TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Guest Column: Building Blocks Of Learning Math

ADVERTISEMENT

By MARY VAUGHN Special to the Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 26, 2008

LITHIA - I first came across Kapla planks about eight years ago, when my son received the wooden building blocks as a gift from his French cousins. The planks, made of pine harvested from renewable forests in France, were invented by Tom van der Bruggen.

As I was teaching my gifted students at FishHawk Creek Elementary School, I realized the endless academic skills they could work through with the planks, such as problem solving, creativity, proportions and spacial reasoning.

The rectangular, prism-shaped planks come in three proportions. There is no "right" way to build with the blocks, and students can use the flat sides, edges and ends for construction. Each time students work with Kapla, they can build - and learn - something new.

Some of our lessons with the planks have involved measurement. To meet state mathematics standards approved in 2007, first-grade students are being asked to predict and measure the length of objects using non-standard measuring units, such as blocks. This lesson illustrates why standard measurements were invented.

Students can count with the planks as a tool, make estimations of the number of planks used to build a structure, learn about different geometric shapes, connect with ratios and proportions and incorporate art and architecture into the equation.

At a building camp held last summer at FishHawk Creek, students built individual bridge structures, then connected the sections together to create a span that ran the length of two classrooms. It was a great accomplishment for the students, and great fun.

This learning tool has endless possibilities for students in school, as well as in the real world. The planks are available at specialty toy stores or through www.kaplatoys.com.

CALLING ALL TEACHERS

The Brandon News & Tribune welcomes guest columns written by local teachers about interesting classroom activities, teaching methods, field trips, clubs, sports, music and more. For information, contact Laura Frazier at (813) 657-4523 or lfrazier@ tampatrib.com.

Mary Vaughn teaches math and science to gifted students in grades three through five at FishHawk Creek Elementary School.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT