filmstrip on kilograms there is a reasonable effort to distinguish between mass and weight - a good feature. Each filmstrip illustrates measuring common objects. The cartoon characters are attractive and colorful. Again, however, one won- ders if a few measurement activities would not accom- plish all that the filmstrip accomplishes and at less cost.- R.S.

Etcetera

Edited by Theresa I. Denman, Detroit Public Schools, Detroit, Michigan

Elementary school people, who teach mathematics, speak as one voice when certain topics are discussed. The universal agreement on these frustrating teaching areas seems to cross even international boundaries. First-grade teachers bewail their inability to commu-

nicate the idea of the missing addend and upper-ele- mentary instructors express grave concerns over teach- ing fraction concepts.

Research may reveal someday more specifics on the why and how of improving the instruction in these

January 1976 47

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areas. Unfortunately, the practitioner in today's class- room cannot wait. The children must be given the best possible learning experiences now! The sound film and the kit reviewed this month offer innovative ap- proaches to improving the teaching of the missing addend and the concepts of fractional numbers.

Something's Missing. Lauren G. Woodby. 16 mm, 7 1/2 min., color. General Learning Corporation, 250 James Street, Morristown, N. J. 07960 **

"No matter what I do they just don't understand." "Why have it in the first grade at all?" Now just what is this thorny topic discussed in the

quotations! Certainly it causes consternation for teachers and publishers alike. Every new or revised text series does something different with the material. The "missing addend" is this major instructional troublemaker. Further, the "missing addend" is the "Something's Missing" in the film.

What a charming film! Beautiful tints lend a quaint atmosphere to chubby cartoon characters who inhabit the town of Eldoon. Alas, the citizens are severely limited in arithmetic skills. Even when they can form the addition problem, only Count Much More (now really!) can supply the sum.

The overworked count offers the townspeople his set of helpful hints for understanding and learning the addition facts. Hardly has the ink dried on his "7" (sums) chart, when clocks, sheep, and stray Eldoo- nians begin disappearing in droves.

"What," puzzles the good count, "would cause such unrelated items to turn up missing at the same time."

Careful questioning reveals that just before dis- appearance the clocks were running backwards, the sheep were jumping backwards and the people were engaged in a variety of backwards activities.

To test what seems like a respectable hypothesis, the count places his shoes on the top of his head and leaps bodily into his tall stovepipe hat. Poof! He is trans- ported instantly from Eldoon to the town of Noodle where finding "how much more is needed" is the single computational skill. The only way the count can re- turn to Eldoon is to work an addition problem in Noodle. Can you imagine the count's name in Noodle?

Wrapped in motivation and then some, the follow- ing concepts are developed in the film:

1 . the doing-undoing relationship of addition and sub- traction,

2. frames used to represent missing numbers, 3. a subtraction problem can be rewritten as addition

with a missing addend. The film's conclusion offers examples and encour-

agement to pupils to write their own sets of related addition and subtraction facts. Skills development is included by furnishing a set of practice problems as part of a suggested lesson plan printed on a single page glued to the inside of the film box lid. Could this simple application of glue solve the "I've got the film, but where is the teacher's guide?" lament?

Instructional sound films seem to be reaching profes- sional maturity, especially in elementary mathematics. Companies are willing to expend quality technology on very short films dealing with a few closely related concepts. This treatment is pure pleasure after earlier deluges of films that attempted to take the pupil from addition to abstract algebra in thirty minutes.

Any school, fortunate enough to own a copy of this film, should show it to parents and staff. After all, this product is good mathematics, good teaching strategy, and (Heaven forbid!) good entertainment.

Fraction Bars, Introductory Set by Albert B. Bennett, Jr. and Patricia S. Davidson, 1973. Scott Resources, Inc., 1900 E. Lincoln, Box 2121, Fort Collins, Colo. 80521 **

Contents: 10 sets of 64 fraction bars including twelfths, sixths,

fourths, thirds, and halves 3 spiral-bound introductory laboratory card sets 2 Hi Lo Race game boards backed with football field

game 30 combination Fraction Bingo and 5-Bars playing

mats 5 Capture game boards backed by Small Step Race

playing board 1 number spinner Over 400 colored cardboard playing pieces including

tiny football replicas Compartmentalized storage box

Pies, pies, and more pies! Whole generations of pu- pils can relate to fractions only when parts of pies are involved. With increased pressure to emphasize appli- cations, the need for associating a variety of parti- tioned shapes with the fraction idea is mandatory.

Fraction Bars uses l"-by-6" colored poster board strips divided into congruent rectangles, as the frac- tion model. Each bar of the same color is divided into the -same number of sections. For example, the orange bars are all representative of twelfths. The total bar furnishes the denominator. The number of cross- hatched sections represents the numerator. A strip with no crosshatching would have zero for a numer- ator. The introductory cards include 22 games and 5 activities. (Fig. 1 )

The assorted laboratory experiences offer manipu- lative processes that visually model the abstract calcu- lations with fractional numbers. This kit, frequently

Concept Number Number Areas of G ames of Activities

Equality 7 3 Inequality 4 Addition 5 1 Subtraction 2 Multiplication 1 Division 1 1 Combining two or more

operations 2

Fig. 1

48 The Arithmetic Teacher

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used, could make most upper elementary pupils more proficient with fractions. However, this will occur only if the teacher reads the instructions carefully and pre- thinks class management when several exciting games are in progress.

The kit would be more helpful to many teachers if the concepts were written in objective form. Looking to the greater use and teaching of the metric system, bars having ten partitions would be a helpful adjunct. Decimal work might then be included.

Larger classroom sets are available. More equip- ment and more laboratory cards with advanced topics are found in the larger kits.

If you list the missing addend as a teaching disaster, take one film, Something's Missing, once or twice a year. If fractions are an instructional Waterloo for your class, apply Fraction Bars liberally over a three- or four-year sequence.

•••

I

Statement of ownership, management, and circulation (Act of 12 August 1970: Section 3685. Title 39. United States Code). (I) Title of publication: The Arithmetic Teacher (2) Date of filing: I Octo- ber 1975. (3) Frequency of issue: Monthly- October through May. (ЗА) Annual Subscription Price: $13.00. (4) Location of known of- fice of publication: 1906 Association Drive, Reston, Virginia 22091. (5) Location of the headquarters or general business offices of the publishers: Same as #4. (6) Names and addresses of publish- er, editor, and managing editor Publisher, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, same as #4; Editor, none; Managing Ed- itor, Jane Hill, same as #4. (7) Owner. National Council of Teach- ers of Mathematics, same as #4. (7) Owner National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, same as #4. (8) Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 per- cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other secu- rities: none. (10) The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for Federal Income tax pur- poses have not changed during preceding 12 months. (II) Extent and nature of circulation. Average no. copies each issue during pre- ceding } 2 months: A. Total no. copies printed, 47,031; B, 1. Paid circulation, sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, and counter sales, none; B, 2. Paid circulation, mail subscriptions, 43,940; С Total paid circulation, 43,940; D. Free distribution by mail, carrier or other means, none; E. Total distribution, 43,940; F, 1. Copies not distributed, office use, left-over, unaccounted, spoiled after printing, 3,091; F, 2. Copies not distributed, returns from news agents, none; G. Total, 47,031. Actual no. of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date: A. Total no. copies printed, October 1975, 46,251; B, 1. Paid circulation, sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, and counter sales, none; B, 2. Paid cir- culation, mail subscriptions, 44,035; C. Total paid circulation, 44,035; D. Free distribution by mail, carrier or other means, none; E. Total distribution, 44,035; F, 1. Copies not distributed, office use, left-over, unaccounted, spoiled after printing, 2,216; F, 2. Cop- ies not distributed, returns from news agents, none; G. Total, 46,251. 1 certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete: James D. Gates, Business Manager.

Baseball bate Tente Motorbikes Brooms Chalkboards №stebaskets Birdbaths Eyedroppers Teapots Canteens Rowboate F Ж amiliar objects become useful teaching tools with Activities To Go Metric. Students measure the objects, directly or in text pictures; they estimate measurements, then check them; they select from several measurements the best one for a pictured object. They grow easy with the metric system by repeated use of the system. Three consumable booklets comprise the program: Booklet A for Grades 2-4; Booklet В for Grades 5-6; Booklet С for Grades 7-8. One Teacher's Guide serves all three booklets. For more information on the active metric program, request folder A 1 1 10.

Activities To Go Metric Grades 2-8

Scott, Foresman Glenview, Illinois 60025

January 1976 49

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