Adventures with Kaleidocycles

Throughout the time our math class spent diving into the fun exercise of kaleidocycles, I learned a lot of new ways to teach a math lesson plan.  I went from majorly struggling at understanding how
to properly fold paper to because able to show and tell students how to properly create their own kaleidocycle.  During the first day of the lesson, I cut, folded, and taped a poor excuse of of an origami project.  I was extremely unsure of the instructions, and the informational video went to fast to stay in my head.  I tried my best to fold in all the right places, but it never looked right.  It wasn't
until a classmate put my kaleidocycle together that I even knew how I was supposed to be working.  I once my classmate had everything put together, I taped everything together as well as I could before it broke.  I decided to use spots as a design, but unfortunately the marker did not show on top of the tape, so only half of my spots showed up.  Overall, my first attempt at making a kaleidocycle was an extremely unfortunate occurrence, but it help me realize what I was supposed to do in order to give students proper instructions the following week.

The first session at West Michigan Academy of Arts & Academics was very interesting because I walked in nervous that I was going to mess up in front of students.  Once we sat with a group of students, a teacher told me that the students at my table were 'special needs'.  That statement made me way more excited walking into the lesson because I knew I would have to put a little more effort to

have a great experience.  The two little boys were incredibly nice and enthusiastic about creating kaleidocycles.  When they started to feel down about messing up a step they just needed an extra boost of support from my classmates and I, and we were happy to provide the help.  Throughout the session, I made myself a new kaleidocycle that turned out a lot better than the first.  I liked my spot design, and was excited to try it on a decently made kaleidocycle before I taped it up.  While working with students, I discovered that this project is better done on card stock, a person can check where they need to fold by looking at the back of their project, and students can create a design that tells a story throughout the movements of the kaleidocycles.  After leaving this session, I felt confident that I could show the next session's students how to properly assemble a kaleidocycle without making a mistake.

The final session at WMAAA was a great experience that went as well as I would ever want my classroom to be.  I used all of the previously learned methods to help the girls at my table create their own perfect kaleidocycle.  The girls enjoyed the process of making this project, and were excited about the outcomes.  They had a lot of fun figuring out how to design their kaleidocycles, and then
they put a lot of effort into designing.  I made a third kaleidocycle so the students could follow along.  This project was definitely my best, and it looks the neatest with its striped design.  I was so glad that I could finally complete a successful kaleidocycle, and i'm glad I got the chance to help students enjoy the experience.  This whole lesson really helped me understand the importance of trying hard and not giving up to give students their best chance of succeeding.

Future Math Lesson Plan

In a future class taught by myself, I would love to use physical tools to help my students learn new concepts.  By placing manipulative tools in a math lesson, students develop a fun outlet for expanding their knowledge.  Using tools allow for a kinesthetic learning process, and can make a seemingly boring topic into a topic that will always be remembered.  In our current 221 class, using all of the different resources that we have available have really helped me grasp certain mathematical concepts, so just think of the wonders in can do for young students eager to learn!  

After researching different lesson plans that use manipulative tools, I found one for 7th graders on a site entitled CPALM.  This lesson goes over a fun way to teach students how to find the surface area of a cube or rectangular prism by using wrapped gift boxes.  The purpose of this lesson plan follows Michigan Standard 7.G.B.6 "Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area volume and surface area of two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects composed of triangles, polygons, cubes, and right prisms".  By giving students boxes nicely wrapped in fun paper, students will be able to take the information already taught about surface area and apply it to finding the surface area of the boxes.  For the main activity, students will be split up into 4 groups and then sent to one of four stations.  They will rotate around to each station and measure the different sized boxed located on the tables.  They will document the surface areas they find as a group for each box and write it on their worksheet.  After

all of the students have had a turn at each station they will return to a class discussion comparing their answers to see if their needs to be further explanation.  Once the class decides on their answer, the teacher will reveal the true surface areas for each box.  The students will receive a review worksheet to take home as homework.  This will provide students with a conclusion assignment to recap everything taught in class.

This lesson plan is a great example of how a teacher can use manipulative tools to increase the enjoyment of learning a topic.  In my classroom, I would use this lesson as a closure activity to the unit of surface area, because it wraps up the topic in a creative way while providing an opportunity for students to use their already learned knowledge.  By using gift boxes, it provides a different way to measure a cube or rectangular prism besides a picture on a piece of paper.  These tools give students the ability to physical touch and see how using surface area in everyday use would take place.  This activity livens up a classroom, and I would purposely try to schedule the lesson around the holiday season to creative a festive tone to the class.  I am excited that I found this lesson plan, and if I ever find myself teaching surface area to my students, I will remember this as use it as the final activity of my unit.

Homework Review Worksheet 

Worksheet Used During Activity