Yesterday we hit some very difficult math of the I-can’t-believe-this-is-a-first-grade-curriculum variety: things like 2 + 1 <4 2+ __. (<4 is their notation for “is four less than.”)
Yeah. So today we didn’t open the book at all. Instead we played a math game outside.
An evil wizard made a hidden path along our walk. You could only get across if you stepped on problems that added up to seven. If you took a wrong step, you sank to the bottom of the sea and had to wait to be rescued by a giant eagle. (After it became clear how much fun it was to be rescued by a giant eagle, I hastily added a new rule that you had to summon the eagle by calling out the right answer to the problem you were on.) The eagle took you back to shore to start over. If you successfully reached the evil wizard, he changed the path so that the next time through you had to step on sixes.
Alex is at the age where she likes to make up rules, so she added complicated features like the Row of Fire, the Magic Seed, and the Colin Bridge. Colin just liked to crouch on the ground (as one did when one sank to the bottom of the sea) and call “Flap flap!” so that he could be rescued by the giant eagle.
It was a great way to get some wiggles out, enjoy the lovely fall weather, and practice math facts all at the same time.
?
I have never heard of that notation for “is four less than” (and I can’t reproduce it here, I think, because I can’t figure out how to do little letters or subscripts).
If it’s not an accepted notation elsewhere, I don’t think I like the idea of using it, because it means something to unlearn later.
There must be other creative intuitive ways to express that concept.
2 + 1 with the help of four gets to 2 + ?
Balance scales with 2+1 on one side, showing it 4 lighter than 2 + ?
Cuisinaire rods in two rows, maybe in some kind of frame that has a slider taking up some spaces.
Oh, and I should have said first — I really like your “math games”, and it sounds like Alex does too! Exercise, pretending, colours, and ambient fun for Colin.
When P was a Brownie leader, they were challenged to put physical movement into as many of their activities as possible. She could see that the kids really loved it and got into the activities, and it made a mostly-sedentary evening into a much more active one.
I was thinking today that I could apportion the sides out to two different paper dolls and have one of them say that she wants to wind up with four more than the other. We could use raisins or goldfish crackers as tokens. That would probably make it much clearer.
If I were a certified teacher, I’m sure I’d have tons of alternate ways of expressing math problems up my sleeve, ready to bring out at a moment’s notice. Or even if I were the me from four years in the future, bringing Colin through kindergarten.
As it is, it often takes time for the educational issue to percolate through in my mind so that I can see what demonstration or game would be helpful. I try to tell myself that it’s good to model the idea that you can think about a problem and come back to it with new insights, after it was initially baffling.
Thanks for your kind words about the games. The two biggest advantages I see to using active games is (a) instant attitude adjustment – much more willing to try and take risks, and (b) much less susceptible to disruption from Colin. We can’t really do math bookwork when he’s around, unless Michael is home to look after him. With games like this we have no problems. Alex says the best thing about them is that they are “playing instead of work.” I’ll take that.
MEP? Yeah, we’re also doing Year1 and we just encountered that notation. I stared at it for a good five minutes before I figured out what they meant. I have mixed feelings about it, but I really like the MEP overall, so I’ll just go with it. I feel like it really asks the kids to think, not to plug numbers and that was my main desire from a math program.
The other day, we did math with M&Ms and suddenly it was SOOOO much clearer. Hmm…
http://farrarwilliams.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/why-is-math-easier-with-mms/
I love the game. I’m totally going to use it. Now, where’s my sidewalk chalk…
Sidewalk chalk is one of my most valuable homeschooling tools.
That and, apparently, homemade Liberty’s Kids paper dolls. It TOTALLY worked to have two often-antagonistic paper doll characters squabbling over who would have more cookies. “James has two and one. Sarah just has two so far, but she says she wants four more than James. James says that’s totally not fair, but Sarah says she wants you to do it anyway. How many will you need to give her?” We used pattern blocks for counters because they were handy, but I can definitely see where M&Ms would get even better results.
This sounds like so much fun. Love the Sarah and James story. And the secret pathway photo, with Alex standing there puzzling it out.
Deb
This is wonderful.
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// Or even if I were the me from four years in the future, bringing Colin through kindergarten. As it is, it often takes time for the educational issue to percolate through in my mind so that I can see what demonstration or game would be helpful.
This is one of the reasons I most love reading this blog… not sure how much I’ll retain for the future when I’m doing stuff like this with Ellie, but it’s good to have all these ideas percolating around.