ALASKA

On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 08:57:33 -0400

 

Hi Don,
              Fifth graders and I have started to play with the cards. At the moment, the first hit I have is that they help with numeracy--linking the symbolic forms and the meaning of the numbers and operations. So far, we've played two games and versions of them: adding/subtracting fact families (with more than two addends/subtrahends. etc.) and target number using various operations. The novelty of the cards and their attractiveness keep the students' attention and the focused play reinforces the conceptual pieces they so easily by-pass. I keep the cards along with the great TIC TAC CHECK and NOBLE CELTS games among a host of classroom math games/activities. They are each the hot commodities this spring. The tic tac check game has helped my kiddos focus their spatial awareness and movement capabilities by shrinking the board and the range of pieces to consider. The Noble Celts game has only just begun to be explored, but already a rich insight from it is how the orientation to the world (i.e. linear or circular) transforms one's perspective on the possibilities for movement and relation between pieces. Even the juxtaposition of the castles being next to one another instead of at opposite ends of a line is a graphic and tangible example of what happens when points of a line converge in a bend rather than infinitely diverging on a straight line. I do a lot of work in art, math and science with the spiralling patterns of nature.

        The game board of the Noble Celts is enchanting in its weave of Fibonacci spirals as pathways to move from the center of the board to the outer ring. I am recommending this one to a host of university colleagues with whom I work on the interpretation of spiralling patterns into the forms and possibilities of human movement expression. My presentation at the NCTM conference was about movement forms within a matrix of 3-D patterns, the most complex of which is the changing dynamic spatial tension of the spiral/helix.

        More later as I catch conversations from players. Good Luck with your dynamite business. - Jeff

         

        I could not resist a little stretch of reality in reply;

        That is pretty cool. Just wondering how we could tie string theory, excuse the pun, quantum mechanics and the expansion of space and time and its effects on the double helix of DNA in the cerebral cortex of the brain which effects the ability of students to comprehend complex issues. And of course all this line theory also applies to the bending of light by galactic bodies so maybe the perceived star signs we think apply to us are not really true as the observed light has been bent so we cannot be held responsible for deviating from what is expected of us. Since dark matter makes up 95 % of the universe I think there is a possibility that this makes up 95% of my brain and thus intelligent reasoning cannot be expected as the stochastic interference is only amplifying the divergence from the norm. Chaos theory rules the day.
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        If for some reason my schizophrenic other half has not hidden the stock of games I will mail you a Tic Tac Chec today.
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        > Don