Description
Book SynopsisWhether you are a new or an experienced teacher, Communication and Creativity in the Math Classroom provides you with classroom-tested activities and ideas which are motivating, engaging, and meaningful to students. Traditional textbooks commonly feature conventional, un-engaging, and somewhat boring problems and activities. Communication and Creativity in the Math Classroom provides you with activities and ideas which stress life skills such as communicating more effectively, being creative, analyzing a variety of problems, following directions, and working cooperatively with others. These skills are very valuable but are rarely addressed in the traditional math curriculum. The materials and ideas in this book allow you to interject these skills into your daily lessons while covering various mathematical topics. Many of the easily reproducible activities can be used as assessments; consequently, suggested scoring rubrics are included as well as helpful strategies and observations.
Trade ReviewNick Rinaldi is a teacher that knows teachers. Ideas are great, actions are better. His book Communication and Creativity in the Math Classroom, provides teachers with resources that are ready-made for the classroom that can be of immediate use whether the teacher is in their first year or has decades under their belt. He also knows students; they are active participants in their learning with these activities and strategies, which can be easily used and adapted to courses other than mathematics. Having used many of these lesson ideas in my own classes, I can attest that they are engaging, creative and have real benefits to the classroom environment. I highly recommend this compilation for teachers of all experience levels. -- Tom Webster, mathematics teacher/former math department chair, Branford High School
Nick Rinaldi shares the many lesson ideas that he has used successfully and shared with colleagues over his tenure both as a math teacher and math department chairman. The activities that focus on communication actively involve the students in communicating with a partner, small group or entire class. Learning is enhanced by these activities which can be adapted for a wide variety of lesson topics. Rubrics are included so that the students can appreciate what is important in communicating a mathematical concept or skill. The creative activities spark the student’s interest. This approach reaches out to the varied learning styles of the students. This is a valuable resource for every math teacher. -- Donna Gagliardi, former mathematics teacher, Branford High School
The typical math classroom has students sitting at desks lined up in rows with few opportunities to interact with each other. This is unfortunate because in the 'real world,' communication and creativity take place in the context of a team of people working together to solve problems. Nick Rinaldi's latest book provides a wealth of activities, all classroom tested, to get students talking with each other in fun and creative ways and learning mathematics at the same time! -- Clayton R. Hall II, Ed. D., teacher of high school mathematics, Hopkins School, New Haven, CT
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Chapter 1: Let’s Begin at the Beginning ·Unusual Equations ·Three of a Kind ·Palindrome Puzzler ·Famous Structures ·How Observant Are You? ·Miscellaneous Brain Teasers Chapter 2: Can We Talk? ·You and Me ·Do I Have to Draw You a Picture? ·Joy Ride ·Oh, Say Can You See ·Lady Liberty and Me ·Talking Baseball ·To Serve a Serving ·Troublesome Technology ·Is Love Transitive? ·Student Presentations ·Do It Up Front ·Remember? ·Engaging Questions/Comments Chapter 3: Let’s Create Creativity ·A Picture is Worth a Thousand Points ·I Am a Geometric Figure ·I Am a Number ·Once Upon a Time ·Game Time Chapter 3.14: Happy Pi Day ·Overview ·Materials and Activities Chapter 4: In Search Of… ·Geometry Scavenger Hunt ·Number Scavenger Hunt ·Transformation Treasure Trek Chapter 5: But Wait! There’s Still More ·Linguini Lines ·Word Chains ·Your Guess Is As Good As Mine ·Emergency Folder ·Random Students ·Take Me Out to The Ball Game ·The Equation of a Line ·It’s a Sine of the Times Conclusion Appendix Answers to Selected Exercises
