ERIC Number: EJ876168
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Mar
Pages: 9
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1073-5836
EISSN: N/A
Paint Bucket Polygons
Edwards, Michael Todd; Harper, Suzanne R.
Teaching Children Mathematics, v16 n7 p420-428 Mar 2010
During a two-week summer professional development workshop, teams of intermediate-level school teachers and college methods instructors crafted mathematics learning modules--activities, lesson plans, work sheets, and technology-oriented tasks--with the primary goal of strengthening students' understanding of various geometric concepts. They recast the paint bucket features of photo editing software as a teaching tool to foster discussion, debate, and heightened understanding of polygons with fifth-grade geometry students. As students "filled" geometric shapes with the paint bucket, they explored nuances of polygons too often overlooked by contemporary elementary-level textbooks. This article discusses how the paint bucket metaphor could allow one's students to build sophisticated notions of polygons in ways that are developmentally appropriate for early-grades learners. (Contains 9 figures.)
Descriptors: Mathematics Education, Learning Modules, Educational Technology, Geometric Concepts, Grade 5, Mathematics Instruction, Faculty Development, Workshops, College Faculty, Lesson Plans, Planning, Worksheets, Mathematics Skills, Computer Uses in Education, Geometry, Elementary School Mathematics
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 1906 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191-1502. Tel: 800-235-7566; Tel: 703-620-3702; Fax: 703-476-2970; e-mail: orders@nctm.org; Web site: http://www.nctm.org/publications/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 5
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A