The way math has been learnt and taught has changed over the months. Every teacher has their own teaching methods and strategies that can help students learn math better. There are many methods that teachers use to teach mathematics to their students, one of the most popular strategy is using math pictures in math classrooms.
Most math teachers, math coaches and educators are well aware that using math pictures in the classroom is a great way to help students learn math. In this article, we are going to talk about using math pictures to spark engagement in math classrooms and make all math lessons more fun and interesting.
Why Are Math Pictures Important in Math Classrooms?
As mentioned earlier, most math teachers believe that engaging with visual mathematics is the best way to teach mathematics to students.
For the longest time, using math pictures to teach math and learn math have found to be more effective when compared to other math instruction methods.
With the pandemic and sudden shift to online classrooms, teaching math using notice and wonder math pictures has been the go-to math teaching strategy for middle school math teachers.
Using math pictures to teach mathematical concepts is what we call ‘Visual Mathematics’. It has been in practice for a very long period of time, however high school math students often believe that working with notice and wonder math pictures are for students in smaller grades and completely neglect working with physical alternatives.
Most math teachers say that using math pictures to teach concepts leads to children perceiving that they are good in the subject. It also helps them to break free from the monotony of the subject.
With math pictures they are made to feel that math is not just about lengthy calculations and theories, but it is all about understanding the concept behind every pattern and applying the learnings accordingly.
With online classrooms and virtual learning, teaching with math pictures has been the teacher and student favorite.
All online math classrooms make use of notice and wonder math pictures to make their lessons more interesting and engaging. It is a popular technique to use for math instruction as it places emphasis on truly understanding the concept rather than solving answers.
It pushes students to observe the world around them and visualize the mathematical concept in real-time.
In a recent study conducted by Park & Brannon (2013), it was revealed that learning becomes more meaningful and powerful when students are induced to use different parts of their brain to grasp and understand the concepts.
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To break it down into simple words, when students use dots, they use a different part of their brain to process this information.
Similarly, when a student learns math using math pictures they use a different part of their brain to understand the visual connection behind the concept.
The subsequent results of the study reveal that training students using math pictures is said to greatly improve their performance.
The experiment even showed that visual learning techniques were found to be more effective when compared to numerical learning techniques.
How To Math Pictures For Different Grades for Teaching Math?
Mathematics is often considered to be a subject that deals with accuracy and precision. The outcomes of math learning are also asked to be completely accurate and precise.
However, what one neglects to understand is that precision in math will only occur if the learners are given opportunities to think, explore, create and visualize.
Though there are many teachers who use math pictures extensively in their math instruction, they still differ from one teacher to another.
Let’s take a look at the different grades and how math instruction using math pictures can best work for every grade. The two most common grade divisions are;
1. Primary Grade
The core mathematical concepts in focus for primary grade are essentially around counting, addition and subtraction.
With focus on these concepts, it is important to bring in math pictures that help students understand the concept of missing pieces and spaces. You can look for pictures where students are asked to count the object.
Try to keep the same notice and wonder about math pictures across all your math classes, you will find new ways to count the objects in the pictures based on answers given by every student.
2. Elementary and High School
In the elementary and high school math classrooms the main concepts in focus are multiplication and division.
Hence, it is always best to use math pictures, some examples would be to use pictures with arrays. These notice and wonder math pictures can be used to teach multiplication and division to students.
You can use different pictures to make patterns and work accordingly with similar examples.
How To Use Math Pictures For Different Math Concepts?
Every grade level has its own set of mathematical concepts and it is important to pick the right math pictures for each of them.
We shall take a look at each of the mathematical concepts and appropriate examples that math teachers can use in class.
1. Percents and Percentages
It is one of the most important mathematical concepts in middle school math. Percentages can be easily taught with the help of real-time examples.
You can relate them to everyday examples such as a 40% sign you see outside your Target or Costco or even use any other retail sign you see.
2. Ratios
Ratio and Proportion is another important middle school math topic. In addition to using real world examples to teach ratios.
You can use simple grocery store advertisements to teach how ratios can be applied in everyday life. It will help them to understand how to make better decisions.
3. Fractions
It can become a bit difficult to teach fractions using math pictures. Hence, it is best to use measuring cups, cards or even measuring tape.
You can even go ahead and pick an apple and cut it into equal pieces and speak about the concept of fractions.
4. Decimals
Decimals are often taught with examples of money. You can use math pictures related to money and teach the concept of decimals. It also comes handy to teach percentages.
5. Geometry
Since geometry predominantly involves the study of shapes, angles, lines and other such figures you can relate them to everyday examples.
You can start with the simple figures lying around your math classroom. You can even take children out of the classroom and teach them these concepts by observing daily activities like parking cars, watching buildings and houses of different sizes and shapes, and so much more.
Also read: 12 Ways Math Teachers Can Instill a Growth Mindset in Students
Takeaway
Using math pictures to teach math can be an effective method of instruction. When a teacher uses images and pictures to teach it can help students to build their visual memory and this makes learning even more fun and exciting. We have all heard the saying, “A picture speaks a thousand words”, well that just holds true in all forms. Learning using math pictures can improve memory and help students recall the concepts better.
Are you using math pictures in your classroom? What if we told you that you can make math easy by learning through unique visuals and cool graphics? Here’s ByteLearn, your new math digital co-teacher. With ByteLearn in your math classroom, visual learning is a breeze. Sign up now to make math fun and interesting for your students.
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