Hands-On Math Activities
for Grades 2, 3, and 4
Zachary J. BrewerWelcome to the digital home of Math Art: Hands-On Math Activities for Grades 2, 3, and 4.
Math Art is a supplemental mathematics curriculum that I developed as an elementary math teacher in the Bronx. Like any supplemental lesson book, the main purpose of Math Art is to help teachers introduce, reinforce, or expand upon the topics their students are required to learn. Furthermore, by blending the subjects of mathematics and art, the Math Art curriculum is also capable of motivating students, decreasing classroom discipline problems, increasing student retention of knowledge, and assisting the instruction of visual learners, kinesthetic learners, and English language learners. Please read the book's introduction, or view some of the actual math activities, for a better understanding of how and why the book merges math and art.
Each of the book's math lessons require students to create an aesthetically-pleasing project that focuses on a fundamental or "broad" mathematical topic (perimeter, volume, symmetry, angles, etc.). For the convenience of the teacher, a large picture of each project is located at the beginning of each lesson. In addition to directions on how to teach/construct each math activity, most lessons also include a few paragraphs dedicated to mathematical educational theory or common student misconceptions.
Math Art: Hands-On Math Activities for Grades 2, 3, and 4 is primarily written for second, third, and fourth grade teachers. Many first and fifth grade teachers might also wish to own the book, as well as special education teachers of older grades. Generally speaking, in an era when teachers are increasingly stressed for time, and the pressures of standardized tests are forcing art instruction out of classrooms, a book of lessons that blends mathematics and art is of great value.
Furthermore, since there still exists many unexplored ways to use the arts to enhance instruction of traditional subject matter, student teachers would be well served to read Math Art and use it as a model for developing their own art-integrated lessons. Indeed, unlike other "lesson plan books," Math Art has the potential to improve a teacher's mathematics instruction before he or she ever utilizes its lessons in a classroom. This is because most of lessons briefly discuss, in general terms, how various mathematical topics are best explained to students.
It is strongly recommended that the teacher independently assemble each project prior to the day he or she plans to teach the corresponding lesson. The materials required for each activity are listed on the first page of each lesson.
