I am an intermediate Resource teacher. My kids are all approximately at the 3rd grade level for math. I would really like to do fun math lessons for the last month of school. I am thinking along the lines of hands-on - like a lesson on measurement, then we would make ice cream using our measurement skills. That one is a little involved and costs a little…can anyone help me out with some other ideas? I am not picky as to what strand of math it relates to, just as long as it’s fun and something they can be successful at.
Thanks for the suggestions in advance!
Stacey
Re: Fun math lessons
One thing that I got from Joyce Steeves was to review at the beginning of each class with the “number of the day.” THe simple version is: put the number up there (8 or 3 or *whatever* - something like 8 is good to begin with).
The deal is that you have to make a problem that 8 is the answer to.
You get one point for every + in it, two points for every - in it, 3 points for every x in it and 4 points for every divided by in it. (Hopefully none of your kiddos will think of saying “8 / 3 x 3 / 3 x 3 / 3 x 3…” or you’ll have to say “no repeats!” )
Emphasize their individual fun with it, not competition for who gets the most points (one way to do this is to get a class total), so that when Mary improves her points or uses times for the first time, it’s a big deal even if she’s behind everbody else, every day.
I like a lot of Marilyn Burns’ materials, too, for having fun… just be prepared for eye-opening shock at some of the concepts they really don’t understand.
My dd’s supported math class just did a newpaper stool challenge. Using only newpaper and masking tape, they had to make a stool standing 6” high that would hold the teacher’s weight.
Another fun project is making paper quilts. These look really cool when they are framed or matted and can be hung up on the walls.
One that she did at the beginning of the year was a $25,000 bedroom project. They were given a room size on graph paper and told to look in catalogs, newpapers and the internet for things to put in the room. Their “spending” limit was $25,000 and they had to keep track of how much each item cost, kept a running total, and made sure that all the measurements fit in the room.