I’ve been wanting to try out an idea I had for our Family Math Night events and, since we were trying out our newest kit, Gellin’ with Geometry, it was the perfect opportunity. My idea was to have a project that all the participants contributed to so that at the end of the event, we would have one big something to share. In keeping with the geometry theme, I decided to include a station where participants could made one honeycomb…
I love the idea of having at least one What do you notice? posters at our Family Math Night events. I started it last year when I did an event at an IB school and the two teachers I was working with wanted to tie in some of the IB inquiry philosophy. It was really fun to watch the kids standing in front of the posters trying to ‘notice’ things. Besides, they got an extra Estimation Jar slip for…
Patterns. It was always a theme throughout the school year in my mathematics classes. So to kick-off patterns, during the first week of school, the students create a color pattern using their name. Then, we discuss the patterns made by names of different lengths. It may seem like a simple activity, but some great conversations can be generated when students focus on the reasons why certain patterns appear. For example, in the photo above, there are 15 squares in each…
Aye, matey, it’s time to hunt for buried treasure. In this fun and creative activity, students will be designing their very own treasure map. As they design their map and hide their treasure, students will get plenty of practice using a protractor while reinforcing mathematical vocabulary such as acute, obtuse, and right angles, parallel and perpendicular lines. Tying in social studies and writing skills, students will be using a compass rose to write directions in order for their classmates to…
Estimates help us predict the reasonableness of an answer. Having students make an estimate before they perform the calculation, and even writing the estimate next to the problem, can help them to focus on making the numbers (and the problem) make sense. Example: 3.2 x 9.8 = Students use benchmarks to determine that 3.2 is close to 3 and 9.8 is close to 10, therefore, a reasonable estimate would be 3 x 10 = 30. If students perform the actual…