The picture my mentee and I drew together.
Yesterday was the last session of Homework Zone for the semester. I am always amazed at how fast the time goes! For fun I conducted a little interview with my mentee on the last day and thought it would be great to share it here.
What was the best thing about Homework Zone?
Doing arts and crafts! (see the above drawing, one of many from the semester)
What’s your favourite colour?
Purple
What’s your favorite thing to have for lunch?
Kraft Dinner
This is a fun activity to do with your mentee! Here are some extra steps you can do along with the ones suggested in the video:
Materials needed:
– paper plate
– kebab sticks / long pencils
– magnet
– string
– bent out paper clip
Questions to ask as we do the activity:
– What happens if you make the magnet go both ways on the needle?
– What happens when you put the magnet next to the magnetized “needle”? Do you know why?
– How do you think magnets work?
– What happens when you put two magnets together?
– Do you want to decorate your compass?
– How can you use a compass in everyday life?
You can also use this page to explain how magnets work to your mentee… in case you forgot 😉 http://www.kidsgen.com/school_projects/magnets.htm
80 Questions That Mentors Can ask Their Mentees
Use this activity as a way to get to know your mentee on your first meeting. You absolutely don’t have to ask all 80 questions (unless you want to!), just pick the ones that you are drawn to… and let your mentee ask you questions, too!
After doing this activity, you can illustrate your answers together in a drawing, making it the first common project you do together in the semester.
Emily and Emma, Riverview Elementary, Fall 2013
If you grew up as an all-Canadian kid, then you know the power of duct tape!
And as mature, creative mentors we need to pass down this knowledge to the next generation. With great power comes great responsibility, some would say (“Some” in this case being Spider-man).
For your mentoring pleasure, here are 25 useful and fun things you can make with just duct tape
So today I created a small little package to be added to the homework zone bin…
A Deck of Cards!
And for that deck of cards, here is a small collection of math-oriented, competitive card games:
Game 1: “Racing Stripe”
This game is a head to head racing competition. Divide the pack as you wish (Each player can have 5 cards or 25! It’s up to you). With your cards, race to place your cards in order from least to greatest. Fastest player wins the race!
(Added challenge: Make one colour – either black or red – negative numbers!)
Game 2: “Battle”
This is also a head-to-head competition. Divide the deck in two and give each player a pile. Do not peek at your cards! Each round, players flip a card. The higher card wins the set. The player with the most cards at the end wins.
Game 3: “Fraction Battle”
This game has the same rules as “battle”, but with a more complicated twist! Each turn, players will draw 2 cards. The first card will be the numerator, the second card will be the denominator. The player with the larger fraction will win all 4 cards!
Game 4: “Multiplication Battle”
This game also has the same rules as the two prior battle games. For this, players flip 2 cards. The player with the greatest product will win all 4 cards.
Game 5: “21”
This game is a classic! This game is best for 2-4 players, but one player needs to be the dealer. The goal of the game is to have your cards total as close to 21 as possible WITHOUT going over. Each player is given 1 card. When it is their turn, they can either ask the dealer for another card or they can “hold” (which means they have chosen to not take any more cards at all). Players can ask the dealer for an extra card each turn if they choose. The moment they say hold, they cannot ask for anymore.
As players gain cards, they must add the numbers. If a player totals over 21 at some point, they are out of the game. Once all players have chosen to hold OR there is only 1 player left, the game ends. The player with the total closest to 21 without going over wins.
Game 6: “Give me ten”
Remove face cards from the deck. Ace is left as equals 1. Arrange the cards face up in a line. Players take turns grabbing cards that, combined, total 10. When all the cards are gone, the player with the most cards wins. (Hint: Go for multiple card combinations first, like 3+3+4).
[Challenge: Make one colour – either black or red – negative integers]
Game 7: “Mind Reader”
This game is best for 3 players. Two players each draw a card and, without looking at it, hold it up to their foreheads so that everyone else can see it, but themselves. The third player announces the sum of the two cards. Each “mind reader” must figure out which card is on his or her own forehead and say it aloud. When both “mind readers” have figured out their cards, a new leader is chosen and the game continues.
[Challenge: Have the third player announce the product of the two cards]
Game 8: “Subtraction Toss Up”
Game best for 2-5 players. Each player chooses 3 cards from the deck without looking at them. Players then toss their cards in the air. Once the cards land, see which landed face up and which landed face down. Total the sum of the card(s) facing up, then subtract the value of the card(s) facing down.
Goal 1: Play to the end of the deck. Once the deck is finished, the player with the greatest total wins.
Goal 2: Continually use the cards and resort the deck as you play. First player to reach 100 wins.
Heres a cute and simple recipe kids will have a lot of fun with…and you don’t even need an oven! The main bonus is that the ingredients are healthy and nutritious, but it is also cool that the kids will get to feel like university students, eating their fancy and hip sushi!
Ingredients:
Though not many students are starting to work with graphs by Grade 6, this Mathematical Art activity is a great intro into how to look at ordered pairs. It’s almost like a mathematical word search, but you get to colour afterwards! The searching also helps student to work with their understanding of ordering and magnitude.
Simple follow THIS LINK to a page with a handful of free printables. Some pictures require over 100 ordered pairs to be found! That means group is definitely involved.
So Science is cool, that is fact, but wouldn’t it be cooler if we could use those science experiments for something else? Something like…art?
Enter Home-made playdough: a great activity to engage students in measurement, mixtures and science before letting their creative sculpting go wild! Here are two easy-to-make recipes.
Ingredients:
In a large bowl add all dry ingredients and mix well (salt, flour, cream of tartar, Kool-Aid). Add the oil and boiling water to the mixture and mix this with a large spoon until it becomes very firm. It should be cool enough to handle after a few minutes of stirring. Lay out some wax paper and flour for the last step. Use your hands and roll it in some more flour if it feels too sticky.
Ingredients:
In a large bowl mix salt and flour, gradually stirring in water until it forms a dough-like consistency. Form a ball with your dough and knead it for at least 5 minutes with your hands, adding flour as needed to create a smooth texture. The longer you knead your dough, the smoother it will be. Much the same way that playdough is edible but not delicious, salt dough is as salty as its name suggests. This dough is best kept away from pets, as the high salt content may make them sick if they ingest enough.
You can let your salt dough creations air dry, however salt dough can also be dried in the oven. Bake at 200 F until your creation is dry. The amount of time needed to bake your creations depends on size and thickness; thin flat ornaments may only take 45-60 minutes
If one thing is true about working with kids, it’s that simple questions can lead to BIG inquiries. That is the case with this quirky and educational science project that explores how exactly we BREATHE. I mean, we do it all day every day and yet we don’t stop to think about that whole ‘LUNG’ situation going on beneath those ribs.
So let’s start thinking and creating!
Materials:
Procedure:
1. Using scissors, carefully cut off the bottom of the plastic bottle starting at the precut slit.
2. Push the end of the balloon through the mouth of the bottle. Stretch the mouth of the balloon over the mouth of the bottle.
3. Fold the 30-cm-diameter circle in half twice. Twist about 2.5 cm of the folded corner around and secure it with a short piece of masking tape to make a handle.
4. Cover the open bottom of the bottle with the plastic circle so the handle is on the outside of the bottle.
Secure the plastic tightly to the bottle with a rubber band. There should be some slack in the plastic. The rubber band may need to be doubled if using the smaller plastic bottle. See diagram below.
5. Gently push and pull on the handle to move the plastic in and out. What do you observe?
6. Hold the bottle so the mouth is near your cheek and move the surface of the plastic in and out. What do you feel?
7. Describe what happens to the balloon as the plastic moves in and out. Explain your observations.
Here’s a simple activity to the get the creative juices flowing! Explore colour, patterns. Spot images in the splatter. Create a piece of contemporary art! The possibilities are endless.
If the mess starts to scare you, remember that kids need to practice on-task behaviour and you, as mentors, are there to help them guide their decisions. That impulsivity is something to direct into a positive, absolutely beautiful piece of art (and NOT into a library stained with paint).
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