This video, featuring Shereese Halley Caspersz and Grade 5 students, was developed by Curriculum Services Canada. Students use their bodies to practice the concept of symmetry.
10:21 in length.
The cross curricular lesson with Math and symmetry, was very interesting. It is great way to address the issue of understanding symmetry that she found her students were having. The students enjoyed that they got to move around instead of completing a worksheet. They were able to be more engaged, and also provide feedback to their peers of what they liked, and ways they could improve. This is a different way for the teacher to be able to assess their understanding of symmetry. I feel this could be hard to do with our bodies on our own, but I think it would be a great activity to incorporate drama as well (through mirroring) to allow a partner to make themselves symmetrical to their other partner. This definitely would have been an activity I would have liked to incorporate into my teaching career. So many ways to incorporate dance and drama into other subjects, and not through specifically putting on a play or a performance of dance.
- commentary from a pre-service candidate
I really liked this video. It reminded me of the class activity we did at the beginning with geometric shapes. This is definitely something I didn't think about doing in the past but something that I would love to do (and will do) now! I can see how students would learn and understand more about symmetry when they get to use their bodies- they are learning by doing and creating (top of Bloom's taxonomy!). I also liked how the students talked about their like for working individually, with partners and in a group. - commentary from a pre-service candidate
Watching this video was both inspiring and refreshing. It seems that the ideal way of teaching in a way that all students are able to reach their maximum potential is to allow for different forms of intelligence. In using kinesthetic skills, learning takes place by the students carrying out physical activities, rather than listening to a lecture. The students seemed wonderfully engaged both when working independently as well as partners. I really liked that assessment was happening constantly and effectively by both teacher and student feedback. Learning symmetrical concepts that might otherwise be too abstract, students were no only able to experiment using their own bodies but by constantly observing their peers as well and having many learning opportunities around them. - commentary from a pre-service candidate
I think that this was a great way for students to really solidify their understanding of math concepts (symmetry) through movement. I loved how she chose to bring in the skipping rope to check lines of symmetry. I also like that there is progression to the lesson, moving from yourself to working with a partner. Although I have done lots of mirroring activities I never made the connection to symmetry! Loved the addition of the line on the ground to support the visual learners as they created dances that were symmetrical. A great lesson which is well scaffolded in order to make sure that students really understood the concept and experience the creative process. Great lesson- I am definitely going to try it out! - commentary from a pre-service candidate
With exploring symmetry, I love how the teacher incorporates levels alongside symmetry. In addition, the teacher uses a skipping rope as the line of symmetry which provided a tactical and visual component for students! The teacher provided many different opportunities for students to demonstrate their thinking through creative movement. The lesson included an individual, partnership, and group component!
What I also really enjoyed was the descriptive feedback she provided as well as the peer feedback. This allowed the students to take the feedback and improve their creative movements throughout the lesson. - commentary from a pre-service candidate