|
For many years, Donna Monck, a Fourth through Sixth grade teacher was frustrated with the results of teaching students to read a ruler. Many of the students could not understand that the lines (or spaces) on the standard ruler represent multiple fractional increments of a “whole”. Knowing the importance of this basic concept, she searched to find a tool that would help the students grasp this idea. She prayed and had a dream in which she saw herself using this particular tool. After a long search, it was apparent that this tool did not exist on the market, thus it was produced . The results were immediate and dramatic. The overlays enable students to “see” the inch space, and its fractional increments. Students are excited to now be able to easily read, or understand regular rulers. An Associated Press newspaper article resulted in educators throughout the US requesting these tools to help themselves teach, and students learn these basic but necessary skills.
The Master Ruler, with clear overlays and multi-colored lines, allows students to see many additional math concepts such as fractions: equivalence, simplification of fractions, adding with common/uncommon denominators, converting mixed numbers to improper fractions, multiplication and division of fractions, scale drawing, perimeter, area, etc.-ALL at the concrete level. These skills are difficult for many students to learn and teachers to teach. The lines on regular standard rulers confuse many children as well as adults. Upon examination of these manipulatives, younger students exhibit understanding of more advanced concepts of which they have had no prior instruction. Challenged individuals using” The Master Ruler” have immediately been able to understand concepts with which they had had no prior success.
The Master Ruler Measurement Program has been developed to alleviate stress, difficulty, and failure which occur when individuals of all ages and abilities struggle to grasp these concepts. Professional development seminars have been designed and are presented at varied educational sites. Elementary, Junior/Senior High, Vocational school, educational conference, industrial site attendees have found the time spent and activities learned to be valuable when applied in their classrooms. School districts across the US that include The Master Ruler in their classrooms accompanied by staff development are finding an increase in test scores, a deepening understanding of math concepts, and a growing enjoyment for math. Dallas,TX ISD began using The Master Ruler in the secondary special- ed classes. The results have been such that materials and teacher training have been purchased for all the third thru eighth grade regular and special-ed classrooms, or over 50,000 Master Rulers and training for hundreds of teachers. In Davenport, Iowa, the school district purchased the materials to be used in their “failing” schools. All of the schools are now off of the failing list. A vocational/technical school in Massachusetts trained their teachers and students in the use of the materials. In 2004 all of the students passed the state mandated MCAS. Explore the website to hear testimonies, see brief demonstrations, and learn more. Enjoy! We look forward to helping you in your quest to find means to improve the teaching of mathematics!
Thank you for visiting our website; and we always apprecaite your thoughts, comments, and feedback!
|
