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Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts

Back to School Lesson Plans Fibonacci Number Patterns in Nature

Looking for back to school lesson plans that pop? How about a number pattern walk? Here are some materials to guide you. One of the most challenging aspects of teaching is demonstrating principles in action--not because concepts don't occur outside the printed page. The problem is that educators tend to be textbook-bound. "Growing Patterns," by Sarah C. Campbell, makes the concept of Fibonacci numbers visual, even hands-on for students. For adults, too. Campbell's book was featured on Fox's show "Touch , " in which a non-verbal, emotionally impaired boy, Jake, connects to his father using Fibonacci patterns.
One of the most challenging aspects of teaching is demonstrating principles in action--not because concepts don't occur outside the printed page. The problem is that educators tend to be textbook-bound. "Growing Patterns," by Sarah C. Campbell, makes the concept of Fibonacci numbers visual, even hands-on for students. For adults, too. Campbell's book was featured on Fox's show "Touch" in which a non-verbal, emotionally impaired boy, Jake, connects to his father using Fibonacci patterns.

Shows like "Touch" are important in helping non-handicapped people understand the world of handicapped people, from the inside out. But it goes far beyond this. Instead of a "normal" person helping an "impaired" person, we learn that everyone has gifts. They're just not be as readily visible. Each person can reach out if one understands the language he speaks. In "Touch," Jake who is deemed "disabled," uses the Fibonacci sequence to express his vision of the world. He communicates using the language of pattern and touch.

The Fibonacci sequence, in which the two preceding numbers are added together to form the next number, is 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21, and so on. The principle was named for the mathematician Leonardo of Pisa who first demonstrated the it. Fibonacci numbers occur in nature as a spiral pattern. Campbell's book shows the phenomenon in pine cones, pineapples, flowers, nautilus seashells, galaxies and other natural objects.

Fibonacci numbers are closely related to the algebraic "golden ratio" (referred to by the Greek letter phi or "golden number") and "golden string" described by Euclid and Pythagoras. These concepts are used in diverse applications from architecture to market analyses. Shown numerically, the concepts may be arcane and confusing. Observed in nature, they are easily grasped. As in Jake's enigmatic world, nature often makes the mysterious clear.

As a teacher, I'm always looking for object lessons that make abstract concepts approachable, especially in nature. I once designed a unit on how symmetry appears in orchids. Several children's authors base their books on hands-on applications. Tana Hoban's picture books show how patterns occur around us. Jerry Pallotta uses nature patterns to teach math. Campbell's book is another excellent resource.

As a special education teacher, I'm also looking for ways to help special needs kids connect with their world and express themselves. Fox "Touch" is an excellent vehicle to do that.  Here are other free printable lesson plans using Fibonacci number patterns

Free Printable Coloring Pages of Children Around the World in Traditional Native Dress


The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts designated Feb. 22 World Thinking Day. This day is dedicated to multicultural awareness of children around the world. Little girls growing up in the 1960s may remember a coloring book called "Dolls of Many Lands" with children around the world in traditional costumes and native dress of different countries. Here are free printable coloring pages of children around the world in native dress. Students in social studies can use these coloring pages on World Thinking Day to explore the ceremonial, cultural and traditional costumes of other children around the world. Because as the world gets smaller and more global, it's important that children know and remember native heritage.
Visit Activity Village free printable world lesson plans for social studies. Print pictures landmarks, games, crafts, post cards, maps and flags from around the world. Use these as culture studies worksheets. Get free printable World Thinking Day coloring pages of children around the world in native dress and traditional costumes: explore cultures from Australia, India, China, Japan, Africa, England, Russia, South Africa, Africa, Scotland, New Zealand, Brazil and Wales. There are also free printable coloring pages of pilgrim (or puritan) children, Ancient Egyptian, native American Indian and settler (also called pioneer) children in traditional dress.
Activity Village wishes says these free printable childrens' traditional costumes may be somewhat fanciful and not historically accurate. These world coloring pages imitate the vintage images from old coloring books. Traditional costumes show how children would have dressed for ceremonies or in times past. Here are free printable World Thinking Day coloring pages of children around the worldin traditional costumes. Each child is featured with a country flag in the background. Countries represented are Canada, Australia, Nigeria, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Iceland, Norway, Japan, Italy, Ireland, India, Hawaii, Guatemala, France, Brazil, Spain, China, Costa Rica and the Netherlands (Holland). Raising our Kids has a free printable children around the world coloring pages.

There's a fun little game you must play to use the website. The names of the countries are written in French. Parlez-vous Francais? Bonne. Vous ne parlez pas Francais? Then use the flags on each of the coloring pages to help you figure out which country is represented. Some are easier than others to decode, so use Google Translate. Here are more free printable children pages of childrenaround the world in traditional costumes. DL-TK has tons of free printable children around the world crafts, games and activities. Happy World Thinking Day!

Free Printable Bible Lesson Plans


A very popular summer activity is VBS, or Vacation Bible School. Almost every local church sponsors a week-long Vacation Bible School. And don't let the term 'school' intimidate. Most VBS programs are fun-filled, hands-on and activity based. Here are free printable Vacation Bible School crafts, lesson plans, games and Bible activities. These general Bible crafts are suitable for Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christians. Old Testament activities would work for Jewish families.
Making Friends has free printable Bible lessons, Christian crafts and religious activities. T Print VBS coloring pages, crafts, activities, games, puzzles, crossword, cut and paste and more. There are lots of VBS theme printables to choose from. Teachers, you can search by what it's for, who it's for, what it is made from and kind of craft.
Free Kids Crafts has a plethora of free printable VBS coloring pages, Christian crafts, and Bible activities. Check the Seasons and Holidays pages for religious themed crafts to print in your Bible school. There are also free printable VBS themed units and activities: VBS Bayou Crafts, VBS Safari Crafts, VBS Western Crafts, VBS Australian Crafts, VBS Rainforest Crafts, VBS High Seas (Pirate) Crafts, VBS Panda Crafts and VBS Jungle Crafts
Christian Preschool Printables has loads of free Bible printables, games, lessons geared to younger children. Use these free printable Bible activities for Sunday School, religious education and VBS activities.
Danielle's Place is a nicely laid out craft site. There's an annual membership fee, but many printable Bible activities to sample free. It would be worth the reasonable price to have access to all the crafts.
DL-TK has a remarkable selection of free printable Bible school activities, There are old and new testament coloring pages, Bible games, religious lesson plans and Christian crafts. DL-TK is cross-referenced by activity theme and type of activity (game, craft, puzzle, greeting card,
Eldrbarry has free printable VBS materials from entire themes. Elder Barry walks you through each lesson plan, how it works, how to organize and even offers pictures of how the activity worked in their church. The medieval VBS theme is really neat.
Sunday School Fun Zone offers one-stop source for free printable Vacation Bible School crafts and printable Sunday School Activities. There are lots of color, cut, paste and assemble craft projects to boost fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination. Perfect for preschool and kindergarten. Bible Kid's Fun Zone has free printable Bible craft projects too. Family Crafts from About.com has a wonderful assortment of free printable Bible crafts,

Many websites don't list crafts as VBS specifically. Crafts are listed by theme, Bible scripture passage or Bible story. Just search site for the theme of your VBS. For more free kids' crafts, visit my blogsCatholic Activities, Free Coloring Pages 4U and Free Printable Lesson Plans.