This is my final week. These five weeks have really flown by! I can't believe that in a few days I will complete my teaching requirements and be en route to graduate. Anyway, enough about me. Let's talk about what happened this week.
Because of the way the holidays worked out, we had to make up three days which counts as week 5. This week I only have three days of teaching. This week we really focused on mathematics. Specifically the three-dimensional geometry unit.
Because of the way the holidays worked out, we had to make up three days which counts as week 5. This week I only have three days of teaching. This week we really focused on mathematics. Specifically the three-dimensional geometry unit.
The first few lessons were fairly boring. These were some introduction lessons to make the students aware of the different shapes. I took the lessons from The Guide to Effective Instruction in Mathematics. The lessons were very creative to introduce students to the three-dimensional shapes. Once students had a grasp of the shapes, I created some more creative lessons.
Lesson #1: 3-D food party
I brought in a variety of foods for students to eat. When students were selecting the foods they had to tell me what shapes the foods were. While they were eating, we played a game of Jeopardy. This helped students make a real world connection with the shapes. They also enjoyed the party. Students would come up for seconds and thirds and be able to tell me the the shapes without hesitation by the end. The most difficult part of this activity was finding foods that came in a variety of three-dimensional shapes. Finding rectangular prisms were easy, but the rest of the shapes were harder. The other downside was most of the foods that come in interesting shapes are very unhealthy. I couldn't find any fruits or vegetables that were in the shape of a cone or prism. The other problem was there were students that had dietary restrictions. All in all, I think it was a successful lesson!
Lesson #1: 3-D food party
I brought in a variety of foods for students to eat. When students were selecting the foods they had to tell me what shapes the foods were. While they were eating, we played a game of Jeopardy. This helped students make a real world connection with the shapes. They also enjoyed the party. Students would come up for seconds and thirds and be able to tell me the the shapes without hesitation by the end. The most difficult part of this activity was finding foods that came in a variety of three-dimensional shapes. Finding rectangular prisms were easy, but the rest of the shapes were harder. The other downside was most of the foods that come in interesting shapes are very unhealthy. I couldn't find any fruits or vegetables that were in the shape of a cone or prism. The other problem was there were students that had dietary restrictions. All in all, I think it was a successful lesson!
Lesson #2 Building Stations
This lesson is an extension on the old marshmallow and toothpick lesson. I expanded it so that students used more than one type of material to make three-dimensional shapes. I made three separate stations. The first station the students were to create a cylinder, cone and sphere using playdoh. I created the playdoh myself using this recipe. These shapes are the hardest to make with most materials. (After students finished all three stations they went back to this station and create lots of interesting shapes using the playdoh. This was definitely their favourite station!)
This lesson is an extension on the old marshmallow and toothpick lesson. I expanded it so that students used more than one type of material to make three-dimensional shapes. I made three separate stations. The first station the students were to create a cylinder, cone and sphere using playdoh. I created the playdoh myself using this recipe. These shapes are the hardest to make with most materials. (After students finished all three stations they went back to this station and create lots of interesting shapes using the playdoh. This was definitely their favourite station!)
The second station was the net station. This was definitely their least favourite station. They have to create a pyramid and a prism. The students struggled to create shapes. This was also the slowest station. The other two stations were done long before the second station was done. Most students did not have time to complete both shapes. Some students had trouble cutting and figuring out how to glue the pieces together.
The third station was the traditional marshmallow and toothpick station. I gave the students long and shot toothpicks and tons of marshmallows. I asked the students to create a rectangular prism and a cube. The students loved this station. When they were done, the student started to create lots of different shapes. They loved playing around and creating the different shapes.
Our final task that we did with three-dimensional shapes with they created their own town out of three-dimensional shapes. I brought lots of recyclable packages from home. I started with a brainstorming session with students as to what we needed in our city. The students came up with a fantastic list of buildings. I then assigned a building to each student. I asked that students create their own building individually initially and then they could work in groups to create buildings.
The last thing we did this week was a science experiment. This project was lead by my AT. He found a big aquarium and filled it with water. He gave the students a variety of supplies (wood, cardboard, Styrofoam, cups, pipe cleaners). They had to create a boat that could hold two marbles and float. They had to go through the design process of planning and drawing. My AT filmed the entire process and had an underwater camera that got a different video. He made a video of the entire process to share with other teachers, He ended the activity by getting students to reflect on how they could improve their structure.