Does this pattern BUG you?! Insect Pattern Parades!

Hi All!

Spring is coming. It's warming up and I am spotting bugs and lizards out and about. You can capitalize on kids' interest in insects by doing this pattern activity.

Helping kids look for, notice, and describe patterns is a really important foundational skill in math, particularly to help build a foundation for algebraic thinking. I like to begin by having students build physical patterns with different color and shape pattern blocks. Colored unifix or multilink cubes are great as well. Once students have had experience building physical patterns then you can move to doing some pictorial patterns. The activity below is good for this stage as it allows for a lot of differentiation and it gives them a chance to color, which kids love (and adults too judging from the sales of those adult coloring books!)

1. Give each student a copy of the Insect Parade, crayons or colored pencils, scissors, glue, and a sheet of white copy paper or colored construction paper. Here's a link to this paper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12qVBHTn8XEP08DUSYfOSeV90Oj4dZbfQ/view?usp=sharing

2. Have them choose a distinct color for each insect on the page and color all of the pictures of that insect that color. For example, there are 5 grasshoppers pictured. Students should color all 5 green. All 5 ladybugs should be red. And so on.

3. Once these insects are colored in, have students cut them out on the dotted lines.

4. Now explain to students that they should arrange 6- 8 insects in a line and "put them on parade" - A Pattern Parade. The insect parade should form a pattern. The student should be able to describe the pattern and why it is a pattern. Here's an example:

5. Once they have created a satisfactory pattern have them glue the insects down and compare pattern parades with another student. They should try to guess each other's patterns.

6. Patterns can be increasingly complex as students are able. This can best be done by doing some intricate coloring on the various parts of the insects as seen below. It can also be done by positioning (such as insects facing forward or backward.)

7. These make a great bulletin board display when completed.

Best,

Bob

PS - This is a variation on a lesson I wrote some time ago in Meeting the Math Standards with Favorite Picture Books (Scholastic, 2002).

Comments

What Does Not Belong?

Hi All, "What Does Not Belong" is such a great little concept and can be applied to so many different areas of math as well as other content areas. Great little game when you are waiting, like for buses to be called or for the day to begin. Also a great game for long car or bus rides where if there are no written numbers or pictures you really have to do the mental math. Present a group of numbers. Start with maybe six. Say, 10 56 17 122 4 98 Ask the players to identify which number does not belong and have them explain why. We want players to look at the characteristics of the numbers and compare them to try to find the selection criteria or "rule" so they can determine which does not belong. For example, we have a mix of 1, 2, and 3 digit numbers, so it's not the "rule" is not the number of digits. We have five even numbers and only one odd number. That's it! 17 does not belong, because it's odd. All the rest are even.

EGG BOX SHAKE! IT'S WHATEVER YOU WANT IT TO BE.

Hi All, Shake it up! Egg Box Shake is noisy and fun! That's a big plus right there for most kids. Students like to create and keep their own math tools, and this is a great opportunity to do that as well. And, teachers can adapt the game to fit any level or mathematical operation. Win. Win. Win. Egg Box Shake originated as a coin identification and addition game for grades 1 – 3. I had students bring in an egg carton from home and then provided them with play money or coin stamps, ink pads, and card stock. They stamped out pictures of the coins onto card stock, front and back images, and then cut out the pictures. Students glued these pictures into the bottom of the twelve sections of the egg carton. Each player would get two beads, beans, chips, marbles, or any other small manipulative. They put these into the box and closed it. They then shook the box. When they stopped they opened it and saw where the beads had landed. Players added those two coins o

Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum? No! FIDDLE, FADDLE, FLOP!

Hi All, Ready for another great game? Ready for Fiddle, Faddle, Flop? It's a great game for place value, mental math, and number work. You can play anywhere at any time. All you need is a pencil and paper or board and markers. Tell students that you are thinking of a number. Explain that it has two digits. Invite them to guess the number. You will respond to their guesses by saying one of four words: Fiddle, Faddle, Flop, or Correct. Here is the translation for those words: Fiddle: one of the digits is correct, but is in the wrong place Faddle: one of the digits is correct and in the correct place Flop: none of the digits is correct Correct: both digits are correct For example, if you are thinking of the number 17 and my guess is 68, you would say Flop since none of the digits is correct. On your next guess, if you were to say 76, I would say, Fiddle, because one of the digits is correct, but in the wrong

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