Teaching Middle-School Math: Use Tangrams on the First Day of School

When I first taught middle school math, I had an elaborate plan developed for day one. I look back now and chuckle at that idea. Each class period is approximately 50 minutes, and most of that time is spent on introductions and the clerical task of registering the boys and girls into class. I eventually wised up and realized that an entertaining problem-solving activity -- one that wasn't noisy -- would engage the students and make my life easier. From the second year on, I always used foam tangrams on the first day of school.

Tangrams

A set of tangrams consists of seven shapes: two large triangles, two small triangles, one medium triangle, one square and one parallelogram. Tangrams are used to explore geometric shapes, concepts and spatial relationships. You can purchase four sets of foam tangrams for a few dollars at a teachers' supply store. If you are so inclined, you can create your own sets from craft foam board to use on the first day of school.

Preparation

Place sets of tangrams into individual bags and put one set on each desk. Write the words "square, triangle, rectangle" on the front board. Also write these rules: 1. Use all seven tangram pieces. 2. Lay the pieces flat -- no overlapping.

Activity

Before you begin to register the students, introduce the tangram activity. Tell the boys and girls to try to form a square, a triangle or a rectangle (that isn't a square) with the seven tangram pieces. Emphasize the rules: all seven pieces must be used to create one shape. Tell them to think outside the box: if one way isn't working, try something completely different. Allow them to work quietly with partners, if they prefer. Most students will work on the activity for at least 20 minutes before figuring out even one shape.

Demonstration

After sufficient time has lapsed, ask for a volunteer to come to an overhead projection device to demonstrate how he created a square. Ask two more volunteers to create the triangle and the rectangle. Typically, my students were not able to create all three shapes during the given time span.

Follow-up

Before they left my class, I provided each student with a copy of this tangram pattern from ABC Teach that I had run off on tag board. I told them to take it home, cut out the seven pieces, and continue working on creating the three shapes. If they brought me sketches the next day of how they solved the shape puzzles, I would add extra-credit points to their first math test. This allowed the students to discuss the tangrams with their families and to get excited about math from that very first day.

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