Math with Connections & Kinesthetic Learning

Connection-Making Lesson Ideas

During our class this week, we were treated to donuts and muffins from Tim Horton's and were asked "Where is the Math?". This activity was fun for our class because we utilized collaboration, mathematical thinking, and creativity to come up with many possible methods of using the treats in Mathematics. Some examples we came up with include:

1. Algebra: 
• Are there enough donuts/muffins for the number of students in the classroom?
2. Fractions:
• Sharing the donuts by cutting into fractions
• Recipe cards (also implemented in measurement)
3. Geometry:
• Surface area of the sprinkles
4. Patterning:
• Rearranging the food into growing, shrinking, and repeated patterns

Using real life examples was fun because we were challenged to think about the ways we could later challenge students to make connections between Mathematics and their lives. This activity would also be fun to integrate on a cross-curricular level. For example, setting the stage in the classroom as though the classroom has been robbed. Students would then be encouraged to write a story about what may have happened in the classroom and then encourage the students to act out their scenarios - making reference to both the Language Arts and Drama curriculum. Another example may be of an Indigenous artifact placed on a desk at the front of the classroom and students are expected to write a story about it based on their knowledge of Indigenous history - making reference to Social Studies and Language Arts. There are many ways this activity may be incorporated and I am excited to implement it in my placement classroom.  

Kinesthetic Teaching Techniques

I had a lot of fun in class today as we learned about kinesthetic ways of teaching memorable pieces of information. The following are chants and dances we participated in to master the Metric Staircase and the Place Value System:

Metric Staircase: 🎶 Mickey Mouse can do many dangerous, heroic kicks 🎶 (mm, cm, dm, m, dam, ham, km)
Place Value System: 🎶 To the right, getting bigger; to the left, getting smaller 🎶

Not only is this a great activity for kinestethic learners, but for all students in general as they are encouraged to get out of their seats for an energizer that is memorable and will aid in their Math skills and knowledge. I am excited to incorporate these chants and dances in my classroom as my first block is with a grade 6 class and we will be preparing them to complete their EQAO testing.

Scavenger Hunt & Explain Everything

What?


In math class this week, we participated in a Scavenger Hunt and were expected to wander around the Brock University campus, explore various patterns (i.e. shape, colour, size, texture, direction), and document our findings with iPads. We utilized the Explain Everything software to share what we found with our classmates. Explain Everything is easily accessible on a number of platforms and involves various tools including: voice-to-text recording, pointers, text-boxes, picture and video modifications, and dropbox for submission.




So What?

The Scavenger Hunt was a great way to get us out of our seats and encouraged us to look for real-world examples of what we are learning in the class - patterning. The opportunity to learn about new pieces of technology and applications was also important for us as teacher candidates are always looking for new resources to implement in the classroom. This activity also enabled us to develop our teamwork skills as my fellow teacher candidates and I used our abilities to collaborate, communicate, and think critically while exploring our surroundings and completing the tasks assigned to us. The Explain Everything application was also interesting to explore. We found that the application was beneficial for collaboration as multiple people could use it at the same time while allowing us to express our information in methods we felt most comfortable with.

Now What?

The Scavenger Hunt is a great activity to motivate students to consider learning as not limited to the classroom. This activity encourages participants to explore the world around them in order to find real-world examples of the topic discussed. I plan to utilize the Scavenger Hunt activity on a cross-curricular level as it is a fun way to promote student collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking! An example of such implementation would be in Science whereby students are given the task of exploring their school and documenting various resources on environmental issues, or even issues they would like to address. I would then encourage the students to consider the impacts such issues have on various Canadian regions which would involve both Science and Social Studies. A step further would be to ask students to critique the literature they encounter to then incorporate curricular expectations of Language Arts. As we did in our class, the Explain Everything application would benefit as both a method of presenting their learning and as a method of assessment of their findings for myself. Students would have the freedom to present their findings in a creative manner that best suits their interests. For example, auditory learners may prefer to incorporate the sound option on the application and visual learners may prefer to present their findings primarily with videos and pictures. Overall, students thrive from inquiry- and problem-based learning and such activities enable them to develop and thrive in these areas of 21st century thinking.

The following are some of the pictures my fellow teacher candidates and I captured during this activity:

Growing & Repeated Pattern

Shrinking Pattern

Growing Pattern

The "Turn-it-Around" Technique

What?

The "turn-it-around" method involves providing students with the answer, asking them to explore various problem-solving strategies, and encouraging them to brainstorm possible problems that may result in the answer provided. Through this activity, students are encouraged to construct their own knowledge while developing their conceptual understanding and mathematical thinking.

So What?

The readings this week emphasized the importance of problem-solving and this classroom activity allowed for us to see such problem-solving techniques in action. My educational experience generally involved the traditional approach to mathematics whereby I would be presented with a formula and a problem to apply it to. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with my peers as we worked backwards and attempted to create a word problem that emphasized real-world applications.

Now What?

I am interested in applying such a technique in the classroom because it encourages students to think outside of the box, utilize their prior knowledge of problem-solving strategies, and promotes collaboration. This activity also encourages students to explore problem-solving strategies that meet their individual needs and interests. For example, a students who is a visual learner may prefer that I provide manipulatives for them to utilize in this activity. Overall, I am enthusiastic about learning about the various problem-solving techniques mathematics has to offer. I hope to aid in the development of my students' problem-solving skills that they will use throughout their lives.

The following images are of the answer provided for my group alongside the word problem we created: