Saturday, 31 October 2015

Easy Place Value Math Games For Elementary Kids

First, let us understand what place value is before doing any place value math games with our kids. Place value is the value of a digit based on its location in a series of numbers. Let me illustrate to you the concept of place value which you and your kids can easily comprehend.

Let us take the numbers 1 to 0 as an example and line them up like this:

1,234,567,890

Let me show you the place value of each number in the above series:

  • 1 = Billion/s
  • 2 = Hundred Millions
  • 3 = Ten Millions
  • 4 = Millions
  • 5 = Hundred Thousands
  • 6 = Ten Thousands
  • 7 = Thousands
  • 8 = Hundreds
  • 9 = Tens
  • 0 = Ones

It would be easy to create place value math games for your kids! Here are some of them which you can do at home:

  1. Get out that old set of playing cards and separate the Jacks, Queens and Kings and use them as zero (0). Also, use the Ace cards as No. 1. Then announce the numbers you want them to create, example: Two Thousand Three where they will have to pick out the following cards: 2, Jack, Queen, 3 or Twelve Thousand Ninety with the cards Ace, Two, Jack, Nine, Queen or Ten Thousand Fourteen can have two correct sets of cards: 10, Jack, Ace, Four or Ace, Jack, Queen, Ace, Four. Kids will have a fun time with this game and to make it harder you can require that the numbers should only be in the same suit.
  2. You can also cut out colored papers (2 x 3 will do) or index cards then give your kids 10 pieces each and a pen. You can write down 10 numbers in words on individual sheets of typewriting paper. Then show these to all the kids one at a time, the first kid who finishes writing down his answer must run to you and show you his answer. If the answer of the kid is correct he will leave the sheet of paper on the table and the rest of the kids must hold on to their answers. However, if the answer is wrong the next kid who has an answer must come forward to present his answer. After all the 10 numbers in words have been gone through, the kid with the most number of index cards on the table wins.
  3. You can collect 4 or 3 different sizes of bottles caps of 10 caps per size. Label the caps from 0 to 9 per cap size. The biggest sized caps will be the thousands place value, the next in size will be the hundreds and so on. You and your kid can play one-on-one with you announcing the number you want your kid to create and then using the bottle caps your kid can arrange on the table the correct number sequence. This will help you train your kid on place value concept but with speed and accuracy.

You can device other easy place value games using homemade equipments, scrap materials, old toys and/or tools. One good example is using an old dart board label each segment as ones, tens, hundreds, etc. Then you can ask your kid to throw the number of darts that should land at a specific segment after you have announced the number you want. Example: Three hundred twenty-two - there should be three darts in the hundreds place, 2 darts in the tens place and two darts in the ones place.

What is important here is to be able to train and practice your kids through easy and fun games so that they will be able to easily grasp the concept of place values in mathematics.

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Thursday, 29 October 2015

Math Activities - One-to-One Correspondence

The concept of one-to-one correspondence requires two skills: (1) matching pairs and (2) comparing sets. Matching places two like items together as a pair while comparing determines which set has more or less. In these projects, the key is to focus on the language, emphasizing mathematical terms.

Books to Read
The following books teach one-to-one correspondence using stories. I love the impact a story has on understanding, and these books do a great job of packaging the mathematical ideas in a way that young children can comprehend.

Two of Everything: A Chinese Folk Tale by Lily Toy Hong
Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault
Seaweed Soup by Stuart J. Murphy
A Pair of Socks by Stuart J. Murphy
Missing Mittens by Stuart J. Murphy
Monster Musical Chairs by Stuart J. Murphy
Just Enough Carrots by Stuart J. Murphy
Some Things Go Together by Charlotte Zolotow

Projects to Learn Matching

Project #1
Take opportunity to point out situations where there is a matching set. Word emphasis: match, even, pair, each.

  • There are three cups and three straws. It is even.
  • Three children and three cookies. It is a match!
  • A pair of socks for your feet. One foot for each sock, and one sock for each foot.

Project #2
Provide the following items and allow the children to sort into pairs. Word emphasis: pair, match.

1 ice cube tray
2 screws
2 washers
2 electrical circuit binders
2 matching butterfly clips
2 matching hair pins
2 pennies
2 matching buttons

Project #3
Have a tea party with stuffed bears. Set one place setting for each bear. You could say, "One seat for each bear, and one bear for each seat." Word emphasis: each.

Project #4
Serve a lunch with matching shapes to make their own snacks. I used cookie cutters to cut the bread, cheese, and lunch meat into matching shapes. I provided at least two different shapes so that they would have to find the match in order to build their sandwiches. Word emphasis: match.

Project #5
Play the memory game. Word emphasis: pair, match.

Projects to Learn Comparing

Project #1
Take opportunity to point out situations where there is not enough or there is too much to go around. Word emphasis: more, less, fewer, even.

  • Oops, I grabbed one straw too many. There are three cups and four straws. There are more straws than cups.
  • We have six chairs at our table, but only four people in the family sitting at the table. That leaves two empty chairs because there are more chairs than people.
  • Today we have company, so we have eight people and only six chairs. We have fewer chairs than people, so we will need two more chairs.
  • Three children and four cookies. There are more cookies. If I eat one, it will be even.

Project #2
Invite the children to collect toys to put inside two hula hoops. Then count to see which hula hoop has more toys and which has fewer. Ask, "Which set of toys has more? Which set has fewer?" Word emphasis: set, more, fewer, even.

Project #3
Pour two cups of water and compare the volume. Which cup has more? Which has less? Word emphasis: more, less, even.

Project #4
Make sugar cookies and put chocolate chips on the frosting. Compare two cookies to see which has more chocolate chips. For an added lesson, determine how many chocolate chips need to be added to make them even. Word emphasis: more, fewer, even.

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Drama Lesson Plans For Math?

With so much to cram into our daily classroom timetables, it is often difficult to set aside a specific time to formally teach drama skills, find a play script, assign roles, rehearse and perform. With a little creativity, however, it is possible to integrate drama play into the other areas of the curriculum. You can reinforce learning in many subjects through focused drama lesson plans.

Start with Drama Skills

If we were presenting a drama workshop for the students, we would want to cover skills such as:

  • Voice Elements (volume, projection, timbre, diction, dialect, tone, pitch, articulation, pace)
  • Body Language (stance, gestures, breathing, facial expression)
  • Emotion (anxious, ecstatic, fretful, deliriously happy, bored ...)
  • Role (teacher, car salesman, fairy tale ogre, 3 year old child, lottery winner, gum chewer)

All of these skills can be presented and practiced by including them in a cross-curricular drama activity.

Drama Lesson Plans for Language Arts

This is the easiest of the subject areas to work in since most of us would consider drama to be part of our language
arts program. There are informal ways to incorporate drama skills into some unexpected topics.

For example:

Spelling B-mote

Practicing spelling can be more fun when students are asked to use the various dramatic methods when spelling their words.

Voice Elements

- vary the tone, pitch, volume, speed ....

- add hesitations and a gesture to show syllable breaks

- speak with an accent

Body Language

- move body to illustrate the character of each letter as the word is spelled

for example - a swaying movement for the fluid letter 's' or stiff with arms out for the rigid letter 't'

Movements do not have to show the shape of the letter, but rather the "feel"

- perhaps a punch in the stomach for the letter 'f'. Students should be told that there is no right or wrong to their choices for each letter.

Emotion

-spell the word using the emotion suggested by the teacher or leader

-spell the word using the emotion suggested by the word e.g. 'worry'

-spell the word using the opposite emotion suggested by the word e.g. 'boring'

-for difficult words - assign a specific emotion to individual students and go down the line spelling the same word in the different emotions

Role

spell the word as if:

-you just won 3 million dollars

-you are 3 years old

-you have a mouth full of jelly beans

-you are the ogre hiding under the bridge

Many of these methods can be used for rote learning in other areas such as multiplication facts or formulas in math.

Drama Lesson Plans for Math

Body Sculpture can add some laughter to a geometry review of 2D and 3D shapes. Divide the class into groups with enough students to make the shapes that you are working on. Groups must try to be first to correctly make the shape called out by the teacher or leader.

-make a rectangle, square, rhombus .....

-make a cube, sphere, tetrahedron .....

-make a cube with a cone inside, square inside a sphere ......

Can you think of a way to use this for reinforcing the concepts of perimeter and area with an integrated lesson plan?

Drama Play in Science

This could be used for review or as another take on the research project! If for example you were working on an animal unit, pairs of students could be assigned one animal to research, but instead of presenting their findings in a written report or display, they would present a short skit. Set out the requirements for the task. In the play, the humans must run into the creature in the wild, showing its natural habitat. Through costume and dialogue the students must reveal why they are there (hunters, hikers, scientists, swimmers ..... ). Details about the animal's appearance, behavior, food, etc. must be given and the "plot" should make clear the results of contact between the humans and the animal.

Add a little drama to learning. It's fun to spice up lessons in science, math, social studies, physical education and some of the other unusual suspects.

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