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About Matthew Hiebert
Expertise
education, study strategies, pedagogy, sustainable education, hidden curriculum,
classroom
management, science, math, learning materials
Experience
Extensive experience teaching at the elementary/jr. secondary level, including experience at prestigious international schools; recent work has been as pedagogy specialist and education project coordinator for teacher training projects in east and southeast Asia, and in Latin America
Education/Credentials
M.A., B.Ed. (distinction)
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You are here: Experts > Parenting/Family > Special Education > Teaching Advice > maths
Expert: Matthew Hiebert
Date: 9/17/2008
Subject: maths
Question
please can you suggest a game to be played in a class of 50 students while teaching:
a.)construction of special quadrilaterals such as a rhombus,a square and so on?
b.)cubes and cube roots to class 9th students
Answer
Hi there,
With 50 students, you need to be careful to make sure the game is something which will keep most of the students engaged at the same time... avoid any game where only two students square off at a time while 48 watch.
For the quadrilaterals you could do something like:
-divide the class into 10 groups of 5 (I always aim for groups of 4-6)
-give each group a set of cards representing each of the quadrilaterals, either by picture, or name, or both
-together, review the criteria for each of the quadrilaterals, for example, squares have two sets of parallel sides, each corner is 90 degrees, all sides equal length etc. You might have students write these points on the back of each card as a reminder
-then you can review with them in game format by calling out a set of criteria, and having each group hold up all the cards that fit that set of criteria... for example, if the teacher called out "four sides of equal length", the students would race to hold up square and rhombus as quickly as possible.
-you assign 1 point to the group that has the correct answer raised as quickly as possible... it's a quick way to pack in a lot of practice
-students must hold the cards up clearly for you to see, and you can quickly assess who is correct
-to help manage behavior and complaints about fairness, I tell students that I will always do my best to be fair, and that I don't want to waste time arguing when we should be playing and having fun, so I make a rule that if anyone complains about anything I will deduct one point from their team. If someone feels I have not been fair in awarding points, the correct time to talk to me about it will be after the class has finished. problem solved. I also use this strategy for other behaviors like calling out during the game...
-you can help ensure that it isn't just one student per group working, by having each student in the group take possession of at least one card. That way ALL students must pay attention, and there will be strong positive peer pressure to be fast and correct.
For cubes and cube roots, I'm not sure what you're wanting... is it to teach the concept of cube and cube root? or do you want to drill and practice some common examples? For teaching the concept, I would not recommend a game, I'd suggest some simple visual aids representing numbers as small cubes (3 is 3 cubes, a 3x1 array), and 3cubed would be a larger cube made up of 27 of the smaller cubes... so students can see visually how each dimension is 3, and the total volume is 27 cubic units.
If you want a simple game to review pairs of cubes and cube roots, like 2 & 8 or 3 & 27, you could try "concentration" or "memory", where you have each number on a card, and students tile the cards face down, and take turns over turning 2 cards at a time... if the 2 match, they can keep the cards, if not, they must turn them back face down and the next person takes a turn.
Hope this helps!
Good luck and take care!
Matthew Hiebert
http://www.aroundsquare.com
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