Turning math concepts into pictures aids in learning and remembering.
Today I relayed the fact at the top of the page to students, and began teaching them about the parts of the place value system by making models. I also noted that color coding assists the brain when it comes to learning too.
Students and I used the model below and began filling it in with sharpies and colored pencils. As we slowly moved through the model, students began noticing patterns. We only got halfway through because it took time for student to write down the numbers and color the cells and periods.
I told them that when you have the "brain frame" of a system, it makes it much easier to learn about systems. I noted that if you were a heart doctor, a cardiologist, you would need to know all about the parts of the heart (circulatory system) and how those parts work together. I said that the same is true for mathematicians, they need to understand systems such as the place value system including the parts, how they relate or connect, and what are the results.
There's no way that I can rush this lesson as I know that students are taking in the concept slowly and surely as they write, color-in, and share thoughts/answers. We'll continue to create the model by hand, and then, perhaps, make one on the computer too. For some for which handwriting is a problem, the computer model is what they are using already.
