20% Project Blog Post 2

The first ‘Pin’ I am recreating is a “Fact Families Addition Activity”. This activity is specifically focused on building mathematical skills in a fun, interactive way. The set-up process is very simple. All you need is some yellow paper, clothespins, and a sharpie. You will cut the yellow paper in circles and write different numbers on each circle, representing the ‘answer’. Then you will write out each possible way to add two numbers together to get that answer and write them each on the clothespins, representing the ‘equations’.

I think this activity could be very beneficial for teachers in lower elementary ages to assist in teaching addition. This could be an individual or team game. You could let each student individually build a ‘sun’ as they practice their addition, or you could break up the class in groups, give each student a clothespin, and encourage them to work together to complete a ‘sun’. This activates visual and physical styles of learning. Visually, students are able to see which different sets of numbers add up to the same sum while also being physically engaged with the activity through the task of clipping clothespins onto the ‘suns’.

This game could also be adapted slightly to be done on a larger scale. Teachers could make large circles of numbers and post them on the walls all around the classroom and have students race with their clothespins to see which team completes their ‘sun’ first. This gets the students active and increases their heart rate and engagement with the activity. If students are more engaged, they are more likely to learn from the activity. This “Fact Families Addition Activity” could also be modified to target older elementary aged students by turning it into a “Fact Families Multiplication Activity”. Instead of writing addition equations on each clothespin, you could write multiplication equations.

Overall, I think this is an awesome ‘Pin’ and could be very valuable in the classroom. It is not too hard to prepare, can be adapted to any age group, and can be applied on a small or large scale. It improves mathematical skills while also increasing communication and team work skills between classmates. Hope you can benefit from this idea!