This unit introduces some of the key concepts related to position and direction in the context of a series of games.
At Level 1 the position element of geometry consists of gaining experience in using everyday language to describe position and direction of movement, and interpreting others’ descriptions of position and movement.
Spatial understandings are developed around four types of mathematical questions: direction (which way?), distance (how far?), location (where?), and representation (what objects?). In answering these questions, students develop a variety of skills that relate to direction, distance, and position in space.
Teachers should extend young students' knowledge of relative position in space through conversations, demonstrations, and stories. When students act out the story of the three billy goats and illustrate over and under, near and far, and between, they learn about location, space, and shape. Gradually students should distinguish navigation ideas such as left and right along with the concepts of distance and measurement. As they build three-dimensional models and read maps of their own environments, students can discuss which blocks are used to represent various objects like a desk or a chair. They can mark paths on the model, such as from a table to the wastebasket, with masking tape to emphasise the shape of the path. Teachers should help students relate their models to other representations by drawing a map of the same room that includes the path. In similar activities, older students should develop map skills that include making route maps and using simple coordinates to locate their school on a city map.
The learning opportunities in this unit can be differentiated by providing or removing support to students and by varying the task requirements. Ways to differentiate include:
This unit is primarily focused on supporting students to understand and use the language of position and direction. The activities can be adapted to make them more interesting by adding contexts that are familiar to them, for example, they could be following directions to find one of the class toys instead of a box. If appropriate, you may also choose to include the home languages of students in your class.
Te reo Māori kupu such as roto (inside), waho (outside, East), raro (under), runga (above), whakamua (forwards), whakamuri (backwards), whakamauī (left), and whakamatau (right) could be introduced in this unit and used throughout other mathematical learning.
Over the next few days the students should be introduced to games which reinforce their understanding of the language they discussed on the first day.
In this activity students practise using the language of position to describe a ‘building’ they have made from multi link cubes (or similar). You could increase the relevance of this task by asking students to build their favourite place, to build a school building, or to build a structure/building that is relevant to learning from another curriculum area (e.g. the local marae, the swimming pool, the museum). You might provide a bank of images for students to draw inspiration from.
Students should start with only three or four cubes all of different colours, and increase the number as they correctly replicate each building.
This activity could be done using other equipment if multi link cubes are not available (Cuisenaire rods, lego, etc.) It could also be done in small groups, or as a whole class if there is enough equipment for everyone to participate. The teacher could give the instructions while everyone else builds, before having students take turns at giving instructions.
This activity is the same as ‘My Building’, except that students draw their building instead of physically building it. They should use and describe the simple shapes that they have used to construct the building. For example “I have drawn a blue circle in the middle of the page. There is a red square on the left, and a pink triangle on top of the square. On the right there is a brown oval.” Extend students by promoting them to include a wider range of shapes in their building (e.g. "can you include a hexagon?") and support students by providing physical and/or digital models of shapes for reference.
In this activity students follow directions to one of five boxes/containers. On a tennis court or field place 5 boxes. Mark places on the field for groups of children to stand. Have students give instructions to a partner that will get them from their spot to a box. Initially, you could model calling out the instructions. Extend students by prompting them to make their instructions more specific. Support students by providing a list of directional words for students to refer to.
This game is like "Which Box?". Students play in pairs. One player must follow the instructions given by their partner. These instructions should lead the partner to a box, from which they can fetch an object. Encourage the use of a variety of language of direction. (Turn left/right, straight ahead, move to the left/right, put your hand down on your left/right, etc.) To extend students, you could make this into a race, or denote different point values to different objects (this could provide a context for practising addition).
Ask students to write a story or create a picture using as many of the words from the class list of position/direction words as possible. Provide support and reinforcement – you could read a story such as “Where’s Spot?” to support students' thinking.
This week in maths we are studying position and direction. Encourage your child to use language such as over, under, left, right, high, low, near, far to describe where objects are in relation to each other. Ask your child to describe the path they would follow to get from one end of the garden to their room. Ask them to describe the route they take to get to a friend's house.
Printed from https://nzmaths.co.nz/resource/directing-me at 4:53am on the 30th March 2024