This week's focus: Inquiry

This week I am hoping to incorporate more inquiry in my lessons, specificially in my onlevel classes. This week we are learning about circumference and area of circles, and rather than just teach them the formulas, I thought it would be more meaningful for them to actually experience it.  It is also a great unit to read some story books - like Sir Cumference and the First Round Table.


Tuesday's plan is to read them the book to help with vocabulary and then have them work on an activity that has them examining the relationship of the circumference and diameter using yarn, and then measuring the diameter with a ruler to estimate the circumference.  I got it from For the Love of Teaching Math, but I can't find the actual file, which is why I haven't linked it.  There are similar activities in her store.

I think the story will help with recall of circle vocabulary and by seeing that a little more than 3 diameters make the circumference will make this "stick" more than me just giving them notes.  We will recap tomorrow's lesson on Wednesday with some quick notes and then some independent practice.

Thursday will also be more inquiry about area. I saw this blog post about using squares that have sides equal the the radius to cover the area of the circle.  I tried this a couple of years ago, but I think I didn't do a great job and the kids didn't understand.  Now I have more background knowledge and more teaching experience, so I am ready to try again!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Math Icon Board

Image
In my job, I am always looking for new ideas to share, whether it is a new activity or a new twist on an established one. Recently I got an email from Matt Miller at Ditch That Textbook with this idea -   an icon board for visual thinking.  I really got me thinking about how it could be used... and what other icon boards could be created. Since I am a former math teacher, that is where my mind heads - to math.  I started looking at the icons in the Insert Icons for Slides add-on, and sure enough, I found plenty that apply to math. So I started adding them, and thus creating my Math Icon Board My goal was to add icons that could be utilized in a variety of math and science classes. Obviously I do not have everything, partly because I couldn't find it or it didn't come to mind during my creation. When students use this, my suggestion is that they copy the icon (either by right-clicking and choosing copy OR hitting ctrl and C keys at the same time) and then...
Read more
Image
Math is Real Life!  It is the first Wednesday of November, which means it is time for Math is Real Life! I actually had an recent experience in my house that I shared with my students how my husband and I used the skill they were learning to make waffles. On Saturday morning tradition is to have waffles or pancakes for breakfast. A couple weeks ago, my husband and youngest daughter decided to make waffles and to use what pancake mix was left in the box.   I was in another room, but when I heard my husband say " 2 times one and a half equals 3", I ran into the kitchen and said "What did you say?" He replied "The recipe calls for 2 cups of mix, but there is 3 cups, so I figured out that 2 times 1 1/2 equals 3, so I will multiply my other ingredient amounts by 1 1/2 to determine what I need".  Well, I was a giddy mess, because in my ACCEL class I was introducing Multiplication of Fractions on Monday.  This is a topic that the kids always question me wh...
Read more

Remote Learning Recommendations, part 1

Now that many of us are in the thick of remote learning, or for those of us in my district, where we are preparing for remote learning, I have come across some great resources that I wanted to share. I am sure that throughout all this that there will be more, so that is why this is part 1. First, I have to say, I love Slidesmania . Her templates are amazing and I am constantly recommending her site to everyone. Right now, her Weekly Planner template is a must for teachers teaching remotely. Check it out! Second, I have seen a lot about educational technology companies reaching out to teachers, schools, and districts with free offers of normally paid versions.  On one hand, that is really cool, but it can be really overwhelming to teachers to decide what new tools to try in their classes.  Edweek  even wrote a very good piece on it. Based on what I have seen, planning with teachers and instructional coaches for remote learning, my recommendation is for teachers to ge...
Read more