(Try Our
Signature Jigsaw Puzzle -- Item
Code #12MB1W)
For
Creative MATHEMATICS Interaction:
The Case of Johnny S:
(So you want to teach fractions?)
Give Johnny a blank puzzle. At his side are a variety of
art/craft rubber stamps. Ask Johnny to pick a rubber stamp, any rubber stamp. He proceeds
to pick a fish. Tell him to imprint any three pieces with the fish. Now have him break the
entire puzzle into pieces. Ask . . . "Johnny, what fraction of the puzzle has fish on
it?" As predicted, he has no idea how to proceed, but gets you to tell him what to
do. Tell him to ". . . count the pieces". So, he counts the pieces
(physically)
and recognizes that there are a total of twelve. Have him write this number down
(on
scrap) as the denominator of the fraction. Now ask, "Johnny, how many of the twelve
pieces, have fish on them?" Once he says ". . . three", have him write that
number down (or up, as you
prefer), as the numerator. Now, Johnny, tell me what you
determine the fraction to be. Upon glancing at his paper, he can see that he has
"three-twelfths" (3/12) as the proper answer, and tells you so. Johnny, "so
far, so good!" Now, how can we reduce this fraction to what’s referred to as
". . . the least common denominator?" This last question certainly didn’t
make his day. Anyway, "Johnny, physically divide the pieces into groups of three,
keeping the fish in one pile." "How many groups of three do you see?"
"I see four." There you go, you just found the new denominator. "How many
groups have fish?" Of course, the answer’s one. "That’s your new
numerator." So what’s your new fraction, reduced to the least common
denominator? "One fourth" (1/4), he says, with a smile from ear to ear.
This is an excellent way of
teaching an abstract concept . . . "hands on."
For
Creative LANGUAGE ARTS Interaction:
The Case of Sally P:
(Learning sentence structure as your playing a game!)
Don’t give Sally a blank puzzle. The teacher must
first write three different sentences, each of which only contains four words, on a piece
of paper . . . stressing the parts of speech that Sally needs to better understand. Now,
with a variety of colored markers, transcribe each word in a different color
(one word per
piece). Each "part of speech" must be assigned a different color. When there is
one word on each piece of the twelve-piece puzzle, keep the puzzle intact. Show the puzzle
to Sally. Ask her, "Sally . . . What color are the verbs? What color are the
subjects? What color are the adjectives? What color are the adverbs? . . . Etc., etc.,
etc." Once she knows what part of speech goes where, then break the puzzle apart.
Since she knows how to construct a proper sentence, Sally should have no problem
constructing the puzzle . . . and she’ll have fun doing it, too!
This is an excellent way of teaching proper sentence structure . . .
"hands on."
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