I know
that this was supposed to go out on Monday, however, this has been the BIGGEST
week ever. I can’t even wait for the weekend because we are having a gigantic
yard sale this weekend! Ughh! Well, anyways—let’s
get on with the reason why you are here, shall we??
The
next section of math that I wanted to discuss was geometry. Now, I’ve never
been a fan of geometry. It was my least favorite class. You know that teacher
that really made you not like learning—well I
had that one freshman year in this area. So, I wasn’t thrilled when this
section came up, but I thought I’d go in with an open mind!
The
professor took a different approach with teaching geometry than most others
would have. Granted there was still some really crazy theorems that I had no
clue about being done on the board, but there was some things that I could do
(with the help of my friend Latoya from Flying into First!).
We
used origami. I really loved how he could incorporate geometric terms with the
paper folding art. He even told how he could get something like 270 geometric
terms into one origami piece! It was really more than, “Okay guys, fold it hot
dog style. No, Johnny not hamburger style!” I thought to myself that it was a
great way to get those artistic and kinesthetic learners interested and to keep
them on task.
And
friends, if you are not great at paper folding, no worries! There are so many
tutorials and videos for it that you really just have to follow along or help
the kids. When you do a diagonal fold, however, discuss that fractional or even
the equivalent parts. Discuss symmetry or the new shapes that were created. Check
out this site for some ideas.
Another
thing that I really enjoyed and will be adapting into my classroom was the use
of scavenger hunts. We had to go out onto the campus and find examples of
quadrilaterals, polygons, hexagons, octagons, rectangular prisms, etc… It was
great to see how I could check for understanding of concepts with this. Since I
teach ELA and SS, I envision using this for grammar or writing styles. I could
even use it to have students find examples of how history has impacted our
society today! I’m very excited to try it out in my room. You can get your own
copy of a Geometry Scavenger Hunt here! 
Another
thing that we got to rediscover was Disney’s Donald in Mathmagic Land! I
remember watching this in elementary school. What a great way to introduce
students to geometry in the world around them and the history behind it! I
would suggest breaking the movie up into small pieces to show to your class. It’s
about 26 minutes long, however, some of the movie needs to be broken down a bit
and some background knowledge might need to be built up. Otherwise, it’s a
great video to get students thinking about the world around them. You can get
your own copy on Amazon right here!*This post contains affiliate links.
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