21.03.2022

Mathematics in Elementary School goes beyond the obvious

Learning mathematics involves specific knowledge of notions, concepts and procedures of the area, decoding arithmetic and geometric symbols, and solving problems in different situations. 

Students in Elementary I develop knowledge about numbers and operations, quantities and measures, algebra and functions, space and form, information processing, and logical structures, making connections with challenges proposed in and out of school since mathematical thinking is present in several areas of everyday life. 

“I don’t know this yet, but with effort and persistence I will learn”. It was with this powerful phrase that the 3rd grade (Y3) chose to start the year and relate to Mathematics. They are engaged in creating, thinking, and “rolling up their sleeves” for the construction of knowledge. Through activities, students created, among other things, connections with Math and Arts, ensuring greater engagement, while their aesthetic sensibility and cultural repertoire were expanded. 

One of the proposals made in the 4th grade Math classes (Y4) was the challenge for students to collectively create geometric shapes through the use of a string. From the directions given by the teachers with the name of certain geometric figures and/or their properties (number of sides and vertices), the students created the shapes. The activity included a geometry review that aimed to assess the ability to identify and name geometric figures, as well as to work on spatial perception and to strengthen them as a group. 

In the Geometry workshop, the students built pyramids with square and triangular bases, relating them to images and objects already known in their reality, at the same time they had the opportunity to increase their technical mathematical vocabulary. Thus, the barbecue stick became the edge and the biscuit dough, the vertices. 

In another moment, when dealing with the data of a supposed kite store and the birthday children of the class, the raised and opened arms became vertical and horizontal axes. In this journey, children are agents in the learning process and come to understand that mathematics is much more than memorizing facts and procedures without understanding them or just getting to the “correct” answer. 

The beauty of mathematics is in thinking deeply, questioning whether ideas make sense, reflecting with others on various possible strategies, and developing teamwork skills.