Developing Hearing Skills. Oral Arithmetic in Math Lessons
This material is suitable for children of any school age. These techniques will be useful for those who teach or want to teach mathematics to a visually impaired child.
Auditory-verbal memory plays an important role in memorizing, retaining, and reproducing information conveyed through speech. Everyone has this type of memory, but the capacity of this memory can vary. Therefore, it is important to develop auditory-verbal memory!
Math lessons present an excellent opportunity to develop the auditory analyzer. During the lesson, you can give the following instruction: “Listen carefully, think it over, and try to remember it the first time.”
The topic “Converting Fractions to Decimals” is an excellent example of oral work. Students can convert fractions to decimals: 1/8 is 0.125; 1/4 is 0.25; 3/4 is 0.75; 3/8 is 0.375, and so on. Why is it important to memorize these fractions? For solving more complex problems that involve operations with all types of fractions. Such quick oral arithmetic is great for developing auditory perception. Of course, the student must understand how one fraction is converted to another. In this case, the commenting method can be used. Ask the student: How did you get the decimal 0.5 from the fraction 1/2? Students should be engaged in active independent activities: counting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions.
The topic: “Percentages”
This material is directly related to the topic of fractions. Oral arithmetic involving percentages overlaps with decimal fractions. For example, 0.125 corresponds to 12.5%. Before this lesson, students have already memorized that 1/8 is 0.125. Similarly, we reason with the fraction 0.25, which is 1/4 and equals 25%.
Students should not only verbally explain the steps of their solutions but also provide detailed explanations of their written work if necessary.
The topic: “Pie Charts”
This also provides an opportunity to develop auditory perception. The whole is the entire circle. Let’s examine working with a pie chart using an example problem. The number of people in the class is 32 students, with 16 boys and 16 girls. We divide the circle into two equal parts. Mentally construct the simplest diagram and remember that the circle’s measure is 360 degrees, with each semicircle being 180 degrees. If we convert this to fractions, 16/32 is 1/2 or 50%.
Let’s consider constructing a pie chart with other numbers. A group of 32 students went on a quest and were divided into 4 equal teams. Show how this looks on a diagram. Reasoning: We divide the entire circle into 4 equal parts. Each team has 8 people. 8/32 is 1/4, which is 0.25 or 25%. We get 4 sectors, and each sector measures 90 degrees.
In lessons, we aim to expand the boundaries of auditory perception, develop auditory functions, and focus auditory attention and memory. It’s important not only to hear the problem but also to reproduce the solution on the board or in a notebook. Reproduction is a complex process requiring willful activity and focus. Therefore, in math lessons, it’s recommended first to think through the solution to the problem, discuss the construction of the mathematical model, and only then start writing it down in the notebook. This approach promotes the development of auditory perception and speech in students.