MATH CAN BE FUN- SAY WHAT?!
In thinking about this class, and thinking about the numerous topics that are going to be covered, I was trying to think how I could possibly make all of this material- fun! In my most recent math class observation, in an inclusion first grade classroom setting- the teacher had all of the students participating in Math Game Fridays! The students absolutely loved this- and I found each and everyone of them excited about math during this period.
I was thinking about starting basic, and within each topic area of this blog I discover, I thought it would be fun to include a math game with each post.
I then came across a website called "Buggy and Buddy" and it really inspired me. I found a really simple, but fun activity. The best part of this activity is that it incorporates Math, Reading, and Art/Creativity. What inspired me about this activity was how I can start to combine all subjects for fun activities. This would allow students to see how all of the subjects connect and how they can be useful in real world settings.
First students will read the book! This is perfect for ages Pre-K - Kindergarten. 
Then students will create their own shirts and decorate them with buttons. Depending on number rolled on the dice, is how many buttons students will subtract, or take away.
You can check out the full activity here:
MODIFICATIONS
The best part of this activity is I think you can modify it to adding as well as subtracting, and in addition to that I think this activity could work on grouping and learning how to do "quick math" that they are learning in 1st grade. In the first grade classroom that I work in, the teachers stress that the students be able to look at groupings of numbers and add or subtract them quickly. I think this could be a great advancement to the game. There could be two dice rolled, and the two numbers rolled would be the number of buttons they would add. The buttons could be great manipulatives for students to visualize them quickly.
In addition, there could be more advanced books and ways to creatively connect reading with math! I can't wait to be creative and have these type of ideas in the back of my mind as I become a teacher and start creating my own lesson plans!
Hey Makenzie - I love this idea! I work with preschoolers now and they LOVE Pete the Cat. Anytime we do any sort of educational activity related to something they like whether it's a book, superhero, dinosaur or something completely random, it TOTALLY works. We did a similar type of activity with my preschoolers once around the winter holidays. We read a book called "The Mitten" and then we had our preschoolers make their own mittens with construction paper. They each student was given a different number from 10-20, and that's how many dots they would put on their mitten. It was a fun way for them to incorporate arts and crafts into math, because they didn't really feel like they were doing "work."
ReplyDeleteI like the fact that an activity like this can be modified to incorporate different concepts in math as well. It can be used to teach basic operations like addition, subtraction, etc.
Looking forward to reading your next post!
-Prianka
Thank you so much Prianka for your feedback! I really like how you use this with your preschoolers, and it reassures me that an activity like this actually works! I think literature is so important and can always really be tied into math!
Delete