Prep Bulletin
Learning Intention:
To explore and create patterns.
Learning Experience Overview:
In Maths, students have been developing their understanding of patterns. During this learning experience, they were exploring this through a number-lense.
Fluency Game:
The lesson started with our fluency game ‘I’m going on a picnic.’ The teacher demonstrated the role of the leader to initiate the game. The leader begins by saying, "I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing ... and ...," with the chosen items following a specific pattern that isn't revealed to the students. The students then attempt to guess the pattern by asking, "Can I come on the picnic? I’ll bring ..." If the student's item matches the pattern, the leader responds, "Sure, you can come and bring ...." If the item doesn't match the pattern, the leader replies, "I’m sorry. We don’t need ..." The goal for the students is to determine the leader's pattern.
Pattern options
- Shape
- Colour
- Initial sound
- Spelling patterns
- Category (eg. things you need for swimming)
Launch:
After the launch, the students explored patterns by identifying the repeated actions in the song “Heads, shoulders, knees and toes”
Enabling:
Students were given visual prompts of four different actions to choose from. They then needed to arrange these actions in a sequence to create their pattern.
Explore:
Students created their own dance pattern with five or more different actions in partners. They practised their dance routine and presented it to their class. Once presented, students discussed what the pattern was during their dance routine.
Extending:
Students were challenged to include the direction in which they needed to perform each dance move in the sequence.
In this learning experience, students are learning to:
- Create and sequence a repeating pattern
- Identify what is repeating in a pattern
- Copy a simple pattern
Examples of students’ work:
What can you do now to continue the learning at home from this experience:
- Create a dance routine to a favourite song, focusing on incorporating different patterns and directions in the movements. Perform this routine for your family or record it to share with friends.
- Notice patterns in the environment. Discuss what type of pattern it is and how you knew it was a pattern.
- Create patterns using toys or objects from around the house.
- Continue a pattern.
Alyssa, Ruby and Julian
Prep Team
Alyssa.Thermos@education.vic.gov.au