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Part 3: The Volunteer Continued….
This is a continuation of the special presentation at the annual conference of the Drill and Kill Math Association of America. This year, the conference planners had brought in a controversial speaker: a recovering math phobic. A heckler from the audience has been brought on stage and the speaker is trying to change his thinking.
“Mr. Spinkelheimer! Watch out! You’re going to hit the easel!” shouted The Phobic as she jumped out to grab the Volunteer’s arm.
“Oh geeze! Now you’re trying to kill me! First some namby-pamby, touchy-feely, glop and now you try to hit me with an easel!” Mr. Spinkelheimer glared at The Phobic while sitting down, panting in the chair facing the audience.
“Mr. Spinkelheimer, I only want to hit you with a few new ideas, not an easel. There isn’t much harm in that now is there? Ladies and gentlemen I would like to direct your attention beyond our beleaguered volunteer to the wicked easel he is facing. This is a felt board easel that would be fairly easy to construct. Imagine your Circle Time or group instruction with small groups of children. This particular lesson may not be as useful for older children, but any time you might be instructing in fractions one could use a similar method. Mr. Spinkelheimer, please open this bag and take out an item.”
“An item? Is there a jellybean in here, maybe a donut?” Sneered The Volunteer as he reached his hand inside bag and drew out an item. “What is this, a whale?”
The audience laughed out loud.
“Ladies and gentleman. I see our good volunteer has a sense of humor which frankly, is a good thing in a teacher. Now, Mr. Spinkelheimer, look closely. I don’t think we have a whale here. I believe we have a fraction!” The Phobic clapped her hands excited and gestured widely with her arms to the easel. “Now, please reach in and take out another item” said The Phobic to her volunteer.
“Oh joy, I hope it’s another whale” said The Volunteer as he reached into the bag and took out another item. “Ah ha!” he shouted. “It is another whale! Wait, maybe it’s a piece of cheese!”
“Mr. Spinkelheimer, you’re getting closer! In fact, ladies and gentlemen” said The Phobic to the audience, “it is a piece of pizza. You know, the ubiquitous pizza fraction, how many pieces does each person get from the circle kind of thingy but with a bit of a twist” She turned back to Mr. Spinkelheimer as he sat sinking lower and lower in his chair.
“Mr. Spinkelheimer, I’d like you to stand up and stretch out a bit and then walk to the board and place your two pizza slices, no anchovies thank you, on the board. One thing you probably would not do,” said The Phobic as she turned again to the audience “is ask your youngest students to stretch. You may get all kinds of amusing movements that don’t resemble a stretch at all. The point here is to get movement into your instruction as well as engaging the students both physically and mentally.”
Mr. Spinkelheimer, the volunteer, placed his slices in each corner of the easel as far apart as possible and then turned and sat again in his chair, glowering at The Phobic, while the audience continued to laugh.
The Phobic, laughing, chuckling, said “This behavior reminds me of when I taught in a middle school. However, as the instructor, my instructions were not clear. I simply said ‘put your items on the board’. If you haven’t done any instruction in making fractions, your pupils may not be able to anticipate what it is you want. This activity can be a review activity or an initial instructional activity. Let’s ask one of my other volunteers to place an item onto the easel and I will demonstrate more explicit instructions.” The Phobic pointed at her young female volunteer. “Charlene, please take one item in the bag and place it on the easel. When you put this on the easel, I want you to make three-fourths of a pizza. Remember, three fourths of that whole pizza.” Charlene quickly and easily got the item, went to the easel and placed her item on the easel while moving the two other pieces together with hers.
“One could vary the complexity of the task depending on the ability of the student. Charlene probably didn’t need that much help, but the directions were easier to understand. You could simply tell some levels of students to make a fraction of a whole with the pieces. Or, have students individually place pieces, not have them put the pieces together and ask them to observe, and make fractions. In conjunction with the movement and mental practice, we can add individual felt boards and then math journals where a child may explain what their fraction is and how they created it.”
“Well hold it!” shouted The Volunteer. “That’s critical thinking.”
“Why yes, Mr. Spinkelheimer, it is critical thinking. Students have to build, examine, write about, and explain a fraction. In this activity’s simplest form students get to manipulate fractions. One can use a variety of visuals and shapes. What one is focusing on here is parts of a whole. You could use felt pieces for younger children or create Velcro strips and Velcro boards where laminated pieces can be easily attached to a square of Velcro or Velcro pieces. Students could easily contain and keep the materials in plastic baggies or folders in their desks. This activity can be used in small groups, individually or even in whole class groups. The cost should be fairly low, though it is labor intensive to create one’s own materials. The advantage of making your own materials is of course, the cost and you can make them customized to what the particular needs of your students are. Once you have a set, it should last for quite some time. One can utilize Fractiles for older children and check local teaching stores and catalogs for prefabricated materials.”
“You know, that’s a good idea. Kids actually get to manipulate the pieces and hold, build and perhaps even enjoy a fraction” mused The Volunteer, Mr. Spinkelheimer.”
“Yes, and that’s the whole idea.”
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