What’s The Big Idea? -Elementary Math Recertification Course

Workshop # 1

Patterns and Functions: What Comes Next ?

I particularly enjoyed viewing the Patterns and Songs segment for preschool and kindergarten . The musical activities presented , Hokey Pokey and Old McDonald are excellent tools for introducing patterns and predictability to the students in preschool and kindergarten. I have used snap it cubes to introduce the concept of predictability and patterns. I have also used shapes and colors during Calendar Math activities to introduce the concepts in kindergarten. I currently work as a certified teacher substitute and often work in kindergarten and first grade.
Also, the Guess My Rule Activity can be used by students in K-8 and can be modified for each grade level. I have never used this activity in a classroom. I enjoyed the activity of identifying the mathematical rules from the participating sites and I am sure that students will also enjoy this activity. It encourages problem solving skills and gives the students a break from paper and pencil activities.
Several good points were made regarding the use of small groups during math instruction. I have used cooperative learning as a classroom teacher and as a substitute teacher. I have found that cooperative learning groups can create a noise level which the teacher may not sometimes feel comfortable with. However, the benefits of cooperative learning make this strategy an important part of classroom instruction. The social skills and critical thinking skill associated with cooperative learning are valuable for primary classrooms.
Another effective strategy was provided by the middle school math teacher during the discussion of cooperative learning. He suggested that the teacher may want to allow students to work in pairs for activities. In addition, the teachers may wish to incorporate a time for interaction with each team of partners. I have also used teacher/student conferences as a classroom teacher and as a substitute teacher. I most often use this strategy in language arts and reading. I find that it is a very effective strategy, but involves planning enough time to conference with all students. Also, I plan other activities for students while I am conferencing with one students. However, with this activity the other pairs will be working on their math activity so planning an additional activity will not be necessary. Finally, I think the cooperative learning segment which we viewed demonstrated how to encourage creativity and higher level thinking.
I have used the activity of measuring the volume of a solid figure while teaching a math lesson in a fifth grade classroom. I used the formula l X w X h. I used a shoe box for my my visual aid because I was teaching the volume of a rectangular prism. It was a successful lesson as far as completing the goals and objectives of the lesson . However, I did not have base ten rods or Cuisenaire rods. The information from this workshop will be helpful in future lesson planning. Also, I did not include the surface area in the lesson that I taught , I only introduced the concept of volume . However, I think the strategy of teaching both  volume and surface area  is  an excellent idea. The use of tables, graphs and rules to represent functional relationships was very effective. Cooperative Learning reinforced a variety of skills with the students.
I am a visual learner who also enjoys kinesthetic activities where I can receive hands on stimulation. I prefer to be given visuals with mathematical instructions to coincide with symbolic representations. I felt that this workshop provided materials for the different types of learning styles in a classroom and was comprehensive in the approach to this concept.
Activities that I will Incorporate in My Lessons
I will incorporate many concepts into my lessons. As a substitute teacher, I work with students in K-5. Therefore, I will be able to use many ideas from this workshop. I will develop an emergency substitute plan for K-1 which incorporates geometry , patterns and spatial sense. One lesson that I would like to develop for kindergarten is a lesson with animal patterns. I will also include in the lesson a section where the students use link cubes and form patterns such as red, blue, red, blue, or red, blue, red, red, blue. I would also like to use a lesson with a spider web pattern. Children would spin their own webs using string and paste and would make patterns using circles, line and repetition.
For the intermediate students, I would like to use the ideas of patterns and relationships in a lesson on measurements. I already have a substitute lesson for volume. It is based on the volume of a rectangular prism. It is for fifth grade students. However, I would like to add to this lesson an activity with surface area. The students will make observations and comparisons based on their measurements.  They  will also design a graph based on their observations.