Comments on: “Everybody stand up…”

By: Michael Fenton

Michael Fenton — Mon, 23 Feb 2015 00:50:00 +0000

@shouldbequiltin, @mathnerdjet, @mhorley, and @Graham: Thanks for stopping by to read and to comment!

By: Michael Fenton

Michael Fenton — Sun, 22 Feb 2015 03:58:25 +0000

Julie, thanks for the amazing comment! I love that idea of keeping the quickest students engaged. I might push a little further… Maybe five terms beyond the last student. That way the last student gets to share his/her response, then the rest can call out the “five later” response (maybe on the count of three).

By: Julie Wright

Julie Wright — Sun, 22 Feb 2015 03:33:44 +0000

Sounds fun!

Here’s an idea to keep the quickest ones entertained too: Simultaneous contest to predict what number the last student will call out. (Make sure everybody knows how many people will be calling out numbers.)

They could skip-count fast, but probably the winners will be figuring out what f(x) is and then applying it to f(31) or whatever.

Maybe there’s a way to expand this so there’s more than one winner.

I thought of this because my students have trouble making the jump from “y increases by 3 every time” to “this is how y depends on x.”

By: Graham

Graham — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 15:01:20 +0000

I was doing the same thing in 3rd grade a few weeks ago but in small group. I was trying to use patterns that foster algebraic thinking.
One example: we used skip counting by 9 but starting at 3 (3, 12, 21….). As students gave the next number I wrote them down to make the number pattern more accessible. We discussed efficient strategies to add 9 and students described how they’d add 10 to the previous number then subtract 1.
As you begin to dive in to more complex number patterns maybe think about recording the numbers and have students describe their strategy. Kind of like a MathTalk…Just a thought.
Thanks for sharing Michael!

By: mhorley

mhorley — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 10:53:56 +0000

Thanks for sharing. Like you say, these are those magic moments, when teaching is definitely the best job in the world!

By: mathnerdjet

mathnerdjet — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 03:55:22 +0000

Love it! I could use this when we are studying the unit circle. This be a great way to practice those crazy fractions of pi.

By: shouldbequiltin

shouldbequiltin — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 03:48:17 +0000

As I was reading I was thinking about Sadie. I like your version as well. Thanks for sharing.

By: Michael Fenton

Michael Fenton — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 03:37:38 +0000

I’d love to hear how it goes, Frank. Especially if you let your students create their own.

By: Frank Schorn

Frank Schorn — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 03:33:41 +0000

We are going to start equations and expressions. This will be a cool activity for my 6th graders.