Family Math Night Fun :)

Family Math Night was such a fun event for both the children and our class.  It was like a mini event for us to do the only thing we all love and look forward to pursuing in the next few years!  Makayla and I had decided to run a game called Catapult Math.  Students would get three little bears and using the catapult, they would launch each of them as far as they could.  Targets were then placed based on measurements in front of the catapult and how far their bears launched determined how many points each one got.  For example, 40 inches would earn them 40 points.  After I had measured out with them their points, I gave them a little card reading their three sets of points.  They would then be sent down to Makayla where they would add up their points to get their total score.

Students totaling methods varied greatly and I found it to be quite interesting!  Many of the students split the math into two columns.  For example, if their scores were 40, 32 and 25 they would add up the 0, 2 and 5 to get 7.  Then they would do the left column the same way, equaling 9 and making their total score 97.  The other common way students found their total was by concentrating on the first two scores and adding those up.  Using the same scores in the previous example, it would be 72.  They would then take 72 and add the third score of 25 to get their total of 97.  It was kind of fun to watch each of the kids and how fast some of them were blew my mind! Other ones were using their fingers and struggling more which gave me the opportunity to jump in and help them with the skills we've been taught and I think that's what I found to be the most fun!  It was a chance for us to go into teaching mode for a short period.  I think the scores is what got so many of the students so excited and coming back through so many times.  Our game was one where you could do better or worst and so for those more competitive children, this was right up their alley!  Especially the boys were getting so into the way they held the catapult or angled it in order to beat their previous score!

It was a great game because it involved math while also allowing students to be somewhat competitive.  We had two catapults on hand for those students who came to the game with a friend and wanted to do it at the same time.  It was so fun watching friends come through because the child who ended up with less points always wanted a rematch and we had groups coming through multiple times, two boys in particular came through 6 times!  I also found it interesting watching Makayla with the kids complete the math because the children had so many different methods when it came to addition.  Another thing that made me love our game was how into the children got, when the bears would land between targets, we would take a tape measure to measure out the exact distance.  They would run right over to me and if I said that I thought it was "37 points" they would be like "no I actually think its closer to 37 and a half or 38".  They were so cute about it that even if it wasn't necessarily 37.5 or 38 inches/points, I had to give it to them!

Most children were launching to about the 30-40 targets and even now and then we'd get a 50-60.  We had one girl come through and hit the 100 target exactly.  A herd of kids came running over because many of them had come to the conclusion that it was just not possible.  She was so proud and her face was priceless!  Shortly after that as we were reaching the end of the night, we had a boy come through and FAR surpass the 100 target.  We were so in shock along with his dad that his dad was messing around with him and said, "I bet you can't do it again son".  As any other young, competitive boy, he took it as a challenge and surprised us all by once again far surpassing the 100 point target.  His dad was so in awe that he decided to give it a whirl!  He tried it multiple times and couldn't even get past the 30, the boy felt like such a superstar!  He then made his dad take pictures of the catapult so they could recreate the game at home.  At the end of the night after clean-up we decided to give him one of the catapults as little reward as he was about to leave the school.  The smile on his face along with all the other children as they were leaving Family Math Night was just an awesome reminder as why I chose to go into teaching and why I love it so much!!

Source: http://www.bloglovin.com/viewer?blog=2756760&post=1371023491

Area is Everywhere!

The past few weeks we've spent our classes learning about area space and how to find it.  For me, its like problem solving and I love putting my brain to work!  First lets start with what area is:

Some common definitions for AREA are:

Area

The size of a surface.

The amount of space inside the boundary of a flat (2-dimensional) object such as a triangle or circle.

Next to the definition's above is a way of labeling which helps find area is an easy way.  This method can be used when on graph paper.  In addition, formulas have been created to help find areas of different shapes.  For example, the area of triangle is A=1/2bh.  

Now for some ways of learning area:

GEOBOARDS:

Geoboards are a great way to practice area!  Asking students to make as many different shapes as they can that are a particular area.  It's fun to see students being interactive and they enjoy trying to see if they're able to come up with all the possible shapes!  

GRIDLOCK:

Gridlock is a fun way for students to test their knowledge of geoboards and area knowledge.  It not only helps with learning area, but also problem solving!  The goal of Gridlock's are to split up the goeboards into four equal equal regions.  The image above was one I completed with quite difficulty.  It didn't occur to me until I had almost given up to think to split the squares in half!     

FLASHCARD WAR:

This game is just like the game "War" with real cards, however this time using flashcards made with shapes!  What you do is at the same time you and your opponent each flip over a card from the top of your stack.  You must figure out the area o your partner's shape while they figure out yours.  The person with the higher area wins that round, takes both cards and adds them to the bottom of their deck.  Once one person has conquered all the cards, they win!

MAKE THE FIRST LETTER OF YOUR NAME ON A GEOBOARD/GRAPH PAPER:

This can be super fun because it's something that relates to the students, it's personal.  If you allow them to maybe glue to a colored construction paper or decorate around it, student's will get to be crafty as well.  Once they've made their letters and discovered the area of it, they can trade and practice on other letters.  A fun thing to do after is tape/glue all the sheets of paper together and make one giant class quilt that then can be hung on the wall and known as "The Area Alphabet Quilt".  This lesson would not only include area, but also the alphabet and even patterns if students choose to extend their letter like the image above!

What's great about these activities is that they cover the following when it comes to AREA:

- Area on grid paper

- Area of triangles/squares/polygons

- Visually allows students to see large vs small area shapes/sizes

- Teaches formulas

- Makes for discussion and comparison between students

Hope you all enjoy these fun ways to learn about area!  They're all interactive ways which I find to make understanding and comprehending information so much easier while making it fun!