The MATHS BOX! Part 4

It’s time for Part 4 of my review of the RIC Maths Box. If you have missed my previous posts, you can click below.

Part 1 – Organisation & Teachers Guide
Part 2 – Review of Activities
Part 3 – How I would use it in the Classroom
Part 4 – Differentiation

PART 4 – DIFFERENTIATION

Today I am going to investigate the activities a little further and show you how you can easily differentiate an activity to suit the needs of your students. For me, I would not be expecting to use the Maths Box activity cards in the same way every day/week. Sometimes the activity cards that meet your focus might be better as a one-on-one assessment, other times a whole group activity and other times small group. And sometimes I might need to be creative about how best to use it for all students. Here is a small sample of some activity cards that I looked at in more detail.

Box 1 Card 15 Number – Popstick Bundles

This is a great activity card and if you have taught Grade 1, you know it’s a skill you definitely teach (and in many cases you revisit it often too!). For students who might find this task difficult, simply make the bundles and talk through the questions. Being able to touch and count the sticks will help them understand. For students who finish the activity card quickly, the ADDitional activity is perfect, calling for students to make their own 2-digit numbers using the popsticks.

Box 1 Card 18 Number – Number Places

As with the previous card, students who have difficultly with this concept can simply make the numbers using MAB and discuss in a small group. Other students may just need to look at the card and count from there. Again, the ADDitional activity is perfect.

Box 1 Card 2 Patterns – Shape Patterns

This activity is easy to change depending on students needs. Students who needed a little extra support could easily make the patterns, while others who found it a bit easy could extend it by adding in more shapes or having an alternating part to each pattern.

Box 3 Card 2 Statistics and Probability – Dean the Dice Freak!

This was a card in the sample pack and as soon as I saw it I knew it was an activity I would love to do with the students. This card is an example of an activity that wouldn’t require a lot of differentiation, some children may just need some support. There are two graphs for students to read from, then children could complete the activity themselves. This is already suggested as an ADDitional activity on the reverse of the card.

Box 4 Card 1 Measurement and Geometry – Amazing Angles

When I read through this activity, I immediately thought it would be a great warm up activity for a lesson on Angles. Then the ADDitional activity listed on the reverse could be a whole class activity where children find and list not only ten right angles, but acute angles, obtuse angles and straight angles. If time poor, break the children up into groups to complete one type of angle. If you have access to iPads, children could take photos of the angles and share on the IWB. This could also be extended to create a digital poster to show angles around the class.

Here are just 5 different ways, I have taken the activity, changed it to suit the needs of my students and the structure of my classroom. It is simple to do and will be of great benefit to you and your students.

As I mentioned in my Part 3 review, the simplicity of the Maths Box means you can easily grab the box from the year level above or below to extend students or support their needs if your students need that little bit more.

Thanks for following along through my 4 reviews of the Maths Box – it is definitely a winner and in my eyes, well worth the $275 it costs. The benefit far out weights the cost! Thank you RIC Publications for the opportunity to review this great product!

If you want to see more details of what is included in the Teacher Guide, click here and scroll to the bottom of the page and click on your year level. The online samples for each Maths Box are very detailed.

By contacting RIC Publications here you can review a FREE Maths Box sample pack for your school. Here is what is included in the FREE sample.