Tag Archives: patterns

Games with the multiplication table

Posted on May 2, 2017 by aofradkin

The following was translated from this post by Jane Kats.  Translation and translator’s notes are by Yulia Shpilman. (Translator’s note: I taught a lesson inspired by this post to my math circle for 1st and 2nd graders on Sunday and … Continue reading →

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Fibonacci Trees

Posted on March 22, 2017 by aofradkin

For two weeks in a row, in our joint 1st-5th grade math classes, a certain famous sequence made its appearance.  The activities were seemingly very different: in the first one we were climbing stairs one or two steps at a … Continue reading →

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Great Mathematicians, Old and Young

Posted on November 21, 2016 by aofradkin

Almost every week, I read or tell my second grade class a story about a famous mathematician.  Recently, we have been reading from the book Mathematicians Are People Too: Stories from the Lives of Great Mathematicians and the students have been … Continue reading →

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What is a pattern?

Posted on October 21, 2016 by aofradkin

This week in Kindergarten our focus was on patterns.  I began by asking the kids whether they knew what a pattern was.  All said “yes” in unison.  So I called on someone to tell me.  “It’s when you have one … Continue reading →

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What makes a pattern?

Posted on October 8, 2015 by aofradkin

Last year, a large fraction of the small amount of math that Katie did in Kindergarten consisted of basic patterns.  “Red, blue, red, blue, red” what comes next?  And the more advanced version of that with three repeating colors or … Continue reading →

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First Patterns

Posted on April 19, 2014 by aofradkin

I had been wondering when I would make my first post about Katie’s younger sister Zoe.  Just like I generally do with Katie, I decided that I would wait until I got inspired by something Zoe did.  And so, about … Continue reading →

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Katie’s Triangle

Posted on February 5, 2014 by aofradkin

Those familiar with Pascal’s Triangle would probably immediately recognize its beginnings in the following: However, as I was giving this to Katie, I realized that from this much information the pattern is far from obvious.  For example, a 4 in … Continue reading →

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Eating Patterns

Posted on January 8, 2014 by aofradkin

Katie was always a picky eater.  There are only a few foods that she will eat consistently.  However, there are a number of others that one can get into her with some amount of effort: distractions, convincing arguments, trickery, etc.  … Continue reading →

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Patterns and Repetition

Posted on September 14, 2013 by aofradkin

How would you explain to a little kid what a pattern is?  Katie was introduced to the concept of a pattern about a year ago (not by me) and by this point she has a fairly well-formed perception of what … Continue reading →

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