The following lessons are inspired by children's natural curiosity about fantasy and fairy tales. Specifically, the investigations focus on developing the process of classification, especially an awareness of similarities and differences. The activities use The Three Little Pigs (Galdone 1970) and Cinderella (Grimm and Grimm 1981) to motivate students to think and reason mathematically. This unit was adapted from "A Tale of Two Stories" by Heather L. Giancola, Sylvia P. Maxson, and Virginia Usnick, which appeared in the September 1996 Teaching Children Mathematics, vol. 3 no. 1.
Math Content
In the first lesson, students will:
- develop reasoning skills through the use of Venn diagrams
- identify similarities and differences
- draw and interpret a simple map
- measure distances using concrete objects
In the second lesson, students will:
- generate data through brainstorming
- identify similarities and differences
- use attributes to classify and sort information
Individual Lessons
Lesson 1 - Pigging Out This lesson uses the story of The Three Little Pigs
to motivate students to think and reason mathematically in a
number of ways. Students develop reasoning skills and identify similarities and differences through the use of Venn Diagram. Spatial reasoning is also emphasized in this lesson. Lesson 2 - If the Shoe Fits... Students use classification skills to compare and contrast versions of the Cinderella story. Students identify similarities and differences between two versions. In addition, they use attributes to classify and sort information.
|
|
