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Showing posts with label numbers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label numbers. 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 File Folder Games for Math, Reading


March is National Reading Month and just in time, here's a great lesson plan to teach reading with file folder games. Students can learn just about any subject using file folder games to reinforce content and practice skills. Here are free printable file folders games online. Besides reading, teach math, reading, spelling, grammar, phonics, science, social studies and more. Print games for all ages and ability levels: preschool, kindergarten, elementary, special needs, middle school. Use for homeschool, too.
File Folder Fun has over 100 free printable file folder games in content areas across the curriculum. Search by age, grade level, theme and subject. File folder themes include animals, foods, flowers, weather, ocean life, circus. Themes teach math, reading, science, social studies, phonics, spelling, math, ELA (English Language Arts) history, music and other preschool and elementary school subjects. Click the games you want. The click "download." And voila, a screen appears with game background, pieces, cards, all materials you need, free.
File Folder Farm has gobs of free printable file folder games for math, English, reading, writing, spelling, science, social studies and more. Games can be used with varied ages. Click the game you want. The print, cut out and and assemble. Or better still, print in black and white. Have students color, cut and paste and assemble. You get two activities--craft, lesson plan and game--all in one!
Cindy's Autistic Support has free printable math file folder games. Use to teach counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division file folder games. You can make individual games for each math fact (times table) family.
To make file folder games:
Print game board and glue to inside of file folder. Write instructions on outside. Laminate or cover with contact paper. Make a spinner by drawing a circle. Divide like a pie. Label segments with game advancement options. Place paperclip on paper fastener (brad). Poke fastener through center of circle. Spin paper clip.

Store game cards or pieces in zippered plastic bag or envelope stapled to folder. File folder games store upright in filing cabinet or drawer. Get extra craft mileage from free printable file folder games by assigning students make them.

Free Printable Preschool Alphabet, ABC Coloring Pages

Looking for fun summer reading activities for emergent readers? Fisher-Price offers hundreds of free printable alphabet coloring pages based on Fisher-Price and Mattel toys: Imaginext, Little People, Rescue Heroes, Power Wheels, Thomas and Friends. Here are free printable coloring pages of letters, numbers and shapes to use for preschool lessons. There are also free printable holiday greeting cards for kids to color.
Scroll through the many Fisher Price coloring pages to find alphabet themed ones. Or click the "educational" tab. Each letter has at least one coloring page with accompanying image of something that begins with that letter. The letter is shown is upper case and lower case. Pictures are detailed enough to be challenging for preschoolers but not so difficult that they are frustrating.
There are free printable number coloring pages to use for counting. Each page features a number 1-10 and shows sets of objects in that number. There are also coloring pages of shapes to teach geometry and counting. Shape coloring pages include circle, square, rectangle, triangle, diamond, heart, oval (or ellipse), octagon, hexagon, pentagon and star.
For more lesson plans to print explore this blog Free Printable Lesson Plans. For more educational coloring pages, visit my blog Free Coloring Pages 4u.

Free Printable Curious George Lesson Plans

September is National Literacy Month. And who better to represent it that mischievous monkey Curious George. Curious George has been around many incarnations since WWII when he was "born." His creators, Jews Margaret and H.A. Rey, escaped Nazi occupied France on homemade bikes with the manuscript for Curious George hidden. That adventure was the perfect introduction to nosy, lovable monkey. Here are free printable Curious George coloring pages, worksheets, lessons, activities, crafts, games and even a Curious George birthday party theme.
Here is a link to the parent site of Houghton-Mifflin Books, publisher of the original Curious George series. You can print free Curious George worksheets and lesson plans on reading, phonics,writing, music, handwriting, math, spelling, vocabulary and grammar. Here's another free printable Curious George activity booklet with worksheets for older kids. There are lots of Curious George coloring pages to print. There are also puzzles, word searches and games based on transportation in Curious George books (bike, boat, bus, car, space ship and more). Here's a link for free printable Curious George themed birthday party supplies. The kit features games, crafts, puzzles, name tags, Curious George mask and more.

Here are gobs of free printable Curious George TV show coloring pages. PBS Kids features this beloved cartoon, with a slightly updated version of George and all new adventures. Coloring Book Info has 64 more Curious George coloring pages to print--all free! Cut them out and use for lesson plans, games, puzzles, crafts and rainy day book based fun. You'll enough free printable monkey fun to satisfy your inner primate! Reluctant and emergency readers will love exploring books with George!

Free Printable Sudoku Games, Activities

Puzzle Day is Jan. 29. Do you love puzzles? I've been working jigsaw puzzles since I was very young. I love crossword puzzles, Sudoku, word searches, cryptograms, mazes and all sorts of word games. But the best are jigsaw puzzles. Back in the olden days, aka when I was a kid, you had to ask mom or dad to buy you a new jigsaw puzzle when you'd finished one. Or you redid your old puzzles, over and over again. Oh to have make-your-own jigsaw puzzle generators.
Now there are free printable jigsaw puzzles. Billy Bear4 Kids has all sorts of free printable puzzles and online puzzles. There are different kinds of puzzle generators for crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, sudoku and cryptograms. Here are ready-made online and free printable jigsaw puzzlesfrom the Jigsaw place. Tim's Printables has free printable jigsaw puzzle generators and templateswith patterns to print images on for kids to color. There are crosswords, chess game boards and pieces, sudoku, mazes, word searches and other puzzles games.

Kids Scraps has free printable jigsaw puzzles, crossword and sudoku puzzles and puzzle generators for children in themes of animals: jungle, vehicles, toys, farmyard, pets, reptiles, holiday themed puzzles like Easter, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Halloween. Activity Village has free printable jigsaws on themes from around the world. There are also word puzzles and crossword puzzles for science, social studies, math, language arts, music; almost any subject area. DL-TK has free printable jigsaw puzzles, sudoku puzzles and puzzle generators for children on themes of Bible, holidays, animals, vehicles, toys, science and more. For more free games and lessons, visit this author's blogFree Printable Lesson Plans.

Free Printable Christmas, Winter Holiday Crafts and Lessons


Get ready for free Christmas printables like you've never seen before. Because The Toymaker has a sleighful of free printable Christmas paper toys, holiday activities and 3D paper crafts to make. The pictures look child-like but don't be fooled. As we've recently seen, adult coloring books are good therapy for adults and so are cut and paste paper crafts.
There's something so very comforting about paper crafts from The Toymaker. Styled in Dickensian England type graphics, these printable paper toy crafts are manna for vintage art lovers! The images look like they come straight from a Victorian toy shop. You can just imagine Bob Crachitt helping Tiny Tim make these paper crafts and Christmas paper toys. Holiday activities are easy enough for children to cut, paste and assemble.
On the Toymaker Free Toys page, you'll find many holiday activities, paper toys, and 3D paper crafts on general themes, from fairies to frogs and mice to unicorns. There are winter holiday activities for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice and Diwali.