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Grade 1 Research Paper

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Grade 1 – The resource selected to effectively support the recognition and classification of 2D and 3D shapes is a maths game ‘Kangaroo Hop’ accessed from Math Playground (URL http://www.mathplayground.com/ASB_Kangaroo_Hop.html). The game can have up to 4 players and the aim is to be the first to reach the end. To win, a player must correctly identify the shape that comes up at the bottom of the screen and ‘hop’ onto it. For example, if the word sphere comes up, the student must correctly identify the sphere and hop onto it. The game utilizes both 2D and 3D shapes and also includes some shapes that children may not be aware of such as parallelograms and pentagons. If the student chooses a wrong answer, they fall into the water and are given …show more content…

The game offers a platform for students to visually recognise and engage with 2D and 3D shapes in different arrangements whilst remaining entertaining and motivating. By moving through the levels of the game, students practice classifying shapes in quicker time fames which strengthen memorization and problem solving skills (McFarlane, Sparrowhawk and Heald, 2002). It is suggested by Oblinger (2004) that games can facilitate the acquisition and transfer of knowledge into new situations, which can be observed in ‘kangaroo hop’ as students transfer their recognition skills to the various levels within the game. Rutherford (2015) suggests that games present opportunities for meaningful practice, which in turn helps to encourage strategical mathematical thinking as students become more confident in their skills to correctly identify shapes. However, an educator must be careful not to flood students with educational games as they will quickly lose the appeal of being fun and engaging activities. As an educator, I would implement this resource as a ‘calm down’ activity for children after they come back from recess or lunch in order for them to have an activity to release their energy into whilst still engaging with learning materials. This resource is also useful in …show more content…

It also acknowledges the content description as children use origami skills to fold their two-dimensional nets into three dimensional objects, such as prisms and pyramids. Thinking about 3D shapes through nets can be very beneficial to understanding the representation of shapes in multiple forms (Tartre, 1990). They help students to conceptualise surface area, the logistics of volume and side lengths through special visualisation. Before the construction of the 3D shapes, while children are in the decorating stage, I will prompt thinking by asking how many sides their shape will have when it’s completed or what side of the net do they think will be the base. One key problem with the worksheet selected, is that it names the 3D shape that will be created from the net. I will remove this because I think it is essential for students to be able to recognise and correctly identify the shape for themselves as this is something they are asked to do in most standardised maths tests. This idea is supported by the NSW Department of Education as they recognise students must have the ability to “perceive and hold an appropriate mental image of an object”. In order to further support the development of modelling 3D shapes, I will implement another creative activity where students can

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