Action Research Report: Reflection and discussion: The planned activities supported and facilitated Riak’s mathematical leaming in different ways, all of which have contributed to his overall and basic understanding and knowledge of mathematical concepts and language. The first two tasks, based on developing an understanding of place value, assisted in evolving Riak’s understanding of place value concepts, primarily by the teaching of the language involved. This includes Slanguage such as ‘ones’ and ‘tens’ which particular activities such as ‘Cover Cathy Crocodile’ and ‘Number target’ employ. The ‘Bundling’ task also uses place value language development, using materials to show ‘patterns in the number naming and recognition, “The fact that pattems are predictable allows children to make ‘great advancements in their learning (Cotter, 2000, p. 108), this statement proves that finding a pattern in the place value language of ones and tens makes it easier for children to learn and understand place value, as well as improving the ability to extend such knowledge. Reys et al (2012) discusses that “place value is an ‘important transition between symbols and language” (p.168) and that materials and pictures build a ‘bridge’ and help to make connections between these areas. An example of these ideas in progress is in the implementation of the first lesson, Riak did not understand what each playing card was asking him (for \ example, 4 tens and 3 ones), so asked him to use the iey pole stick bundles (materials) to show me this number and explain how it was the same as the playing card. This helped him to understand the meaning of the language used on the cards, and therefore he could connect the language to the symbol. By the end of the ‘game, he was able to identify a language and symbol match without the use of the materials to ‘bridge’ the gap. Sessions three and four had a focus on division, developing and introducing the concept to the student for possibly the first time. By using the activity of “The Magician’s Hat’ before the ‘trains’ activity, Riak was able \ {0 practice his counting on strategies both forwards and backwards, this developed his sense of repeated dition and subtraction, which is an important aspect of the concept as “division can be viewed as repeated addition” (Reys et al, 2012, p.199). The development of division is best developed through “concrete, pictorial and symbolic representations” (Reys et al, 2012, p\200). As Riak was relatively new to the concept of division, . it was important to use concrete materials to support his leaming. He was able to manipulate and change the positions of the materials in onder to share them equally between points or areas. This idea is seen in the “Triangle Division’ task, as Riak would move the teddies on each point until they could no longer be shared, \ysing a trial and error strategy. I began to try and extend him from this stage, getting him to try and use known facts, but he is still in the early stages of mathematical leaming regarding multiplication and division. The last two sessions (five and six) primarily focused on subitising, skip counting, and cementing the place value knowledge leamed throughout the sessions. “Subitising has long been recognised as an important skill for developing number sense” (Cotter, 2000, p.109). By using activities such as the ‘Three minute collection” task, and ‘Tens frame snap’, the student was able to develop and implement their subitising abilities, and use,‘ theit knowledge of number. An example of tis in the ILP implementation was in the “Three minute collection’ \ task. Once all of the counters were collected, I asked Riak to organise them in a way that they could be counted. easily, he declared that ‘six’ would be a good number, and proceeded to group them in this way. I then asked him if he could easily skip count by sixes, he said no, and realising what I was asking him to do, he decided 4 that ten was a good number to group the counters by, and would be a number which he could easily subitise, and then skip count to find the total of counters. This shows that Riak was able to lear to adapt tothe situation, and to use his skip counting and subitising abilities within a task. c Value and modifications: “gh I think that most of the tasks had value in regards to Riak’s leaming, all developing different areas of his 7 mathematical knowledge. The first tasks that were based on place value, specifically developed Riak’s place \\ value language, getting him to use terms such as “tens” and ‘ones’ to break up a number into its extended form, and therefore understand its formation. These tasks successfully built on one another to develop this language, J, s4 though some were challenging, all were achieved and completed tothe full extent in the lessons. The ul