Math & Art
Share your project questions, kudos, and concerns.
posted by ASL at 3:23 PM
Friday, October 06, 2006
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Welcome to the Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers Blog. This is the place where students at Seattle Central Community College can discuss their course projects. Please check into the Blog space for your project theme.
28 Comments:
Thats actually kind of what I was going for, sort of a paint by number thing. I will be working with 2nd grade, most likely, so I dont want to make it TOO easy. I am thinking I will just have them color with crayons instead of using cut-outs.
Rachel, stuff like flowers and butterflies are easy to work with too since they are symmetrical, but still have different shapes like leaves, antennae, etc...
Feel free to give me some advice guys!! Anyone wanna make a trip to the math n stuff store one of these days?
Im going to be working with a four year old who does not yet know one to one correspondence, so I found a small preschool level booklet "words and numbers" to use as a tool to get her started at counting. It has a lot of good counting excercises that involve drawing and counting different objects using various shapes, colors, dotted lines and cirlces to represent differnet quantities as well as a few length and distance comparisons. It should be fun.
Idea for one-to-one correspondence: large sheet of paper with numbers in sections; student counts stickers matching them with the correct number then affixes them to make a number chart. The sections then can be cut out and stapled to make a counting book.
Idea for fractions with 5 year-old: fold colored circles and/or squares into halves, quarters, eighths. Child cuts pieces along the folds then pastes them onto large paper to make a picture.
Idea for one-to-one correspondence: large sheet of paper with numbers in sections; student counts stickers matching them with the correct number then affixes them to make a number chart. The sections then can be cut out and stapled to make a counting book.
GREAT idea. I actually talked to the teacher of my pre-k class, and she told me she is getting ready to start doing a project like that. Instead of stickers, she is having them choose something they like, for example, dogs, and drawing them. Its really fun to watch how into it these kids get. Art seems to be their favorite way to learn.
Here is a variation: the counting book can also be designed to help students with their printing and spelling skills. The page would have a number at the top right corner, and at the bottom of the page there are printing lines with the number-word printed with small dashed lines. The student not only makes a picture to represent the number, but also traces the letters and then prints the word next to the one traced.
My subject is 4-1/2 yr old, Molly, who understands one-to-one correspondence. She also knows most shapes, but I want to take this a step further by adding lines (curvy, zigzag) and dimension (i.e.; sphere vs. circle, cube vs. square) but unsure if these concepts are too complex. My thought is that this will help develop her artistic "eye".
I also hope to use the shapes to introduce math functions. (Subtraction Example: Draw 5 squares. Color 2 squares. How many squares are NOT colored?)
Friday I was suppose to get together with one of my peers. But, we had an emergency medical situation where I had to cover a class. So, with all the craziness going on we never got to hook up. I covered 1st/2nd grad class and a 3dr/4th grade class this week.
My subject is 4-1/2 yr old, Molly, who understands one-to-one correspondence. She also knows most shapes, but I want to take this a step further by adding lines (curvy, zigzag) and dimension (i.e.; sphere vs. circle, cube vs. square) but unsure if these concepts are too complex. My thought is that this will help develop her artistic "eye".
I also hope to use the shapes to introduce math functions. (Subtraction Example: Draw 5 squares. Color 2 squares. How many squares are NOT colored?)
I talk to her today and we are going to get together this week. I will get together with a second rgeade and a fourth grade teacher to go over some art I deas as well as the book I have for porjects. We will practice with each other and then I will decide. I am looking at fractions and art. So, it's either 2nd grade or 4th and the decision will be made by tuesday. Then I can pull a student to work with during my tutoring sessions to incorporate math, reading and art.
I am going to be talking to a 2nd grade teacher this week about my project ideas. Any important resources I should think to ask her about???
Decided that I am going to use a butterfly and have the child add the circles on the wings together. For example, if there are three circles on one wing and two on the other, how many circles all together? It will be fun to color the butterfly and cut out the circles as well. The equation will be written on the body of the butterfly.
Banon--please identify yourself so that I can give you credit for your comments.
Idea for one-to-one correspondence: large sheet of paper with numbers in sections; student counts stickers matching them with the correct number then affixes them to make a number chart. The sections then can be cut out and stapled to make a counting book.
I like this idea and i think i'm gonna use it with the "words & numbers" book i mentioned before. between this and the book i should have plenty of ways to help visualize counting with one to one correspondence
This friday I had to take over a class for 20 min. The 1st graders and I did an activity involving numbers and the numbers in starndard form. They had to spell the numbers in the written standard form correctly for a point. I just figure something off the top of my head and show both the numbers and standard form to reconize. They had alot of fun doing it!
I am not doing math and art but I have a pretty cool book that deals with all the different seasons of the year....if anyone would like to look at it let me know and I can bring it to class one day!!!
I went over my peers house who teaches second grade in our school. We practice an activity on how I will presnt to my student that I will tutor. It will deal with place values and a art activity with making butterflies. My student is Dyshea Jack and I will work with her tomorrow. Thanks for your patience!
Sometime this week I will be talking to the teacher I am working with to try to come up with a fun math game. On Halloween they took 2 halves of a paper pumpkin, wrote an addition problem (ex: 2 on one half + 3 on the other half) and fastened the two halves together with a brad. When you open the pumpkin, there is a ghost where they can write the answer. Simple. The kids really enjoyed it :)
A change in my projet. I change the art project from butterflies to Place Value snake.
I am still roving websites & brainstorming for ideas for my project... I know that I want ot incorporate shapes into a final drawing (Mona Brookes' Monart method) but still need to develop the preceeding lesson plan.
I plan to use a children's book with artwork in it to see how students do estimations. The book I have chosen has many items on each page, not too many to count, but, it would be complicated to count. Estimation would be easier and I want to see what strategies students use to estimate if told very little else other than to try to estimate the number of items on a page.
Has anyone bought or borrowed any math and art books?? If so, Id like to take a look at them if you don't mind :)
I plan to pay close attention to the class info on Chapter 9, so far in the homework it has been hard to fathom, with an apparent lack of example. In other words, a few things were described in the text, then so many variations seemed to be requested in the homework, made it seem somewhat confusing. Of course, I could be just making it too complicated. I'll see today in class.
So, I will practice my project on myself this week and time how long it may take to do the project.
I will do the actually project this thursday with my student volunteer johny doesnburg......
I initially intended to do my project next week, but got excited & did it last night. I had my subject practice drawing 10 different hapes/figures on a template provided in the book, Drawing With Children. She really enjoyed it, and got really into it when I told her that each time she practiced it, she would get better and better (ok, AND I sweetened the pot with the promise of a prize- stickers). In all, she completed 3 of the same template exercises & was quite proud of herself.
Another positive outcome of this exercise with my little student (4-1/2 yrs old)- she is a perfectionist & normally becomes quite frustrated with herself if she draws outside the lines, or makes an accidental mark she didn't want. However, the book (Drawing With Children) went into detail about teaching the idea of acceptance, & that even professional painters/artists are not always happy with their work. So when I told her this, using the example of a piece of artwork on the wall, she was so happy see what she thought were "mistakes" in the painting, & to learn that EVERYBODY makes mistakes, & that it's perfectly ok. I think this lesson learned for her was even more valuable than the actual drawing lesson.
One last comment- Molly says that she wants to continue with art lessons! I also think this speaks to her enthusiasm for the exercise. But more importantly, the book cites studies that have shown that developing drawing skills improves performance in ALL academics.
Due to weather and early dismissals from the weeks before. I wasn't able to do the project. I will be able to do it this week thursday or friday! Thanks for everyones patience!
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