Language and Maths

“I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.” 

 Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

Genre study : Science fiction
Focus : Setting

Task: Watch the video.
Using the 5 senses strategy and the words we gave collected, write a powerful setting...


This is a beautiful example of what a student came up with!

Her fingers curled around the rubble which was hovering in the grey, misty air. Pale, green veins wrapped around her quivering arm, like vines tangled around a tree. A chill spread through the young woman, as the ice-cold air tickled her skin. As the last piece of geometric rock fit into place, the structure burst, sending a cloud of dust sweeping over her. She stumbled backwards, the pungent stench of smoke reaching her nose. She winced. 

Suddenly the soft, crunching of approaching feet alerted her.

  "Perhaps something more simple is in order," a deep raspy voice informed her. 

 She peered up at the sky to see the familiar face of her teacher looming over her. He looked at her with piercing eyes and gently smiled. 

"If you are to understand your challenges, you must first understand the universe." 

As he uttered his last word, a cluster of sand, gravel, rock and fire  twisted and curled  with hypnotic grace and before her eyes, the planets were formed. The set of images flowed as smoothly as the words drifting from the man's mouth. Then, just as suddenly as it appeared, everything  collapsed. And then there was a deafening silence.

Maths

We are looking at percentages and ratios.

I gave the students a very simple problem. Well at least for most!
30 % of a number is 24.
It was with a great deal of joy that I saw a variety of strategies come up in class.
Let's hear what Jo Boaler has to say about this!

This provided me with the perfect opportunity to address the concept of "maths fluency", specially for students who think there is only one way of solving a sum.  

Carpe diem!