Patterns

Children get fascinated on  patterns.  They're absolutely fun and engaging! Patterning is one of the many activities in my classroom that boost children's excitement and creativity. They think they are simply playing and having fun, but little do they know that the  activities are the essential building block in their understanding about numbers. We started by free exploration, making pretty designs with pattern blocks eventually leads to more complex skills.  Free exploration and making designs are just ways to provide that solid foundation that they need for higher skills later.

I admit it. My new favorite part in teaching is using anchor charts. It makes thinking visible. It's more effective to teach new concepts and the kids love learning by looking at the anchor chart as they can fully grasp what the teacher is talking about. The purpose of anchor chart are:

1. to build a culture of literacy in the classroom, as teachers and students make thinking  visible by recording content, strategies, processes, cues, and guidelines during the learning process.

2. Posting anchor charts keeps relevant and current learning accessible to students to remind them of prior learning and to enable them to make connections as new learning happens.

3. Students refer to the charts and use them as tools as they answer questions, expand ideas, or contribute to discussions and problem-solving in class

I love visiting pinterest and grab some ideas on anchor charts. It's amazing to see thousand of anchor charts available for all the teachers to see what other teachers around the world use in their classroom. It's like a ticket to get a classroom tour.I count this as a privilege.  

                                                     

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/d2/0b/22/d20b221a27342ddf8e60bd5d018714a5.jpg

I enjoy watching my students  recognizing patterns in many different contexts. It is my objectives to let them  understand that blue...blue..green ...green is the same as orange...orange...red ...red  and is equally  the same as big...big...little...little.

I also teach my students that there are many ways to name our patterns. One way is by using the letters which is really popular such as A- B, A-B-B, A-A-B, A-A- B-B, A-B-C and so on.

Manipulatives such as  connecting cubes, counters, blocks, and other objects are provided to challenge them to create their own number patterns and have have them record on the  their math journals.  

                                

The best part of this patterning activity is to have the children make their bead bracelets and then let them name the pattern they used.