There’s no better excuse to have kids counting all day than the 100th day of school. Often, teachers have students bring in 100 of something that they sort into groups of 10 (you can also have each student bring in 10 of something and then combine them to make 100). Or maybe it’s a project made with 100 of something. Or making tally marks and skip counting by fives to 100. Whatever you choose, it’s the perfect way to celebrate…
This is one of my favorite math and art activities. That’s because it involves a mathematical pattern. Using centimeter graph paper, we start with the basic unit which, in this case, is simply one square. I then ask students what they think the area would be if we doubled the size of the square. The first thing they blurt out before thinking is “two”. I then use the graph paper to show them that if I double the square (double…
Kids love geometry. It’s so hands-on. At least, it should be. I can’t imagine trying to teach kids geometry without letting them draw, cut, design, build. 3-D geometry taught on paper? I don’t think so! Unless, of course, you’re designing nets. And that’s exactly what I did with a group of sixth graders. We were working on volume and I thought it would be fun to re-design the soda can. It required a lot of hands-on work that involved graph…
Here is a super easy activity to do with student who are learning multiplication. I use patterned paper or wrapping paper cut into 8.5 x 11. I place them in sheet protectors and students use wet erase markers to circle groups of a given number. In this example, groups of 4 are being circled. Then students write the equation. An example could be: 4 x 8 = 32. This is a great activity for younger students who are learning to…
During a unit on 2-dimensional geometry I use art to tie in the polygons we’ve been studying. I share a variety of paintings by the artist Pablo Picasso and we talk about the shapes they see. Then, using the idea of straight lines and hard edges, students create their own work of Cubism out of construction paper.