5 Maths Gems #14

Welcome to my 14th weekly gems post - this is where I characteristic 5 of the best teaching ideas I've seen on Twitter each week.

You may or may non know that I've been writing these posts spell I've been at domicile on motherhood leave. My babe keeps me busy during the day, but my evenings are blissfully costless from marker too lesson planning hence I induce got a rare chance to reverberate on my teaching too get together novel ideas. It's a shame that all teachers can't accept a mini-sabbatical every 5 years to produce the same. When I become dorsum to function inwards Jan I'll induce got 100 maths teaching gems inwards my toolkit - it volition live on difficult to know where to start! 

1. Two Truths too a Lie

Two Truths too a Lie is traditionally an icebreaker game - somebody tells y'all 3 facts near themselves too y'all guess which 1 is the lie. For instance my blood brother mightiness tell y'all that he was 1 time bitten yesteryear a donkey, he was 1 time bitten yesteryear a serpent too he was 1 time bitten yesteryear a monkey. Bizarrely, solely 1 of those statements is a lie. So let's accept this game too plow it into an action that prompts mathematical discussion.

This thought came from a tweet yesteryear @TCM_at_NCTM:

Polygons (source: mathsisfun.com)

This tweet made me realise that I'm guilty of lazily telling my students that polygon is 'just approximately other word for shape' when inwards fact I should live on to a greater extent than specific - a polygon is a 2D figure amongst at to the lowest degree 3 at 1 time sides too angles (the word derives from the Greek 'many-angled'), hence a circle is non a polygon.

The ii truths near quadrilaterals ('a foursquare is a rectangle' too 'a rectangle is a parallelogram') volition also prompt interesting discussions near definitions. The quadrilateral solid unit of measurement tree mightiness assistance clarify things. The Euler diagram below is also helpful. 

Quadrilaterals (source: Wikipedia)

Here's a span to a greater extent than examples of mathematical 'Two Truths too a Lie' activities:

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 related idea, Maths Lies (where the instructor tells 1 deliberate prevarication per lesson - run across my first gems post) is even hence 1 of my favourite teaching ideas ever.

xkcd.com

2. Wikipedia and visualisation

From 1 to 1,000,000' from Gems 7 near Estimation 180). Show your students the dotty pictures hence they learn a practiced feel of the magnitude of numbers. 

The epitome to a higher identify reminds me of the 'If the World Were a Village of 100 People' visuals I talked near inwards Gems 1 - this is a nice means of conceptualising information that mightiness assistance students sympathise percentages.

3. Creative Mathematicians

Thanks to @gareth_metcalfe for sharing this bright video 'What is a mathematical proof?'. The video explains why mathematicians pass most of their fourth dimension trying things that don't work. Students are oft reluctant to examine a dissimilar approach if their outset examine at answering a inquiry is a dead end. Show this video at schoolhouse to encourage your students to live on creative inwards their mathematical thinking. 

4. Communicating Reasoning
Continuing the theme of encouraging students to examine diverse approaches to solving problems, bright NQT blogger gems post (unlucky 13) was my most pop post ever, amongst almost 2,000 views inwards a week. I also wrote a post on circle theorems final calendar week that I was peculiarly proud of. I beloved my gems posts too my resources library, but it's my topic specials that I mean value people volition discovery the most helpful. I similar to mean value that novel or latterly qualified teachers volition actually produce goodness from these posts when planning to learn a theme for the outset time. 

If y'all similar my weblog hence delight vote for it inwards the Great Britain Blog Awards (click hither to vote). There are over fifty blogs inwards the freelance educational activity category too solely 10 volition become through to the side yesteryear side stage. My weblog is tiny compared to the super-successful, well-established blogs I'm upwardly against. I've solely been writing it since Apr but I've done a lot inwards that fourth dimension - I set my pump too soul into it, hence if y'all discovery it useful hence your vote would live on real much appreciated.

Finally, produce y'all receive Chris Smith's (@aap03102)  weekly newsletter?  If y'all don't already subscribe hence email him at nowadays to learn on the mailing list. This calendar week he featured Pret homeworks which y'all should accept a await at if y'all haven't seen them before. Chris also featured the fantabulous puzzle below, which I'm looking frontward to giving my students when I provide to function inwards January.

5 Maths Gems #57

This is my 57^th update from the basis of Maths EduTwitter. If you're non a tweeter, or if you're wondering whether you've missed anything, here's a summary of to a greater extent than or less of the latest ideas too resources for instruction maths.

1. Artful Maths
Clarissa Grandi (@c0mplexnumber) has created the delightful website artfulmaths.com. It provides resources too inspiration thus that children tin dismiss sense the beauty of mathematics. There's a large department on how to deliver arty maths lessons on topics such equally Celtic Knotwork, Mazes too Labyrinths, too Insect Symmetry. There's likewise display ideas for maths classrooms, guidance on running an origami club, recommendations of puzzle games too lots more. Do cheque it out.

2. GCSE Paper 2
This precious rock has a express shelf life but is withal worth sharing for those of y'all who run across (or email) your Year 11s betwixt at nowadays too their minute GCSE newspaper on Thursday. Numerous helpful teachers convey created 'best guess' papers for the upcoming exam, based on the topics that came upward inward Paper 1. Superstar Emma Bell (@EJmaths) has collated them here. The collection covers both Higher too Foundation for Edexcel, OCR too AQA. It's good worth sharing the relevant papers amongst your students thus they tin dismiss focus their examination grooming on the topics that are most probable to last tested.

Some of these papers are from novel website onmaths.com - this website forthwith marks students' answers thus is peculiarly useful for independent study. Thanks to Nikki (@mathszest) for starting fourth dimension making me aware of this website.

3. Odd + Odd 

I but beloved this cute 'proof' shared by @ProfSmudge.

4. Maths Quickies
The Twitter account @MathsMastery tweets a daily #MathsQuickie like the illustration shown below.

Thanks to Mark Greenaway (@suffolkmaths) for pulling together these questions (and their answers) inward PDFs too PowerPoints - they tin dismiss last downloaded here. 

5. Parallel Lines
Don Steward has shared yet to a greater extent than or less other fantastic resources on his wonderful weblog Median. His PowerPoint too tasks for angles inward parallel lines are excellent.

Update

If you're doing whatever revision amongst GCSE, Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 grade or Certificate of Further Maths students over the coming weeks, create cheque out my growing collection of revision clocks.

If you're currently instruction Year 10 too thus y'all mightiness last interested inward my recent post: Useful GCSE Questions from Linked Pair Papers.

Tom Bennison's summertime number for Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 grade teachers at nowadays has a website. The East Midlands KS5 Mathematics Day is on ninth August 2016 - it looks similar an first-class number too I promise to run across y'all there.

Have y'all signed @MathsMrCox's petition to demonstrate your opposition to the proposed Year vii SATs resits yet? It's of import that nosotros create whatever nosotros tin dismiss to brand our views known, rather than stand upward dorsum too grumble virtually bad conclusion making. Please sign!

I've had a lovely one-half term celebrating my youngest daughter's minute birthday. We were really lucky to create goodness from a gratis trip to Legoland, inward render for having a quick await at their maths schoolhouse trips. I was hugely impressed yesteryear the workshop nosotros saw (they got my four yr one-time programming robots!) too volition write a weblog post virtually it soon. Although a household unit of measurement solar daytime out at Legoland is rather pricey, the schoolhouse trips are really reasonably priced.

I'll exit y'all amongst this lovely puzzle from @YohakuPuzzle. Fill inward the cells amongst dissimilar factors to learn the products inward each row/column.