5 Maths Gems #14

Welcome to my 14th weekly gems post - this is where I characteristic 5 of the best teaching ideas I've seen on Twitter each week.

You may or may non know that I've been writing these posts spell I've been at domicile on motherhood leave. My babe keeps me busy during the day, but my evenings are blissfully costless from marker too lesson planning hence I induce got a rare chance to reverberate on my teaching too get together novel ideas. It's a shame that all teachers can't accept a mini-sabbatical every 5 years to produce the same. When I become dorsum to function inwards Jan I'll induce got 100 maths teaching gems inwards my toolkit - it volition live on difficult to know where to start! 

1. Two Truths too a Lie

Two Truths too a Lie is traditionally an icebreaker game - somebody tells y'all 3 facts near themselves too y'all guess which 1 is the lie. For instance my blood brother mightiness tell y'all that he was 1 time bitten yesteryear a donkey, he was 1 time bitten yesteryear a serpent too he was 1 time bitten yesteryear a monkey. Bizarrely, solely 1 of those statements is a lie. So let's accept this game too plow it into an action that prompts mathematical discussion.

This thought came from a tweet yesteryear @TCM_at_NCTM:

Polygons (source: mathsisfun.com)

This tweet made me realise that I'm guilty of lazily telling my students that polygon is 'just approximately other word for shape' when inwards fact I should live on to a greater extent than specific - a polygon is a 2D figure amongst at to the lowest degree 3 at 1 time sides too angles (the word derives from the Greek 'many-angled'), hence a circle is non a polygon.

The ii truths near quadrilaterals ('a foursquare is a rectangle' too 'a rectangle is a parallelogram') volition also prompt interesting discussions near definitions. The quadrilateral solid unit of measurement tree mightiness assistance clarify things. The Euler diagram below is also helpful. 

Quadrilaterals (source: Wikipedia)

Here's a span to a greater extent than examples of mathematical 'Two Truths too a Lie' activities:

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 related idea, Maths Lies (where the instructor tells 1 deliberate prevarication per lesson - run across my first gems post) is even hence 1 of my favourite teaching ideas ever.

xkcd.com

2. Wikipedia and visualisation

From 1 to 1,000,000' from Gems 7 near Estimation 180). Show your students the dotty pictures hence they learn a practiced feel of the magnitude of numbers. 

The epitome to a higher identify reminds me of the 'If the World Were a Village of 100 People' visuals I talked near inwards Gems 1 - this is a nice means of conceptualising information that mightiness assistance students sympathise percentages.

3. Creative Mathematicians

Thanks to @gareth_metcalfe for sharing this bright video 'What is a mathematical proof?'. The video explains why mathematicians pass most of their fourth dimension trying things that don't work. Students are oft reluctant to examine a dissimilar approach if their outset examine at answering a inquiry is a dead end. Show this video at schoolhouse to encourage your students to live on creative inwards their mathematical thinking. 

4. Communicating Reasoning
Continuing the theme of encouraging students to examine diverse approaches to solving problems, bright NQT blogger gems post (unlucky 13) was my most pop post ever, amongst almost 2,000 views inwards a week. I also wrote a post on circle theorems final calendar week that I was peculiarly proud of. I beloved my gems posts too my resources library, but it's my topic specials that I mean value people volition discovery the most helpful. I similar to mean value that novel or latterly qualified teachers volition actually produce goodness from these posts when planning to learn a theme for the outset time. 

If y'all similar my weblog hence delight vote for it inwards the Great Britain Blog Awards (click hither to vote). There are over fifty blogs inwards the freelance educational activity category too solely 10 volition become through to the side yesteryear side stage. My weblog is tiny compared to the super-successful, well-established blogs I'm upwardly against. I've solely been writing it since Apr but I've done a lot inwards that fourth dimension - I set my pump too soul into it, hence if y'all discovery it useful hence your vote would live on real much appreciated.

Finally, produce y'all receive Chris Smith's (@aap03102)  weekly newsletter?  If y'all don't already subscribe hence email him at nowadays to learn on the mailing list. This calendar week he featured Pret homeworks which y'all should accept a await at if y'all haven't seen them before. Chris also featured the fantabulous puzzle below, which I'm looking frontward to giving my students when I provide to function inwards January.