MAKING HEXAGONS – CHANGING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT ONE

MAKING HEXAGONS –CHANGING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT ONE BLOCK AT A TIME

CASSANDRA LOWRY

Several years ago, I was asked to take a Prep class so the teacher could attend an unexpected appointment. Being part of the maths team, I knew the students had been learning about shapes, but I had not yet worked with this class. I scanned my office hoping for some inspiration and my eyes landed upon a large tub of Pattern Blocks.

As I made my way to the classroom, a simple, yet intriguing idea formed. I would challenge the students to use the blocks to create some patterns and see if we could learn something about the properties of shapes in the process. “Yes, ” I thought, but I still needed a hook to ensure the students would remain engaged.

I sat the students down in a circle, surrounding the tub of blocks, and started to tell them a story. When I was younger and played basketball, I always wore the number 6. I had fond memories of playing with my team and this experience led the number 6 to become my favourite number.

“I wonder if you can guess which is my favourite pattern block?” I asked the students.

“The yellow one, ” a student suggested. I picked up a yellow pattern block. “But what is the name of this block?” I asked the class.

“It’ s a hexagon, ” another student announced.

“But what has this shape got to do with my favourite number 6?”

Murmurs about sides and corners reverberated around the circle.

“Ok, so you say it’ s got 6 sides, but what is a side? How can I check?”

A student came forward to model the six sides by sliding his finger along the edge of the block.

“A side is straight, ” he confidently added.

“Ok, a side is straight. And so, what is a corner?”

Another student volunteered to show the class that the corners were “the pointy bits ” and modelled how the six corners of the hexagon could be counted.

“Knowing that I love hexagons and the number 6,

do you think we could use these other blocks to build even bigger hexagons?”

“Sure, ” several students suggested, before one moved towards the tub, joining two trapeziums (the red blocks) together to form a new hexagon.

Happily, surprised by this suggestion, I reminded students how good mathematicians always check their work and asked what we could do to ensure this new shape was a hexagon. A long pause came over the class before one student suggested that we could count the number of sides and corners.

After this quick explanation, students were off and, within minutes, were inviting me over to show me their hexagon design. Each time I arrived at a table I would ask students to demonstrate how they knew their shape was a hexagon. Several discussions about sides and corners could be heard over the clicking of blocks.

At one table, two students were discussing “It doesn ’t look right, ” said one student. “It’ s like part of it is too long. ”

I took a photo of the design and shared it with the class. The students were divided as to whether the design was a hexagon. Using our checking process, we confirmed that it did have 6 sides and 6 corners. I used this experience to introduce students to a new term: irregular.

“Mathematicians use the term regular to describe shapes that have equal length sides and equal angles. This shape is a hexagon, but it is called an irregular hexagon. ”

Students seemed happy with their new knowledge and continued along with the task. Another group soon called me over to talk about their design.

“I don ’t think this is a hexagon as it doesn ’t match. It’ s like crooked, ” suggested the student.

This design led to a discussion about symmetry with many students suggesting that the symmetrical hexagons were definitely the best.

“Hey wait! I need more blocks, ” one student shouted.

“Join with me so we can make the biggest hexagon ever. ”

“Cool!”

What Worked Well (WWW) and Even Better If (EBI)

Lots of Blocks: Having now run this lesson several times it is good to have lots of pattern blocks available. The bigger the hexagon the more engaged students become with the learning.

Check all designs: Remember to keep reminding students of the importance of checking their designs. Watch as the students point to the corners and run their fingers along the side of their shapes. Being able to identify a property is different from being able to explain what this property represents.

Learn from Mistakes: If a student makes an error and creates a design that is not a hexagon, name the new object and record this term on the board. This helps to recognise the effort the student put into their design, but also provides them with feedback of any changes they may need to include.

Take Photos: Have a device on hand so photos of designs can be taken and shared with the students. I have used an iPad connected to a larger screen to share designs and model the process of checking the number of sides and corners to ensure the shape is a hexagon.

Believe in the lesson: Sometimes as educators we need to be salespeople. This lesson was successful as the students believed my story about the number six and hexagons. They wanted to use the pattern blocks to create larger designs and were genuinely happy when they could prove to me that what they had created remained a hexagon. Students were excited to use the new words and definitions they discovered and, for several weeks later, were eager to use the pattern blocks during discovery play to continue the challenge.

For further information about this lesson and other ideas related to Pattern Blocks, check out the following post on the AMSI Calculate site: https://calculate.org.au/2018/10/17/shapesfoundation/

Cassandra Lowry

Cassandra is a numeracy leader at St Francis Primary School in Tarneit. She enjoys sharing her love of all things maths and regularly takes part in #STEM related chats via Twitter. For the previous four years, Cassandra worked as a maths educator and outreach officer for the national #CHOOSEMATHS project for @AMSIschools. Many of the resources she developed for the project can be be accessed through the AMSI Calculate website: https://calculate.org.au/author/cassandra/