SamizdatMath

This is an activity that teaches students to classify acute, obtuse, straight and right angles using semaphore flag signals. Why semaphore flag signals? Because they're fun, interesting and "real." And also, they're a good example of how to teach a concept beyond the "prototypes." What do I mean by this? Well, do an image search on "right angle" and you'll see that the examples that show up are "textbook prototypes." That is, they all have a side resting on the horizontal, the other on the verti

Here’s a nice little “take home” activity that develops both visual spatial skills, mathematical vocabulary AND it's really fun! Here’s how it works: print out the puzzles and challenge booklet on card stock (or laminate before cutting out...) and have your kids cut them out. The kids cut out the “clue cards” and have kids write clues about the different puzzles. Then they can share their cards and look at one another’s clue cards, find the shape it is describing and use the puzzle pieces to “s

It's a simple diagram with a lot of different triangles of lots of different sizes and lots of different directions. There's equilateral, isosceles and scalene, and there are obtuse, acute and right triangles. This activity shows how you can use this diagram to motivate your students to "see" triangles regardless of shape and orientation. Includes detailed suggestions on how to use in your class, as well as an answer key with not 1, not 2, but 3, count 'em, 3 different ways to count and keep tr

What are your students going to make their dads for Fathers Day? Yet another pen holder or a photo mouse pad? I'm a father, and I can guarantee you that those won't fly. Why not make dad a puzzle that he can patchka around with for a few months or years? This is a "threefer" activity: it gets your kids to work on solving geometry puzzles, which they then make into a Fathers Day gift for that special father in their life, AND it is a "clue game" where kids classify shapes according to their att

Greetings 3-D fans: this is a second edition of puzzles designed to be used with Snap Cubes or Multi-Link Cubes (NOT Unifix Cubes, unless you purchase a separate zero-gravity diode, which is currently out of stock....) We live in an era where children spend the majority of their time at home or in school looking at a screen: they swipe, tap and click their way through lessons or activities, and what do they get out of it? Bubkus! These are puzzles designed to develop and improve your students

This is a cool activity where your students practice their ruler skills, as well as composites of 10, and end up with a mathematical flower card which they can sign and give to their moms to hang on the refrigerator!

Here’s something cool that you can do with your students to help them develop and use the vocabulary of geometry, as well as refine their observation and reasoning skills. It also gets your students to think about what are “good” questions to when classifying a shape, and then how to follow those questions with more questions. The game itself is simple: print up the shape cards, cut them out and tape them onto students’ backs. The students then walk around the room asking “yes/no” questions a

What you’ve just purchased is a very decent alternative to “tangrams” and “pentominoes.” Please allow me to introduce you to the wonderful world of “Van Hiele Tiles.” Actually, these have nothing to do with the great educational theorists Dina van Hiele Geldorf and her husband, Pierre van Hiele (but it does, which you’ll see if you continue reading.) This puzzle originated in Germany with the Anchor Stone Company, which made building blocks and geometric puzzles using an artificial “stone” made

Here's the deal: you want your kids to do challenging puzzles with interesting shapes (I'm talking to >you<, pattern blocks!) but the problem is that many of these puzzles are waaaay too hard for your pre-K through 1st graders. Even a 2 piece pentomino puzzle would require sorting through 66 combinations of 12 different pentomino pieces before locating the correct pair to make the shape. This is an advanced version of my other set of pentomino challenges, Pentomino Challenges for the Earl

This activity is an invitation for your students to take part in an original piece of mathematical research. We begin with a problem: there is a 6 x 6 apartment split up into 36 "tiles" that need to be arranged so that all 4 apartments use the same number of tiles (9 each) and where each apartment is the exact same shape. Oh, and the apartment has to include a bathroom and kitchen, as shown on the floor plan. From here, the problem morphs into a larger exploration of how many ways this 6 x 6 ti

In this activity, students build a device that allows them to classify angles as acute, obtuse, right, straight and reflex, and estimate their measures using "landmark angles." The template can be cut out and assembled in about 8 minutes using scissors, glue stick, a hole puncher and a paper fastener. I've included step-by-step photographic instructions on how to cut out and assemble the device. Included in this activity is a set of 12 angle classification and estimation "clue cards" which stu

Do you have a set of Geoblocks sitting around in your classroom waiting for someone to do something interesting with them? Have you exhausted the sorting and identifying edges, faces and vertices (or "corners," if you will....)? Do you want something really neat to do with them which will develop your students' abilities to visualize and represent 3 dimensional shapes in 2 dimensions? This is a set of 16 Geoblock "search and sketch" puzzles. Students look at the sheet and find the block which m

This packet is my way of serving all masters concerning the implications of summer math work: it has a limited number of activities that are not high stress - in fact, it’s five different games, some classic (Picos, Fermis and Bagels, Salute! & PIG!) and others that will be “new to you” (By the Digits, Close to 100), as well as a geometry puzzle featuring the Sphinx puzzle pieces.  Here’s what you get: • Picos, Fermis and Bagels: This is based on the board game “Mastermind,” which challenges

This is a collection of 11 different challenges in which your students take an "oblique" view of a building and then snap it together using Unifix or Snap cubes. After the building has been assembled, students create blueprints of the top, front and side view. My diatribe: in an age where everyone spends entirely too much time in front of screens, shouldn't we also have the opportunity to work with our eyes and hands on visual puzzles? Yes, I'm talking about genuine "hands on" tasks that involv

This 60 page booklet incorporates the theories of Pierre van Hiele and Dina van HIele-Geldorf, better known as the van Hiele Theory, to teach developmental geometry in elementary and middle school. The van Hiele's were pioneers in the understanding that children go through different levels of cognitive development in their understanding of geometric concepts, and that these levels changed with the age and education of the child. Through their work, we've come to understand what kinds of thinking

These 3 puzzles should keep your students baffled for a long time! Each one has the same idea: arrange the pentominoes on the grid so that they are “locked” together. These puzzles develop all kinds of geometric thinking, including slides, rotations and flips. The puzzle pieces should be printed on different colored card stock, so that students know which pieces go with different puzzles (although since the grids are different sizes, they shouldn’t be readily confused.) If students are “stu

Aspiring architects have the chance to draw building plans from 3-dimensional sculptures, which can be created using Snap Cubes, Unifix or Multi-Link Cubes. There are 12 different challenges which require students to look at buildings and then create front, side and aerial views. Complete with instructional tips and solutions, this is perfect for students who need work visualizing in 3 dimensions, or those who need a geometry challenge. Perfect for homework and especially learning centers.