Lines of Symmetry

A good maths lesson to do with Years 3/4 who have not been left work is symmetry.
 

Symmetry runs deeply through maths and the world around us.
Look around the classroom or maybe outside environment and look at how many lines of symmetry  (a line you can draw through a shape when everything on one side of the line is the exact same as everything on the other side of the line) exist on that object.  I keep a symmetry jig saw in my bag of tricks. So easy to make; pretty cardboard  into geometric shapes and cut through it's line of symmetry for the kids to put together. I just put it up on the board with blu tac and get the students to put it together in turns. 

I also like to refer to a line of symmetry as a mirror line because if you were to put a mirror on the line, the picture would be the same.

Triangles have one line of symmetry/ mirror line... where is it? Have a look with the kids. Show them where it is and isn't. How many on a four pointed star? A square? A rectangle? Watch as the kids become more enthusiastic and confident finding the lines of symmetry on a shape and discuss why it is or isn't a line of symmetry amongst themselves. Get them to double check a rectangles lines of symmetry with a mirror if they believe the rectangle has a diagonal line of symmetry.
Do points on a star correspond with lines of symmetry?

What about a parallelogram? Make predictions and check with a mirror.

It should take little time to make a worksheet using auto shapes or even give the children some geo shapes to trace  around in their books to investigate lines of symmetry.

Make sure you've tracked down the mirrors before you start and stand is a back and let the children do the investigating. Symmetry lessons are great to facilitate children's discovery learning.

It might also be nice for children to make butterfly prints to show examples of a line of symmetry at the end of the day if you end up with time up your sleeve.

Lie Down Paintings

Before the turtle, came the artist: Michaelangelo Buonarroti. Michaelangelo was best known for his commitment to painting the Sistine Chapel and popular belief is that he painting it lying on his back... Actually that's not true- he was ahead of his time and used a complicated scaffolding system that supported him and his aides. 

The strain on his neck, head and back must have been tremendous and he probably would have been better off painting on his back. 

Even though Michaelangelo's myth about painting the Sistine Chapel has been debunked, it's still a nice lesson on persepective and a challenge for students.

All they need to do is tape paper to the underside of their desks and paint with a brush that's not too wet. If you're worried about paint dripping, just use markers. 

I would definitely introduce the lesson by talking about Michaelangelo, his works, his era and the myth about him painting upside down. It might be nice for them to paint works inspired by Michaelaneglo that you show the children. 

Hopscotch grammar

Hopscotch is such an adaptable game. This example shows parts of speech in a hopscotch game. Each child calls out an example of one of these as they hop through and make a sentence out of it on the home square. It's best to make about 5 little hopscotch courts and put the children in groups.

Word Problem Posters

Instead of using dull, meaningless word problems in the style of a sadly named individual buying 40 watermelons and eating 15.. Why not make a poster with sticky notes using the children's ideas to make word problems for the area of operation they are looking at. 

My example is ocean life, all the children need to do is think of a topic that interests them or draw on something they may have learnt in HSIE or Science and invent relevant word problems for their sums. 

They highlight the information that will help them do the operation eg 4 had 3 baby octopuses each, how many altogether? Then they show their working under the sticky note. 

Domino Facts

Take a domino and draw the domino you have. Write the addition, subtraction and if you're up to it, multiplication fact for that domino's numbers. For example if your domino has 6 dots on one side and 4 on the other your facts are:

 6+ 4= 10

4+6=10

6-4=2

10-6=4

10-4= 6

6x4= 24

4x6=24

Extension

24/ 6 = 4

26/ 4= 6

You can make the activity trickier or easier depending in the needs of your students.

Number of the day

A nice little introduction for maths is to display a number and put in some questions focusing on that number.

Making Board Games!

What a fun activity that fosters collaboration and gives children a chance to apply what they know as well as peer scaffold. I've included a maths game that Year 1 could handle, they simply need to move forward the amount of spaces that corresponds with the answers they gave.

It's probably easier to use squares of paper that are stuck on a back sheet with younger kids, rather than have them battle with drawing squares but some will be more capable than others.

You can also do a spelling game with pick up cards, science games using questions from something they've learnt about, literacy board games based on a story they've read and so on. It can fit into most subjects which is the real beauty of it, especially when you've not had any work left for you. 

Have fun!