I use base ten blocks to introduce the concepts of area multiplication. I have found that giving students a hands on model really helps the visual spacial learner. By teaching multiplication with an area model it really helps explain the algorithm students are taught when memorizing the rules. Why teach the rules when you can really teach how and why something works!

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My students love doing Line Designs or any Math Art activity! I strongly believe MATH PLUS ART EQUALS MOTIVATION! I like to teach Line Designs the week before winter break as a class reward. I have noticed that having students do this activity can really motivate students with future assignments! Doing a few simple Math Art projects during a school year can really reach the visual-spacial learner and reach multiple intelligences. I strongly believe that when you do a fun class reward like this, students who dislike Math, begin to like Math because they are doing something they enjoy. It also looks great on bulletin boards!

This animated Math Slideshow teaches how you create beautiful Line Designs. Line Designs are geometric patterns formed entirely by the use of straight line segments that produce the illusion of a curve. Line designs look very complicated. However they are relatively simple to do.

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When I teach Combining Like Terms I pass out Algebra Tiles which really helps the hands on learner visually see what an "x" is. I work with some teachers who don't use these (manipulatives can be messy) but I have seen their students struggle with combing like terms over and over, and they end up spending more days teaching it than they need to. I use the first lesson to introduce Combing Like Terms using Algebra Tiles. If you don't have these you can have your students make them just google it for a template. The algebra tiles will be used in furture lessons including solving one step equations and multiple step equations. You could also use them for integers. There is a worksheet that goes with the lesson on Combining Like Terms and after the students use the manipulatives they are drawing pictures of the algebra tiles. The time spent on this really helps future lessons. I really feel it is so very important to teach to all of the learning modalities in the classroom, so doing an activity that is hands on can really help the visual spacial learner. By using a hands on model like this, it really bridges the gap to algebra and is very important for future lessons.

Combining Like Terms Using Algebra Tiles PREVIEW

To introduce the Circumference of a Circle Discovery lesson I read the book Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi. It is a really great story, and helps students remember vocabulary concepts such as the difference between circumference, radius and diameter. The characters have these names. I start the book, and don't tell the students we are discovering pi. 

I get to the part in the book where it says: "Measure the middle, and circle, around, divide so a number can be found. Every circle great and small, the number is the same for all. It's also the dose so be clever, or a dragon he will stay forever."

Students get very excited about this, so we do the circle discovery activity next, where they measure the middle of circles, measure the outside of circles, and divide the circumference by the diameter. After trying all different size circles students discover pi. 

The next day we finish the book and learn more about pi and circumference. At the end of the book there is a really great example of how the fraction 22/7 is approximately pi. In future lessons I explain to them that 22/7 is a terminating decimal, and not exactly pi, and that pi is an irrational number that goes on infinitely forever. I explain to them that 22/7 is the closest fraction to the non-terminating non-repeating decimal pi.   

The book was created by: Cindy Neuschwander. She is also the author of many other fabulous books which go in a series with this book. I highly recommend it. My students love this story!

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When I teach the topic of integers I start with a hands-on model, which is interactive with students using algebra tiles or tile spacers at their desk and using an interactive website that involves virtual manipulatives. This is really useful for the learner who needs to visually see what a positive and negative is and the operations involved with integers.

The next day I teach integers using a vertical number line so that students can relate the concept to real life, such as being on an elevator. Most textbooks teach integers with a horizontal number line. I introduce integers with a horizontal number line but then discuss the benefits of using a vertical number line. In doing this, students see the content standard in multiple ways and it reaches all types of learners in the classroom.  

Add Integers Using a Number Line PREVIEW

The next lesson involves the rules and using what we have learned and discovered. After several days of seeing the concept differently students can really understand why subtracting a negative is really adding a positive (and not just memorizing the rules.) So with all of my lessons I try to meet the needs of all types of learners and reach all learning modalities. Most importantly, I don’t just tell my students to memorize the rules, I let them discover the rules and I always show they why something works. This is very powerful in a Mathematics classroom! 

Here is an example of the interactive website below.  Students love doing this activity and it really helps visualize the abstract concept of integers, which can be challenging for many students when it comes to subtracting integers. I love the fact that it shows negatives as "in the red" and positive as "in the black." I talk about these concepts in the Math Slideshow called "Add Integers Hands On Model." It is also the perfect model for subtracting integers because students can visually see that when you subtract a negative it is the same as adding a positive. Students can visualize this concept because they add in zero pairs or a neutral field (one + and one -) to be able to take away values. They can see that when you take away something, you are actually leaving something behind (or adding in something.)

This is taken from the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

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