Week 5: Tell a Tale (or comic)
No matter what grade/age, stories are fun. This week, I encourage learners to read and write math stories. Take a concept and illustrate it through the art of story. Write comics, picture stories, murder mysteries, fantasies, plays, etc. Students can act out their story, create a stop animation, or illustrate. I often encourage learners to write about a concept they love or think they can teach.
Learners I have worked with have enjoyed sharing their stories with each other and friends.
Some fun ideas if you come up blank:
- Powers of 2 – the magic of multiplying (like in Demi’s One Grain of Rice)
- The algorithm for long division as the steps to a mystery or spy mission
- A solar system of various Euclidean solids
- A geometrical mission through space with specific angle requirements
- The route inspection problem – what is the shortest path for the mail to get delivered with a specific layout of houses?
- Comics on how to learn or do concepts in math
- Mystery characters that emulate mathematical properties (Logical Lucas, Divisive Desi, Manipulative Mike, etc)
- Superheroes that have mathematical powers and must solve mathematical problems
- Fractals – Create a world, character, or story that is iterative and infinite