Perimeter

On Tuesday, our lesson on Perimeter was a fun one!  We played a cool game that had kids create shapes with 10 pattern blocks, trying to get both the LARGEST perimeter, along with the SMALLEST perimeter.  With their partner, they worked together to put the pattern blocks in variety of arrangements, drawing the final two designs using a pattern template. 

There was a nice buzz going around the room as kids worked with each other.  This continued as we moved on to our journal pages.  During math, we spend time in doing a variety of things, in a myriad of ways.  Sometimes we work as an entire group (working on journal pages on our white board), while other times we work with partners, in small groups, or individually, depending on what we are doing.  Kids can work with me on the carpeting (there’s a lot of room over there!) working directly with me, or in close proximity – just in case they need to ask me a question.  

Kids get to write on the white board a lot during our days together.  Between the projector and my computer, we use this space a LOT!  It’s a powerful tool and I love how kids feel when they work out a problem for their peers.  Bravo!

Our journal pages are checked as we go.  When my famous DOG has been drawn, they know it’s good to go.  Sometimes, the dog doesn’t quite look like a dog.  I can draw it faster than the speed of light (20 years of practice!)…but that’s what it is…a goofy dog that means they finished the page.  J

In the coming weeks, we will be working on the computers in conjunction with our math lessons.  This is new, so I’m not quite sure how it will look yet, but will keep you posted.  The Everyday Math program has a lot we can do on the computer and we will spend time exploring what works best for us.  This will be something they can work on at home too, so as we get settled, look for information about how to log in to our math program from home.