Polygon Play (Geometry Class #2 Part I, Fall 2010)

Math class today. We did so many things that I'm going to break it into a series of posts. :)

Started with a brief review of tangrams by reading Grandfather Tang's Story. I provided tangrams so the kids could construct the animals as the story went along, but the story became too captivating...they slowly abandoned the pieces to fully concentrate on what was happening. Great book!

We continued with a review of polygons. Last week we discussed the characteristics of a polygon. I drew a variety of figures on the board and they told me which were polygons and which were not. Since we'd read The Greedy Triangle last week, we quickly flipped through the book to see the polygons used there.

We then made a flapbook...the word "polygon" on the outside of the flap and the characteristics listed inside. (This is not pictured.)

And now...to make a quiz for their parents...to see if they know about polygons. They LOVED that idea! We made a series of 6 flaps (see right photo...one flap is open.) I had them cut off the top flap to make a "title" area..."Is this a polygon?" They then drew 5 figures of their choice on top of the 5 remaining flaps. Under each, they wrote "yes" or "no" to indicate whether the figure is a polygon. They used rulers to make sure the straight lines were actually straight.

In the process of assessing their parents, this became a quick assessment to see if they had a solid understanding of polygons. With fun in the process!

Nice addition to polygon lessons:


Geometric Stick Lessons

Make Your Own Math Printouts (Dynamic Paper, NCTM)

This is so cool!

If you visit NCTM's Illuminations, you'll find Dynamic Paper. Description from the site:

Need a pentagonal pyramid that's six inches tall? Or a number line that goes from ‑18 to 32 by 5's? Or a set of pattern blocks where all shapes have one-inch sides? You can create all those things and more with the Dynamic Paper tool. Place the images you want, then export it as a PDF activity sheet for your students or as a JPEG image for use in other applications or on the web.

 Basically, you can make a myriad of handouts: nets, graph paper, number lines, number grids, tessellations, shapes, and spinners. All your invention, by using their tools. Very, very cool. Check it out!

Math and Poetry ("Smart" by Shel Silverstein, money lessons)

Have you ever considered combining math and poetry? You might join a friend and read Math Talk: Mathematical Ideas in Poems for Two Voices. You could read "Shapes," by Shel Silverstein in his book, A Light in the Attic. Or you might consider using the hilarious poem, "Smart," (also by Silverstein in Where the Sidewalk Ends) and combine math (money), poetry, and drama.

(Note: you can purchase just the MP3 of "Smart" on Amazon, cheap. I own the audio recording of the books, available on CD: Where the Sidewalk Ends CD, A Light in the Attic CD.)

Today, Little Student and I read "Smart" aloud. We then used real money to demonstrate each of the exchanges that take place in the poem. As we made each exchange, my student (in the role of the son) told me how much money he lost in that step. He cut out coins and a dollar bill from printouts to represent the money used in the poem and glued them onto a 5-flap book. He read the poem again, pointing to each visual representation of the money as he went. Finally, he wrote number sentences to demonstrate what happened in each exchange; he wrote subtraction problems with blanks to fill in (see photo) to show how much money was lost each time.



He also played some money games on-line, selected from the following...

On-line Money Games:

Cash Out--Player becomes the cashier at a store and must give change. Varying levels of difficult.

Making Change--Pet store worker must make change with fewest possible coins.

Moneyville--fun, on-line role plays from the Moneyville touring exhibit. Become a neighborhood lemonade tycoon!

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives--(look under "money" by grade level)--Count the money and enter the correct amount.

Practice Counting Money--Player has to click and drag coins to equal the total amount shown.

Scottie Nickel-- Change money into the smallest number of coins possible.


Additional Teaching Resources on Money
Mathwire also has some fabulous lessons on money.

Additional Math Poetry Resources
Math Poems--from Math Mama's Poetry Challenge. Thanks, Sue, for the link!
A blog: Intersections--Poetry with Mathematics. Thanks, Maria, at Natural Math.

Next week, a group of my students will be dramatizing "Smart." Check back here for results. This is going to be FUN! :)

The Little Red Hen (on My Little Farm)

We're continuing to add animals to our farm. Today, with the addition of chickens, we're doing a side trip with the Little Red Hen.

In the last few decades, the children's book market has been inundated with "fractured" versions of traditional folktales and fairytales. When examined together, this provides an incredible opportunity for doing some comparison/contrast. We collected several versions of The Little Red Hen. Possibilities include:

The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza
The Little Red Hen; A Tale About Cooperation
The Little Red Hen and the Ear of Wheat
The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah
The Little Red Hen

After reading the books, we talked about the similarities and differences. My student noticed a difference in the setting, characters, item being made/problem and the conclusion. We made a chart to directly compare the three books.

And I couldn't say "no" to a request to make a pizza together after reading The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza. Who will help me make the pizza?  "I will!" say two little students.

After pizza lunch we printed a story map to plan out my student's own version of The Little Red Hen which he'll begin writing tomorrow.

Lessons with Mrs. Piggle Wiggle

I know I must have read it before now. I even saw a dramatic presentation a few years ago. But I can't remember ever enjoying Mrs. Piggle Wiggle like I did this time. My little student and I laughed and laughed, sometimes until tears rolled down my face. Perhaps it's because I "know" some of the children in the book?

Using a Graphic Organizer
In the book, parents seek help from Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, a woman of immense knowledge when it comes to curing childhood problems. She is able to fix anything from selfishness to messiness to slow eating. Each chapter is dedicated to one child, his/her problem, and the cure to that problem. The book's structure makes it perfect for using a graphic organizer such as a chart.

We chose to set up the top/horizontal with some of the characteristics we wished to compare:

1. Who has a problem?
2. What is the problem?
3. How is the problem solved?
4. What is the result of fixing the problem?

On the left/vertical side, the student recorded chapter titles:
*Won't-Pick-Up-Toys Cure
*Answer Backer Cure
Etc...

[The photos do not show the complete chart.]

After reading and discussing each chapter, the student completed the chart. Sometimes this alerted me to elements of the story he hadn't completely comprehended and we could discuss it before he continued.

Vocabulary
The book is rich in vocabulary. If I had it to do again I would have started the vocabulary cards (mentioned here) during this book. We had a great time learning the word "impudent" and discussing ways we could use it in day-to-day life.

Problem Solving, Manipulatives
I plan to talk more about this in future posts, but I like to keep my eyes open for problem solving opportunities as we read. A great one presents itself in the chapter titled, "The Selfishness Cure."

Dick is a selfish boy. His mother asks him to divide a box of candy amongst his friends and reminds him not to forget to save some for the neighbor lady who loves candy. Dick proceeds to clout another child on the hand with a baseball bat when she tries to take some. Dicks mother then tells Mary O'Toole "to divide it up among all the children, even the little ones, and to take one or two sticks over to old Mrs. Burry because she [is] so fond of peppermint.

There [are] fifteen children, not counting Dick, and fifty sticks of candy so..."p. 53 (the book goes on to tell how much each child and Mrs. Burry receive...I stopped reading before the answer was revealed.)

After hearing the problem, my student used base 10 pieces to represent pieces of candy. (You could use any manipulative, although base 10 pieces allow students to use 10s and 1s if they would like.) He chose to use the remainder differently than the text. (Mrs. Burry was more fortunate in the story!)

If you find opportunities for problem solving within your reading, I'd love to hear about it!