Area Tiles and a Giveaway Reminder!

Hi Friends!  Happy Tuesday!

Well I just got back a little bit ago from our monthly PTA meeting.  My dear, sweet 2nd graders had their big performance tonight, after the meeting!  They have been learning and practicing lots of dances in Music, and they did SO great!  It was such a fun time, and they even had a part for parents to join in on.  Such a great time!

So anyways, since it's late (and I'm tired!), my post will be quick and to the point!

Today we worked on area a bit more, but this time we used floor tiles!  Now we don't have floor tiles in all the classrooms (thank goodness most classrooms are carpeted), so we had to travel to our Science Lab to do this fun activity.  One of our hard-working team members had pre-taped off different floor tiles in similar shapes, but different sizes!  It was the students' jobs to figure out a few different things. 

First, and foremost, we talked about WHAT to measure area with!  Should we go back to our class and grab those inch tiles?  Nooooo...because we just used the floor tiles!  Then, the students worked in groups to figure out the areas of each set of figures. 

There was 4 stations: 1 square (with a large square and small square), 1 rectangle (large and small), 1 "L" shape (large and small), and one "T" shape (large and small)!

Here are my kiddos measuring areas:

And recording data:

It all went on a 2 sided page (front and back) like this:

After students measured the areas, they compared the 2 shapes at each station.  Although they were both the same SHAPE, one had a MUCH larger area than the other.  (They came to this conclusion quickly, and even transferred the thought by suggesting that we could technically make an even LARGER shape, too!)

Finally, of course, I had to post one fun class pic at the end!  (Area "all-stars"!)

While it looks like I have a very small class, in actuality I have 7 students out in different places during this time (Some in Speech, G/T, Resource, OT/PT, etc.-- We're a very busy bunch!)

We've had such a great time these past few days with area.  It's taken a bit of work, but the kiddos finally realize that area isn't some big, scary, hard concept--it's only the number of square units inside a figure!

(On a side note, I just HAD to email Kim Sutton to tell her how much I enjoyed her Area Zoo activity from yesterday!  She definitely deserves kudos for her brilliant ideas!  I KNOW her activity had a BIG part in convincing my students that area is not hard and IS fun!)

LASTLY, Don't forget about my "Totally, Terrific, Tinkerin' Giveaway!".  It ends TOMORROW (Wednesday, April 16) at Midnight!  So hurry on over to the post (if you haven't already) and ENTER!!!  There are 9 great prizes plus 1 bonus prize that will go to a 2nd winner.  Happy Entering!