Website Archive - February, 2008

Spotlight on Math Concepts and Patterning

Children

Here are some websites with online activities concerning math concepts and patterning for children to enjoy .

 

Little Fingers Software

Little Fingers Software has an Apple Pickin’ game. Help Wilbur Worm sort apples into the baskets by size. Needs adult explanation for activity.

PBS

On PBS Parents check out the Early Math Pattern Matcher and find the patterns that match the same way.

Sesame Street

Sesame Street has several sorting games that you can play with the Sesame Street characters.

• Oscar’s Trash Collection: help Oscar the Grouch sort objects by color.
  
• The Laundry Game: help Elmo collect and sort the laundry on the line.
  
• Zoe’s Pet Shelter: help Zoe sort the dogs into their pen.
  
• Bert’s Bottle Caps: help Bert sort his bottle caps.

 

Parents

Here are some activities and ideas to encourage the development of math concepts with your preschooler.

 

PBS Kids

PBS Kids has Pattern Play activities that you can do with your child. Have your child find out what comes next by sorting objects and arranging them into patterns.

Pre-K Smarties

Pre-K Smarties, teach your children, has Kitchen Math for Preschoolers by Jean Warren with some beginning math activities using objects found in the home.

Shirley’s Preschool Activities

Shirley’s Preschool Activities has a Preschool Math Activities for Mathematical Development article about mathematical development. The article also includes some suggestions of preschool math activities to stimulate mathematical development.

 

Teachers

There are so many websites offering resources on mathematics and understanding patterns, and we’ve highlighted just a few.  So check them out!

 

A to Z teacher Stuff

A to Z teacher Stuff has several lesson plans related to mathematics:

• Color Patterns: make a pattern of three colors and then repeat the pattern on paper.
  
• Marshmallow Fun Day: using marshmallows to explore math concepts
  
• What’s Big? What’s Little?: reinforce children’s understanding of the concepts of bigger and smaller
  
• Teddy Bear Picnic: sorting and graphing teddy bears
  
  

Core Knowledge

Core Knowledge has a four week unit, Zip to Zowie! Math Exploration in a Pre-Kindergarten Classroom (PDF format), that promotes and develops math concepts of sorting and classifying objects, duplicating and continuing patterns, using simple measurement skills and seriating objects.

Education World

Castaldo's Corner on Education World has a Leaf Matching Game with a hands-on activity and ideas for extending that activity.

KinderArt

The KinderArt website has:

• a Dinosaur Math lesson plan on learning patterns.
• a Fun Collecting, Sorting and Painting activity

 

Mrs. Flanagan’s Kindergarten , Pfeiffer Elementary School

Mrs. Flanagan’s Kindergarten in Pfeiffer Elementary School has photos demonstrating math ideas for:

• Patterning
• Additional ideas for sorting and patterning
• Math centers

 

Lesson Plans Page

On the Lesson Plans Page there are over 3,000 lesson plans from preschool through high school. Check out the lesson plan for Who Took the Cookies? The plan is written for K-3 but is easily adapted for preschoolers.

Preschool by Stormie

Preschool by Stormie has preschool math activities in the Number, Shapes, and Pre-Math Activities section. Just scroll down for the math concept and activity.

The Chalkboard

There is a Math section on The Chalkboard that includes ideas for logical thinking, seriation,measurement, shapes, opposites, and patterns.

 

[Posted on February 5, 2008]