PLP #4: More Drama and Math Practice 4

Today I came up with an extension for the activity I devised in my first PLP post. As a refresher, that activity was a drama game for math where the students would act out a word problem that was given to them. Today I have devised an extension that I hope would focus on Math Practice 4, modeling with mathematics. Here is the activity:

Students work in groups of two or three. They are given a straightforward problem (e.g., 5 + 7, 20 X 5) and they must come up with a real-world situation in which they would have to apply that math. They then act out this situation for the class and we discuss and solve the problem as a whole class. 


5 + 7 example: 

Jonathan is setting up for his birthday party. 5 kids from Ms. Ganley’s class are going and 7 kids from Ms. Posada’s class are going. 

            Dialogue:
                        Jonathan: I’m so excited for my party!
                        Mom: Let me help you set the table.
                        Jonathan: Ok! So, five friends from Ms. Ganley’s class are coming and 7 friends from Ms. Posada’s class are coming.
                        Mom: Ok. 7 and 5. So how many places do we need?

 

This would then be opened up for the class to discuss and solve together.



Reflection:

As hard as I try, I can’t help but always circle back to integrating drama games and exercises into “academic” activities. I think I’ve done something theatrical every single time I’ve had to construct a lesson plan. Because of my background, I know this will be a large part of how I teach my students. I truly believe that theater can be used to teach other subjects extremely effectively. Bringing this back to math, I think it is really helpful for me to put that to the test by trying to devise these activities with the standards in mind. Obviously, I will be required to include these in my teaching and maybe it is possible to “have it all” so to speak. I can include drama and math practices as well as effectively teach content. I know this is something I will need to keep exploring though.

Comments

  1. Ana J SpencerJune 8, 2021 at 2:20 PM

    Love it! I believe its how you can be the best mathematician educator you can, and through fun you will be able to developed many little mathematicians who will cross your classroom. Love it love it love it!

    ReplyDelete

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