Math Activity: Part 2

Yesterday I posted the first 5 steps to a math activity.  Below are the next 5 steps to that activity.  According to an article in the Spring 2011 issue of Instructor Magazine, numbers are everywhere, but do our children really notice.


1. Help start a discussion about the project from yesterday. If your child is having trouble explaining the purpose of his or her number, break it into steps. For example, “What is this a picture of?” (a ruler.) “When do we use rulers?” (To measure things.) “So what do the numbers tell us?” (How long.)

2. If your child is more advanced, you might have him or her write the question each number answers (e.g., “How much does it weigh?”), while less advanced children would record the number’s purpose in more general terms (e.g., “weight”).

3. Come together as a family and tell your child, “I’m going to tack up these cards. Let’s sort the pictures of the numbers by the way those numbers are used. I have some blank cards in case I need to make new ones.”

4. Invite each family member to share about his or her picture and then add it to the collection of pictures. As the members of the family describe their numbers, you might need to help them restate the purpose in order to fit the most appropriate category with the rest of the pictures.

5. Encourage you child to comment on the other pictures. If your child agrees with where the other family members place their pictures they can signal with a thumbs up. If the disagree, they should explain why.