Math Comparisons

A couple weeks ago I did a lesson on mathematical comparisons where we used greater than, less than, and equal to signs for inequalities with numbers in the hundreds. This may have been my favorite and most successful integrated lesson that we have done up to this point. I loved being able to see the kids apply their math skills in their dancing and their dance skills in their mathematics.

First we went through what each sign meant (>,<,=) so that the kids could move forward in the lesson. For the first activity we created an example with the class. We had everyone who loved summer time slide over to one side of the room, while every who loved winter time slid over to the other side. Then I went down each line on the sides of the room and tapped each student on the head as we counted how many were in each group. (When I tapped them they gave their whole body a shake). We wrote the numbers on the board with a blank space in the middle, such as: "15___10." We had created a problem where the numbers were actual people in our class!

Next 3 volunteers were the mathematicians who got to step into the middle space between the two groups and create a Greater than, less than or equal to sign to show which group had more people. We did this activity a couple of times and the kids loved it!
Here is a picture of the mathematicians making their signs.

For the next activity we explored movement on the high level to represent greater than, then the medium level for equal to, and the low level for less than. After they knew what level of movement was associated with which sign, then they could all be mathematicians and show me their answers to the problems using their movement.

I had pieces of paper with numbers varied from 4 to 999 spread out on the floor. Two students would come and choose a number which I would place on the board to form a problem. For example, "455__ 874" or "370___370." After the students had time to think about the problem they danced around the room on the level that represented their answer for greater than, less than, and equal to. Then they froze in a shape on the level for the correct answer.

Comments

  1. Heather DrewOctober 31, 2017 at 6:58 AM

    I love the way dance allows you to assess student understanding so readily. For example, if you have one or two students on the high level, when they should be on another, you can easily see where to focus your efforts in helping students with misunderstandings. This is so much faster than having to scan 25 written assignments on desks to check for understanding, or even collecting exit tickets as students leave a class (another common way to formatively assess, especially in math lessons). What if you had students create inequalities with their body that didn't compare numeric value, but compared kinesphere size? (i.e. This small round ball shape, is less than, this expansive star shape, etc.). Just and idea! I love the work you did on this lesson. Can't wait to read about geometry day!

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  2. BYU Arts Bridge CoordinatorNovember 6, 2017 at 10:17 AM

    Great lesson, Alli! You did a great job introducing the concept and then scaffolding to your end objective. I love the picture you shared in this post! An element to your lesson that I really enjoyed reading was how you created a problem that used the numbers of actual students in the class. I bet they loved that. Nice work!

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