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Submitted by: Diana

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A good way to teach position at first is go simple. Have a picnic and direct children where to sit according to the position. Use meta-language like next to, opposite, adjacent, behind etc. Move the food on the picnic rug according to the position also. Keep your chin up and keep trying. One or two bad lessons does not a bad teacher make!

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Submitted by: Anonymous

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I agree about the google earth thing - you would then have to bring in things like scale and ratio and other things in order to make it work and be relevant. Learning about concepts such as these are mostly valuable when the children have hands on experience. The days of chalk and talk (even if the chalk is replaced by an IWB and a web site) are gone. The value in ICT is found in the same way - by children DOING, not WATCHING. Start simple and fun - it always works best. Read the other suggestions, there are some really good fun ways of teaching this concept - don't complicate it!

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Submitted by: Anonymous

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I like to put shapes on the classroom floor with masking tape. Number each shape, and let the kids go to work figuring out the perimeter. This is a very active way to learn and the kids enjoy it. Hang in there, and remember, each day is a new day.

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Submitted by: Karin

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Keep in mind what you are trying to achieve. To me it sounds like Google Earth is an add on and not really necessary to achieve your goal of having the kids having fun doing perimeter. Also, it is probably more Stage 3 or 4. As you said yourself you would have to do most of it. The other ideas about going out into the playground sound like a lot of fun and more inclined to produce success for you and them. Give yourself a break and do a lesson that you know will work. Then you will feel more confident and ready for something more experimental. Talk to your prac teacher too. They know the kids and have taken on this role because they want to help you in order to ensure more great teachers for the future.

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Submitted by: Dane

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I would like to thank those of you who commented with suggestions to my post re perimeter and position lessons, many great ideas thank you. Yesterday, I came across google earth and downloaded it. I thought this could be used in intro as a fun way for kids to get engaged. We could measure our school's perimeter on google earth - I would have to be the one actually measuring as it is very fiddly to measure with the mouse but nevertheless the kids could estimate while watching. I thought this could then extend into main part of lesson where kids are estimating and measuring perimeter of objects in classroom and once they have measured about eight items, they could then draw one of these measurements on dot paper ( ie 20cm) and see how many different ways they can represent a 20cm rectangle (ie 5+5+5+5, 9 +2+9+2) and this would roughly conclude the lesson where students could share their findings and what they have learned about perimeter. Does this seem to work for 1 hour time slot? Many thanks in advance again.

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Submitted by: Maree

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Hi Dane, Don't be too hard on yourself. Remember that teaching is one big learning journey and that no matter how old we are or how long we have been teaching we are always trying to find out how to do things better and sometimes we do make mistakes. My advice to you is to do lots of practical things. When teaching perimeter for example, get the kids to walk around the outside of the basketball court, trace around the outside of objects with their finger and use lots of manipulatives to develop their understanding. Paper and pencil activities usually come last. Remember to test their understanding. You will soon see the children that need more consolidation. One of my prac students made a grid on the floor with masking tape and put some objects in different locations and got the kids to describe where they were. She also introduced the idea of using grid references so that the kids could be more precise in their descriptions. Another strategy which is useful is to get the kids to do lots of talking to each other about the concepts you are trying to develop. You could bring in some cooperative learning strategies here as well. Hope that helps. Good luck! In regard to position

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Submitted by: karen

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Have you thought about chalk and the playground? Have your children pair up and draw shapes on the playground in chalk. Have the children pace out the perimeter, Swap the shapes and compare distances and feet sizes etc(non-standard measurement). When you return to the classroom use the computers to map out the different perimeters. Your children's levels would depend on the depth that you do this and what you expect from the children. Remember why you trained to become a teacher, don't feel despondent - enjoy the children. Another tip is to take a digital camera outside with you when the children are drawing their shapes and photograph them in action. You can use these photos for the children to make power points and there is another lesson for you to embark on..Good Luck!!!

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Submitted by: Josie

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You haven't lost your ability Dane. We all stuff up lessons sometimes. I am sure you have done some really great lessons too. Have you looked at the Curriculum Exchange and The Learning Place? They have some great Maths Learning Objects that the students can do online. I usually find my class learn something much more quickly when they are actually engaged in doing something physically and most of the graphics are great.

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