Maths+Day+Activities

Richmond Primary MATHS DAY 25th May 2012 Can you add what activity you used with simple instructions and how it was recieved by the students.

Students were surprised to learn that all 3 sided shapes were triangles and marvelled at the variety of 4 sided shapes they created. Extension ideas are endless with Geoboards and could include; create a 10 sided dinosaur area inside the shape perimeter of your shape || Children were given a pyramid shape that was filled with 16 equal sized triangles. Children had to write an equation, basic fact, etc on each of the lines of the triangle with the corresponding answer or connection underneath. Children would then cut their triangle into small triangles, mix up and get a buddy to piece their triangle back together. Children of all levels were very engaged and enjoyed trying to piece them together quickly. This is a great tool for teachers to assess childrens basic fact, place value knowledge quickly. These cut out triangles can be used again and swapped throughout the class, or to challenge mum and dad at home! || Once concept of mean/median/middle (as opposed to extremes and mere totals) had been established, children were encouraged to predict what a reasonable average might be from a given series of numbers (which they contributed), then used calculators to determine the correct average. The estimates were then rated by them as WAY OFF, PRETTY CLOSE or SPOT ON. With each Gr3/4 student partnered with a Gr5/6 one, they tackled activity sheets containing various series of numbers whose averages they were to predict, calculate and rate for accuracy. The activity was generally successful with Gr5/6 and advanced Gr3/4s, though it did demand more of some younger children than they were conceptually ready for. 'Average' is a fairly abstract concept in itself, requiring lots of examples in real life situations ('average no. of books read per week, average no. of hours per day spent watching TV', average no. of goals kicked by Hawthorn this year,etc) to establish understanding. Related activities could include surveying and graphing. ||
 * Teachers Name Nick || Year Level Prep-2 || Maths Day Activities **Geoboard Shape Making:** An effective open maths task as Geoboards encourage creativity in shape making and reinforce the idea that a shape doesn't have to look like the common square, triangle types.
 * Pat || 3-6 || **Snakes and Ladders** off Maths 300. This activity was really successful because every student was able connect with the game. We started off by playing a simple game of snakes and ladders in pairs, students were asked to record how many moves it took them to finish the game. After recording every students results, we worked out the average of moves it took to finish the game. That led to a discussion of what makes a interesting game board? The next part of the activity I asked the students to create their own game board for a toy comany. They were asked to include as many snakes and ladders as they wished in 8x8 grid, with aim of making the game board more exciting, so it would sell more. The students were all engaged and there are plenty of extension activities to come from this. All students were able enter and exit the task at their level of expertise. ||
 * Chris || 3-6 ||  ||
 * =====Nathan ===== || 3-6 || Hunting for Stars! taken from Math300. This activity was fantastic for grades 3-6. It was all about pattern recognition and discovering which combination of (the number of) participants and repeated passing of string would create a "star". Students were to test different combinations of both whilst sitting on the carpet in the star zone circle. Eg. 17, 6 means there are 17 people sitting in a circle and the string is passed to every 6th person clockwise. Many made stars, many made regular shapes and some made something strange! There was multiple entry points to this open task and students were able to explain the patterns that were happening and explain why/why not we found stars. ||
 * Michelle || 3-6 || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Triangle place value connections. This activity enabled children of all abilities to extend and challenge their own learning and to share learning with others.This activity can be used to practise basic facts and general place value knowledge.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Peter ||  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Jo ||  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Sophie || 3-6 || **Dice Footy -** I played dice footy with my groups. Children partnered up and in turn threw 2 dice (best to have 2 different colours) one dice represented points and the other goals. They then recorded the numbers on the dice into the correct columns on the score sheet and calculated the score for that quarter. They played all four quarters (as per a normal game of footy) and then calculated the total score for the game. They played three games in total and after each game gave me the score. I then worked out how many points each child scored in total and the two highest scoring children got to play in a grand final on the Smartboard. We discussed what the highest and lowest possible scores would be for a quarter and for the whole game. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Julian ||  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Cara ||  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Lauren ||  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Tracey ||  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Kelly ||  ||   ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Camilla ||  ||   ||
 * Stu || 3-6 || * Tables Boogie ... singing elimination game to 2X tables
 * **Averages** ... GKR on what was known already about the concept of 'Average' in general, and mathematically in particular. (Responses showed at least some familiarity with the concept and its application, even if the kids had 'interesting' ways of articulating it.)
 * Lisa ||  ||   ||