Pi Day Circles
Last year for pi day my students and I did the typical math lab of measuring a circle's circumference and diameter. We then divided those two numbers to get, you guessed it, pi! In typical fashion, we went on to find the radius and used all of this information to find the area of each circle. But was I satisfied to have students measure circles made out of paper or common objects such as a butter lid? No, of course not, that's what all the other math teachers were doing! So I went to my dad and asked him to make me circles. Without even asking why, he went to the basement, did some magic things with the tools he keeps there, and came back with various sized circles. He even gave me paint to make them different colors! When March 14th rolled around my students were able to do the lab and actually understand what pi is and how it relates to the area of a circle, and I have a reusable math lab to bring out every year on Pi Day. |
CD Spinners
This little project, like so many others, started with a simple conversation between me and another teacher. We had an abundance of CDs that we no longer needed, and were trying to come up with a use for them (because to just simply throw them away would be so un-teacher like). We decided that they would make excellent spinners for games, but we a bit stuck on how to actually make them spin. We tried putting our finger in the middle, but the edge was just sharp enough to cut through the skin from time to time. We tried putting a pencil in the middle, but this required more coordination than our students possessed. We determined that what was needed was a stand of some kind. I explained the problem to my dad, he went down in his workshop and started cutting, drilling and doing what he does best, and when he emerged I had a cd spinner. I tested it out with my students and they loved it! The cd does come off the stand on occasion, but only when spun a bit too vigorously and it's really just often enough to cause some harmless fun in the middle of the game. The labels are easy to customize using Publisher and a free template from Avery, and the stickers aren't overly expensive. I even make spinners for games that require specific types of dice, rather than cut, fold, and glue the paper versions that come with the game. The spinners are easier to make and much more durable! |
Match Up Boards
This time the idea came from an article in Family Fun Magazine. I liked the concept they suggested, but wanted something that was more durable and easier to change out the sides for large groups of students. This particular project took us a bit more time to perfect, but in the end we came up with a board that holds three cards. The concept is simple: students slide cards with terms, math facts, or other information into one side while definitions, answers, or other options are placed on the opposite. In the center goes a card with the title. Students then use rubber bands to match up the objects or text on each side of the board. Once complete they can flip the center section and the lines are revealed, making the activity self-checking. When placed together the three cards form one sheet of letter-sized paper, so they are easy to make and print. I use these boards to practice our vocabulary (word family bonanza), question words, and parts of speech. I'm even planning to make cards for practicing math facts, academic vocabulary, and other things such as compound words, contractions, even irregular past tense verbs soon! |