This week we want to share some math ideas with you. And that's what the weekly activity is about, too! Continuing on the theme of using children's interests to develop intrinsic motivation, we encourage you to take a close look at what your children play during outdoor time. This is a valuable time to better understand their interests and even to observe their language skills. It's the time and place to develop academic vocabulary in a meaningful way.
Let's look at an example. A few children might be kicking a ball around. Everyday these same children race to get a favorite playground ball out of the equipment box. Use this in a math lesson. You can talk compare its size to tennis balls, golf balls, ping pong balls, or even a bowling ball. Then continue by having children order the sizes. You can even order them by weight. Develop verbal math skills by having children discuss how this order is different than ordering them by size.
Find other activities you see children engaging in on the playground. If you have a climbing structure, have the class measure the distance between rungs. This helps children see measurement in its real world context. Of course, lots of discussion about terms is helpful, too. Use academic vocabulary like inches, feet, or meters. This will help children develop a frame of reference.
Some children like to gather natural materials outside. Help them use acorns, seedpods, etc. as real-life manipulatives to represent addition and subtraction problems. Or just have them line up fallen leaves and count them.
Math is all around - we just have to look! What a great lesson to instill in children.
Standards Alignment:
NAEYC - 2.F.02 - 2.F.13.
Head Start - X. A., B., D., & E.
No comments:
Post a Comment