Featured Topic: Investigating Growing Patterns

Introduce elementary students to the concept of functions by investigating growing patterns. Visual patterns formed with manipulatives are especially effective for elementary students and allow them to concretely build understanding as they first reproduce, then extend the pattern to the next couple of stages. Finally, students explain the pattern in words and try to write a rule that works for any stage. See Investigating Growing Patterns for specific suggestions on using these patterns to help elementary students develop a concept of functions. The article includes activities with handouts that teachers can use to introduce this topic to elementary students. A Function Scrapbook of function ideas is included and examples of function problems created by elementary students will be added as they are completed. Literature connections and web links to relevant sites on the internet are also included in the article.

Earth Day Math Activities In a time when environmental activists are urging every American to make small changes, these PBS Mathline activities focus on mathematical investigations of earth-friendly practices, including energy usage and recycling. They provide real data and encourage students to follow the data trail through time in hopes that they will be prompted to take action. See more Earth Day Math Activities.

Using Who Has? Decks to Practice Basic Facts Once students have developed conceptual understanding of the basic operations they need to develop fluency with the facts. One quick way to include daily practice and motivate students to master these basic facts is through the use of the Who Has? card decks. These decks can be created for virtually any topic and frequent use as both a whole class practice or as a center activity for partners or small groups will provide facts practice in a highly-motivating format. Who Has? Activities includes a discussion of Classroom Management Strategies and additional classroom-ready decks.

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