Mathematics Activities that Strengthen Primary School Numerical Skills

 

Since the 4th or 5th grade is the last year of primary education, an extremely comprehensive education is given to the 4th or 5th grade students who are about to transfer to the next school level, that is, secondary school. The problems experienced in other classes of primary education or the subjects that cannot be fully reinforced are completed in the 4th grade. 4th grade students should graduate from 4th grade with a command of the entire curriculum of primary education.

In-class activities are also used to graduate students from primary education fully equipped. The importance of 4th grade mathematics activities cannot be denied, especially in order to make the abstract meanings of mathematics lessons more concrete and to convey the lesson content in accordance with the logic of the students. With the activities, not only information is transferred to the students, but also general repetitions, reminders, reconciliations with other subjects and the basis of preparation for the next education level are established. Let's take a look at the 4th grade math activities together.

#1     Maze

It is a 4th grade math activity applied to improve students' problem-solving skills and to reinforce old topics.

First, the activity material in a labyrinth setup prepared by the teacher is brought to the classroom.

There are many problems in the labyrinth, which are suitable for the curriculum topics and prepared for students.

The activity is started either in groups to try the collaborative approach with the students or individually to activate the self-confidence of the students.

Students proceed by solving the questions they encounter in order to reach the exit from the labyrinth.

Thus, in the activity, which is aimed to get out of the maze and is almost like a competition environment, the opportunity to solve many questions is created for the students. Thanks to the solved questions, students' math skills are also strengthened.

#2     I Know My Friend Game

It is a version of a similar activity applied in foreign language classes, converted into a 4th grade math activity. The main purpose of the 'I Know My Friend' activity is for students to learn many concepts about measurement while having fun with each other.

Students are grouped together with their desk mates along with the materials that the teacher brings to the class.

Usually, two-person groups calculate each other's measurements based on the concepts of measurement they see in the curriculum.

Measurements are not limited to height, students note each other's steps by measuring finger and arm lengths.

Thus, while students make calculations such as how many cm is a span, they also convert units of length such as cm and m.

In addition, this activity can be given to students by the teacher as homework. Students can measure the length of other family members in the house, just as they would with their deskmates.

#3 Geometric Shapes: Geometry / Math Activity

Although it seems more like a design lesson, it is actually an activity that can be applied both to prepare for geometry subjects and to reinforce the subject of geometric objects and shapes.

The teacher himself collects the activity materials in the classroom by bringing craft papers and cardboards to the class or by asking the students to bring them.

Then, he starts to create shapes similar to those he introduced about geometric objects and shapes, on craft papers or cardboards.

For this, the teacher first shows the students the unfolded form of the shapes, and then tells the emergence of the shapes by combining them.

Afterwards, students draw the expansion of the geometric object they want to create on the material they want to use, with the help of a ruler.

Then they cut the shape from the material with scissors and fold it from the marked places and paste it, so that geometric objects are revealed.

Thanks to this activity, students will be able to observe the number of edges and vertices of geometric objects in a concrete way.

On the other hand, they also use length measurements to make expansions of geometric figures. They even improve their manual dexterity by practicing fine motor skills such as drawing, cutting, folding and sticking.

#4 Other Math Activities

You can do an observation-based activity by asking which geometric object the shapes they see around them are similar to.

While dealing with fractions, you can create expressions based on foods. By dividing the pizza slices as whole, half and quarter, it will be remarkable to calculate how many of them and who ate them.

You can create 4th grade activities on weighing and measuring liquids by measuring not only length measurements, but also food and drinks brought by students at feeding time.

Math Activities and Curriculum

The most important issue in carrying out 4th grade math activities is to design activities for students that are suitable for 4th grade math curriculum. While the most basic of the topics in the activities are created through the 4th grade curriculum, some topics are added to the previous level classes to make general repetitions and to prepare for the next level classes. However, these are added as auxiliary and reinforcing topics, the most basic topics of 4th grade math activities should be determined through the 4th grade curriculum. Consisting of six units in total, the curriculum has 17 subjects:

Natural numbers

Addition with natural numbers

Subtraction with natural numbers

Multiplication with natural numbers

Division with natural numbers

fractions

Operations with fractions

measuring time

Data collection and evaluation

Geometric objects and shapes

Basic concepts in geometry

spatial relationships

measuring length

Environmental measurement

measuring area

Weighing

Measuring liquid

The 4th grade mathematics curriculum subjects were also shaped by adding new subjects on the basis of past subjects. In addition to being designed with the curriculum, there are some issues that need to be considered in the implementation of 4th grade math activities:

First, the entire activity must appeal to students. For this reason, it should be aimed that students participate in the 4th grade mathematics activities one-to-one.

The subjects should be presented to the students in a clear and understandable way.

The materials used for the activity should be designed appropriately for 4th grade students.

Although the 4th grade math activities will be implemented within the course, they should be different from the lecture content. In other words, it should consist of a process where students are both entertained and informed.

One of the most important issues to be considered in 4th grade activities is that they are designed with elements in which students feel comfortable and improve their self-confidence and communication skills. All these issues are also the behaviors that the expert teacher, who will carry out the activities with the students, should pay attention to.

The Role of School Administration and Teacher in 4th Grade Mathematics Activities

Although 4th grade mathematics activities are an educational activity designed for students in which students take an active role, school administration has a role in many points from the preparation process to the implementation stages. It is possible to summarize the role of school administration in 4th grade mathematics activities as follows:

It is to design the school and classroom environment in the most appropriate way and to provide all the materials needed.

For the implementation of 4th grade mathematics activities in the classroom environment, the school administration should bring together well-equipped and expert educators with students.

They should inform the teachers about the curriculum to be used for the activities.

Teachers should provide the activity materials that are determined and needed for the activities.

They should also take an active role in cooperation with teachers in relations with parents.

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