Personal Objective: This week I chose to explore teaching 4th grade basic geometry (points, lines, line segments, rays, angles). While I feel I have a decent handle on this subject area, it was a good refresher as I start to think of how I might present such concepts to my future students. My goal was to find resources that clearly depict the subject matter in order to make it accessible to students.
Common Core Standard:
4th Grade: 4.G
1. Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.
Activity Worksheets:
Reflection: As I explored several resources for identifying points, lines, line segments, rays and angles, it was immediately evident to me that good visual aides would be an essential part of ensuring students understanding of the subject matter. I particularly liked the simple key I found along with the idea of building a fun competitive game like BINGO around the content. I think the game presented the information in a manner that would engage students. I also felt that the worksheets I found were straight forward and effective tools that would assist with identification though practice. I know that for myself as a learner like many, I need to master and feel confident in simple tasks before I am comfortable to move on to more complicated ones. Spending adequate time to make sure students understand these fundamental areas of geometry will make certain they have a good foundation to grow from.
I also love the Bingo-- I think games are are great way to practice new content and get comfortable with it, as well as provide a kinesthetic experience to think back on when trying to recall information. To build on that, it would be cool to incorporate something on a grander/real life scale-- like a scavenger hunt where items are found at different angles to the previous point, or recreating a road map of a neighborhood. One of the ideas I've been grappling with is when we introduce this initial content of angles, rays, points, etc., if we want to allow students to struggle and think creatively through it, what would be the very first thing we introduce? How would we implement worksheets and videos like the ones you've posted in an order that explains new content, but still leaves space for exploration and cognitive flexibility?
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that you decided to tackle geometry so early in the semester. Way to go for that! I love your inclusion of games and all the different ways to introduce geometry which can be very scary for some students and even adults. I feel as though we sometimes don't even realize what we are doing is geometry because I know I don't remember classifying math as geometry until hs when I dreaded it, but this version of geometry was fun and simple and easy to grasp. A solid basis in geometry is so important for learning in the future.
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