4th Lesson: 3 interesting things

25th August 2011

3 Interesting Things

1) Mind-Reader Game

3 - 27

4 - 36

5 - 45

6 - 54

7 - 63

8 - 72


Variety of methods for the “mind reader” to work out the person’s number.

1st Method
Multiply by 10 then minus the 1st number that the person says. For example: 3 would be 30 – 3 = 27.

2nd Method
If the person say 8,
Steps:
8 and 2 put it together as 82
82 - 8 - 2 =72

3rd Method
Multiples of 9.

2) Variation of Word Problems

There are 37 children. 19 are boys. The rest are girls. How many girls are there?
-> This is a part-whole situation because there are 2 parts and a whole.

There are 37 monsters in a game. I shot down 19 monsters. How many are left?
-> This is a change situation because there is a before and after quantity and a final quantity.

The highest level would be the comparison situation because there are 2 quantities being compared.

3) Fractions taught through coloured paper





What struck me during this lesson was that fractions can be taught through the use of such coloured paper and many 'complex' concepts to children could be made simple through the smart usage of these. This is definitely something I would try out with my children!

Reflection:

Being exposed to the various word problems and knowing the variations that should be present for a child to fully grasp the concept of whether it is addition or subtraction etc, it would aid the teacher in understanding a child's mathematical development because of this knowledge. I love the first 'mind reader' game and have tried it out with my children. It has motivated them to learn maths in an interesting way because they feel maths is magic! They strive to figure out the answers and see the pattern in it. It keeps their brain gears going and keeps them brainstorming on different ways to solve these problems.