Many elementary schools across the nation are scaling back or cutting arts curriculum altogether. This article presents classroom teachers with an activity for integrating art with mathematics. Through a three-phase exploration of reasoning with shapes and their attributes, students will get to know a classmate better, work with defining and…

This article presents a sequence of learning activities that lead to using the area model of multiplication to understand the distributive property (DP). The connection between area and multiplication is an important one, both for algebraic thinking and for geometry, as indicated in two of the critical areas for the third grade in the Common Core…

Designed for a broad audience, including educators, camp directors, afterschool coordinators, and preservice teachers, this investigation aims to help individuals experience mathematics in unconventional and exciting ways by engaging them in the physical activity of building geometric shapes using ropes. Through this engagement, the author…

Whether they are third graders or teacher candidates, students can learn about perimeter and area while having fun manipulating two-dimensional figures into three-dimensional objects. In this article, the author describes a common mathematical activity for geometry students by creating nets for a cube. By making connections between nets in two…

Diagrams that illustrate characteristics that are always, sometimes, or never present in a concept can be categorized as examples or nonexamples to broaden students' understanding of basic geometric concepts. (MKR)

A whimsical mathematics event for children and adults, derived from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, was held at the Providence Children's Museum in Rhode Island. NCTM's Standards were the basis of all the activities. (Contains 10 figures and 1 table.)

Although the nature of the research varies, as do concepts of angle, research in general supports the supposition that angle is a complex idea, best understood from a variety of perspectives. In fact, the concept of angle tends to be threefold, consisting of: (1) the traditional, static notion of two rays meeting at a common vertex; (2) the idea…

Presents 10 creative, informal, intuitive geometry activities that stress higher-order thinking. (MKR)

Discusses strategies to help primary students understand geometric concepts. Highlights best examples, concept cards, defining shapes, discovery lessons, and expository lessons. Presents action research ideas. (JRH)

Presents activities using three-dimensional geometry to develop spatial skills. Includes reproducible student worksheets. (MKR)

Offers a problem for teachers to try with their students. The problem is presented visually as a row of 15 connected squares and the task is to determine the number of rectangles. The goal is to encourage teachers to reflect on students' work and analyze classroom dialogue. (PVD)

Presents activities focusing on the use of visual perspectivity. Includes reproducible student worksheets. (MKR)

Presents a geometry game which offers K-2 students a way to learn geometric concepts and skills as part of a small-group or cooperative-learning activity or in a learning center. (MKR)

Discusses the use of children's literature to combine social studies and mathematics to study patchwork quilts. (MKR)

Describes a classroom project integrating children's literature, Japanese culture, and geometry that grew out of the local killing of a Japanese exchange student. Fourth-graders read "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" around which the interdisciplinary unit was developed. Topics covered included Japanese culture, American social…