I woke up today really bothered by the fact that I haven't sat down at my computer to post all of the "stuff" that I mentally wrote down in my head. I have lots to share! But somewhere between Report Cards, multiple 1st Grade presentations, Parent Conferences, making a new home for Ocho, and being deathly sick...I haven't had the energy to sit at my computer to make a thoughtful post.
Besides the walking pneumonia, I have another sickness. It's actually one that I look forward to each school year. Her name is Geometry. Year after year I hear my teammates say, "Ehhhh, I hate teaching Geometry!" and I secretly think back to 9th grade when I purposely earned a B- just so that I could take the class over again. I love it so much, I can barely contain myself. Sick, yes probably, but I don't care.
I've attached a document that you can download for FREE! It's a few of my favorite things, tweeked with better fonts and better graphics.
The above docs are probably going to be taken to Kinkos so that I can have them blown up poster-size for student reference. I usually like to teach a mini vocabulary lesson with the "Polygon Names" looking at the prefixes.
You'll need Pattern Block for the "Building for a Dollar" and "Shapes I Used". Students have to create a symmetrical design that uses the mentioned shapes...that will equal $1. It's usually challenging...But once they get the hang of it, they love it! I added the graph this year...We'll see how my kiddos do.
I used a Mira for a class I took in college and I loved it. (Sick). They are small plastic devices used to help students understand the concept of reflections. By placing a Mira on the line, the student can look through and see the image on the other side to draw it. When the Mira is removed, the symmetrical design will be on the other side of the line. (Take a look at the picture below).
I'll post pics of my kids throughout our shape study...Please leave a message and send me links of resources you like to use for teaching geometry!
