The Geometry lesson was designed to integrate math literacy with geometric shapes, specifically triangles for a 4th grade classroom. The lesson was toward the end of the year so students were able to use prior knowledge with the math story identifying character traits and knowledge about line segments and angles. We watched a video animation to introduce the learning objective on classifying triangles. I followed up with a read aloud, the Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns. We had a lot of fun during the read aloud as students predicted the next shape and turned and talk about the character traits of each shape. They were fascinated about how the visuals of shapes in the book related to the real world.The book mentioned the relationship between dancing and creating triangles with your arms. Yes the students began to dance with their hands on their hips representing the triangles. After the read aloud, one student noticed triangles outside the classroom on the garages. This led to the classroom looking out the window for more triangles. They were able to see them in windows, back porches, etc. Their angles, lines, line segment connections to the lesson and visual made for a proud teacher moment. Students were given random paper triangles and their task was to identify the triangle, give it character trait, write a story about it, and create a face body for their triangle. Their stories were funny. The discussions and enthusiastic collaboration prior to completing the assignment made it a lesson to remember. Their eyes were ready to see triangles as they left school for the day. Dancing with their hands on their hips will never be the same. Team 202 rocks!
Big 5 Themes of an amazing STEM lesson:
Real World Connections- students applying their classroom knowledge to a situation that they may encounter in their everyday life.
Student engagement- sparks student curiosity through inquiry based activities that allows them to discover new content.
Interdisciplinary- see the overarching connections between different subject areas by completing a project that integrates various disciplines.
Bodily-Kinesthetic - lessons which allow learners to move around to explore, including their environment outside the classroom. Meets the need for non-traditional learning styles.
TPACK- Merging our pedagogy and content knowledge expertise to repurpose a piece of technology that can transform a traditional approach to the content area.