Debbie+Rosa

Welcome to my page! Debbie Rosa ﻿I teach a third grade GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) cluster class in California. My two favorite subjects to teach are math and science even though growing up, I preferred reading. I team teach with another third grade teacher, she teaches Social Studies and I teach Science. There is a computer lab outside my classroom with sixteen computers. During Universal Access (reading groups), I have the high group and I teach word processing and internet research skills to small groups. During my free time, I enjoy reading, doing all kinds of puzzles, and going up to the mountains. I am married, have two sons (19 and 15), and am owned by three cats. Please visit my blog at [|mrsrosasbboard.blogspot.com/]



Comments:

I think your plan looks good Debbie. I bet it is amazing what the mind of a third grader comes up with. There are so many different properties that go along with polygons that the sky is the limit for the advanced kids, and who knows, sometimes the not so advanced get geometry easily. Do they know what an angle is and how to measure it? It would be cool if they started figuring out linear pairs and angle sums. Initially I was thinking that 6 days is a long time just for classifying polygons, but there is a lot more to it than just that. I think your plan could be adapted easily for older students too. Good Luck...Charles Rinehart

This is an awesome assignment. Students will immediately see the mathematics that is around them every day. Everytime they pass a polygon in the building, they will be reviewing vocabulary. I have a third grade son and I know he would enjoy this. Very creative!! Nancy Kent

Debbie, This is a great plan. The students will love being detectives. They will also love to take pictures with the cameras. Any time they can be creative, they love it! Denise



﻿Comments: Debbie, This sounds like an adventurous activity for third graders. As I read through the lesson, I understand that you are teaching the concept of area and perimeter, but could you relate how the box fits into the scenario. You state they will measure the box and design a new classroom, but will they measure the actual classroom as well? How will designing the new class relate specifically to perimeter and area? I like the idea of having the students work in groups and develop a wiki page. What will they need to include on the wiki page? Will this be included in the rubric?I believe that adjusting some of the fine details will make this a great lesson. I can see these third graders examining the room and discussing various creative ways to make a great classroom. Sounds like fun and since they may be figuring perimeter and area several times for whatever goes in the box, they should have these concepts down by the end of the activity. Rhonda

Rhonda,

Thanks for your comments. The box will be a scale model of the classroom. We will use the wiki to include images of the classroom and the groups' boxes. Debbie, Great hands-on project and then a great wiki idea. When kids can "see" math, they learn so much more! Denise

Debbie, What a great way to employ hands on with technology. Will the box be a scale model of the classroom. It will be fun for them to make a "rug" and decide how big it would be and think about sizes for windows. It will allow them to comprehend scale even if they don't have the mathematics to make the ratios. They will further process it when they transfer it to the wiki. Will they use images and upload their classroom? Nancy

Nancy, The box will be a scale model of the classroom. We will use graph paper for the box and multiply it out. Uploading the images is a great idea. I will add this to the unit. Thanks.

Debbie,

I think your lesson is going to be a lot of fun for your third graders. Learning about perimeter and area while using the concepts to redesign your classroom should be very educational and enjoyable for them. The idea to use a box is great!

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