It's been awhile since I had an actual post for Math Monday. This week we focused on the letter Gg and I got the idea from letteroftheweek.com to teach some "greater than" math. The game that follows was my own creation.
This is a really simple game. I just took a half a sheet of paper and wrote "Greater Than Game" on it with a > under it. Then I drew some lines to create a little chart called "Greater Than Facts." In order to play the game the girls each get to roll one die. We then bring the dice into the middle of the table to compare the amount of dots. We then put the dice on the Greater Than Game paper with the die with the most dots on the left side of the paper. Then we say, for example, "5 is greater than 1." I then wrote the numerals in the chart and the girl who had rolled the larger amount received a "stick." If the girls rolled equal numbers no one got a stick (I debated with myself whether to give them both a stick or neither. Still not sure if that is the way I like it) and we wrote it at the bottom of the game chart, "6=6"
The girls really seemed to like this game, they have asked to play it two times since.
Some other math we did this week was with the science "experiment" of making goo. First we needed to measure how much corn starch was in one box. I measured 1/4 cup at a time, showing them that it took 4 to make a cup.
We discovered there were 3 cups of corn starch in the box. Then I had to divide it into 4 parts. So I drew 3 cups divided into quarters. I shaded each 3/4 of a cup with a different pattern to show we needed 3/4 of a cup 4 times.
Not sure if they had any clue what I was doing or if it makes sense to anyone else, but it makes sense to me.
A friend and I were just talking about the corn starch stuff yesterday! I have the kid Concoction book and I can't remember what they called it. But, her son had a Spring Break camp at the Science Center and they Read the "ooblek" Dr. Seuss book, made the cornstarch stuff and called it Ooblek. We're gonna need to try it here, b/c my book says that it changes from a liquid to a solid back into a liquid.
ReplyDeleteThat math game is such a great idea! I will have to keep it in mind for when my kids are older.
ReplyDeleteI loved the cornstarch goo when I was younger. I tried to make it once a long time ago, but it didn't work out. Another think I will have to try when the kids are older.
This is really cool!! Found you through the blog hop and hoping you'll follow me back, as I'm your newest follower. :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://helpfuldaddy.blogspot.com
New follower via blog hop. Hope you will follow me too @ http://masalabowl.blogspot.com/2011/03/day-290-blog-hops.htm
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you've broken down the greater than game so that the children can focus on just the greater symbol. I usually have two numbers and have them choose which way but I like the idea of using the dice to move back and forth. Also love how you broke down the measuring so it's visual for the kids. Sometimes, I need to break things down more but for some reason my brain doesn't work that way. I'll keep this in mind next time we bake!
ReplyDeleteLove the greater than game. So simple for young kids to start understanding how to use it. Thanks for submitting it to the Math Monday Blog Hop!
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