MATHEMATICS
I have developed and used a range of different strategies and approaches to make teaching and learning mathematics more enjoyable and fun. Activities that students can relate to and which can be used in everyday life. Below are some examples of some of the various mathematics activities that I have used while at university and in the classroom.
Hands on resourcesBy using hands on activities to teach mathematics I have found that students are more engaged and therefore able to understand the processes more easily. By using physical equipment it works to simplify the working out and allows students to approach mathematical equations step by step.
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Maths Games
I have found that maths games such as buzz and greedy pigs are a great way to get students wanting to learn maths. Students get so involved in playing a game that they do not even recognise that they are learning at the same time.
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Chance and Data
While on placement at Yuille Park I took a lesson on chance and data. I used a method known as 'Grubby maths' which is a rule that is learnt to catch crooks. This got the students attention and made them interested in what they were learning. It was particularly appealing to them as this lesson was taught to a group of boys. The students had to collect data from the newspaper and use the rule log(1+1/n) to fins the likelihood of particular numbers occurring. This lesson assisting me in recognising the importance of ensuring that lessons relate in some way to each student.
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Numbers, patterns and counting
Place Value
To the left is a photo of an activity that was a part of a lesson on place value. Each students would get a number of different smarties (one child who was allergic just used coloured counters). The different colours resembled a different value ie yellow equalled thousands. Students then had to find the number that their collection of smarties made and arrange them as in the photo. They then had to write their number out in words. I believe that this activity was so successful as students were given a task that they had to solve/complete using actual objects (which they got to eat which made the task even more enjoyable).
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Division and Multiplication
On placement at St. John's a range of different hands on activities were used to assist students in learning multiplication and division. They were great to refer back to when students were presented with written questions. This is as I could say to students "You know how to do that! Remember when we did..." and students would say "ah that's right!" and would be able to answer the question.
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Play-doh is a great hands on activity which assists students in understanding concepts such as division multiplication and fractions.
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Fractions
While on placement at St Johns Lutheran school I planned and taught a unit on fractions. This unit involved both a pre and post tests to assess students learning, activities using play-doh, cutting up and creating their own fraction picture, life size number lines and fraction blocks. By the end of the unit students were able to identify the fractions of 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 and 1/5, and a range of different ways that these fractions could be made.
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Money
Learning about money is an essential life skill that students need to learn. While on placement at St. John's we recognised that there was a gap in students understanding of money and that this was an area that we needed to return to. We used a range of different strategies to assist students understanding. Some examples included playing shops, cut and paste activities, ICT activities and a range of games. Even though money had been covered earlier in the year students still needed to come back to it. This assisted me in acknowledging that even if you cover a particular topic at a specific time in the year it is always good to return to it. As different concepts and ideas can be forgotten over time if they are not being used all of the time.
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