1. J/I – EDUC4334 Summary Points, Early Sessions

2. Early Activity Intentions  The early activities we did—e.g., triangular prism name plate, guess my number, reading a math-related story, using the rope to form angles and going back to early Egyptian times--were intended to illustrate that:  Learning math can be a kinesthetic experience  Connections can be made between math and other subjects (here Language Arts and History, but think of other connections, say to your teachable)  Problem Solving need not be a textbook-based word problem experience  Such activities can be complete in and of themselves, or serve as lead-ins or hooks to a full lesson on the topic

3. Early Summary continued  A quick activity like the “triangular prism” name plate can serve as a:  Beginning of year review of geometric figures and names  A connection to everyday life (like packaging—Why might Toblerone package their chocolate bars this way? – an investigation)  And other ideas I’m sure you can come up with  The Guess My Number activity can be used as a  Review of elementary properties of number  An opportunity to practice a variety of number-related operations or relationships once they are in a number line  A model—change the nature of the “Guessing”

4. Early Summary continued  An activity like reading the story can be used to:  Capture students’ attention and interest in math Same with the “imaging” activity [The word “MATH”]  Highlight particular mathematics concepts  Serve as a lead-in to problem solving  Prepare students to write about their own math experiences, or write short stories that involve mathematics in some way  Engage students in other ways you can think of  There is plenty of children’s literature to draw upon!

5. Early Summary continued  An activity like the 12-interval (13 knot) rope investigation can be used to:  Invoke practical and/or historical uses of mathematics Land measurement, carpentry, and so on!  Serve as a short, interesting hook on its own  Serve as a lead in to a full lesson on specific mathematics topics or concepts. For example (with the rope)— Types of triangles Right angle triangles History: Early Egyptian significance (AND, For Grades 7 & 8: Pythagoras, anyone?) Also for Grades 7 & 8: Properties or relationships between the three sides of a triangle (e.g., Can any 3 lengths be used?)  Get you thinking about other such ideas in mathematics teaching!