Cuisenaire Rods lesson #2

As my second lesson with Cuisenaire Rods, I decided to do an activity that was some sort of challenge or game. I chose Train Riddles from the Cuisenaire Rod section under grades 3-5. I chose this lesson because it looks like a lot of fun and I know that many of my students will step up the the opportunity to make riddles that are unique and challenging to figure out. In this lesson students work in pairs to create a train of Cuisenaire Rods with a certain number of rods. Then the students create clues to help others figure out the different rods that make up their train. Eventually, each pair of students trade clues with another pair and try to figure out the correct train according to the clues provided. I like this activity because it is very hands on and it also provides students with an opportunity to practice descriptive language as well as various mathematical concepts.

Virtual Manipulatives

I recently explored the Congruent Triangles manipulative under grades 3-5 Geometry. Although congruency is a review for 5th grade students, some kids still struggle with the difference between similar and congruent figures. Using this manipulative, students do more than simply label shapes as congruent or similar. This activity allows them to manipulate predetermined lines in order to make triangle that are congruent. In my opinion, this is a helpful activity because the students actually create the shapes they are using. In this way, the concept is made more concrete and meaningful to them than if they were simply classifying someone elses shapes as congruent or similar.

Cuisenaire Rods lesson

For a lesson using Cuisenaire Rods, I have decided to do a lesson pertaining to triangles. My lesson is adapted off of the class disk under the 5-6 grade section. The title of the lesson is Making Triangles. In this lesson, students will explore creating triangles with Cuisenaire Rods. Students will also discover that certain rods will not form triangles when grouped together. Once they have explored creating triangles, they will work on classifying all of their triangles by their sides. Students will sketch each triangle on their record sheet, label the lengths of each side, name each triangle, and record the perimeter. As a closure activity, each student will come up to the front of the class and share one of their triangles. The class will determine whether or not their classification and perimeter are correct using Communicators to show their work.

Geoboard Lesson # 2

For the second lesson using Geoboards, I have decided to work with similar and congruent figures. This is a topic that is best taught using visual aides. It is quite impossible to teach without the use of visuals. First, the lesson would begin with a general direction to students such as: Everyone make a square on your Geoboard. Then, attention would be brought to the fact that the squares that the students made looked different, while others looked the same. As a class, these discoveries would be examined. Next, the class would come up with examples of acceptable definitions for similar figures and congruent figures. Several practice round would assess student understanding.

At this point, students would be split up into groups. Using dice, students will be prompted to create similar figures if they roll an odd number or to create congruent figures if they roll an even number. Each student will take turns rolling the dice, creating a figure, and watching as their partner creates either a similar figure or a congruent figure.

The lesson would end with a reference to the concept of probability that the dice incorporated into the lesson to be explored further at a later date.

NLVM - Week 8

This week I explored the Tessellations manipulative on the National Library site. At the end of each school year I expose my students to tessellations and assign a project in which they have to create their own original tessellation. This assignment always proves challenging for most of the students in my class. They are under the impression that a tessellation is the same thing as a picture or a pattern. They often leave gaps in their design and as a result, their design is not a tessellation. I like this manipulative because it gives students a way to, for lack of a better word, manipulate the shapes and see how they can fit together.

I would have found this manipulative more usefull if it started out by giving students a parial tessellation and asking them to continue the tessellation. This would be extremely helpful to my students who have trouble visualizing what a tessellation should look like. Once the students have done several tasks like this, it would be great if the tasks then turning into independent tasks such as: make a tesselation of triangles, etc. Overall, I find this manipulative beneficial and plan to use it with my kids, I just wished it provided more guidance.

NLVM - Week 7

This week I explored the mastermind activity on the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. I found this activity very interesting and thought invoking. You have to figure out a pattern by first using the guess and check method and then by using the clues that are provided to you. I used this activity as a challenge for my students. While working on a measurement unit, my support teacher and I split up the class into two groups: one group who grasped the concept of measurement and one group who needed extra practice with measurement. While she took the group that needed extra help, I used this virtual manipulative with the students who did not need the extra practice. The challenge was to be the student who used the least amount of guesses/clues to solve each pattern. We did this with the two color - six color patterns. It worked well and they all were determined to win one of the challenges.

Geoboard Lesson

For a lesson using Geoboards, I decided to do a lesson on perimeter and area. This lesson requires basic knowledge of area and perimeter. The lesson would start whole class where we create several shapes using the Geoboards. These shapes are teacher prompted such as: create a shape with a perimeter of 22. Next, create groups according to the accuracy and originality of their shapes. In groups, students will create individual shapes that follow the rules on their activity sheet. Once they have created their shapes independently, each group will share their shapes and make corrections accordingly. The activity sheets will range in difficulty according to individual/group ability. As a closure activity, each group will pick one of their area problems and one of their perimeter problems to share with the class. Encourage students to find different shapes/dimension s that will produce the same perimeter or area.