I subscribe to a list serve from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics‘ (NCTM) website Illuminations. If you have not visited there, it is a great source of lesson ideas for mathematics classes of all levels.
I am copying part of one of their recent emails where they are announcing a contest based on trying a particular posted lesson which explores patterns on a 100 chart. Even if this particular lesson does not “tickle your fancy” or you feel it is not at an appropriate grade level for your class, it is well worth your time to take a look at the Illuminations site. There are lots and lots of good lesson ideas there. Here is the information that came to me:
Win a classroom set of A+ Tiles simply by trying your hand at an Illuminations lesson. In the lesson Do You Notice Sum-Thing?, students are asked to consider patterns that occur when various tiles are placed on a hundreds board. For a chance to win a full classroom set of the tiles or an individual set of A+ Tiles, try the lesson with some students and then do one of the following:
* Submit a picture (or link to a gallery of photos) of students participating in the lesson.
* Share a link of student work from the lesson.
* Post a link to a video of students participating in the lesson.
* Submit a write-up of things your students discovered during the lesson.
* Create an extension for the lesson.
Share your picture, video link, or write-up on our Facebook page, “NCTM Illuminations.” The link or photo that receives the most “likes” by 5pm ET on Thursday, October 6, will receive a classroom set of hundreds boards provided by A+ Compass. Additionally, ten other randomly selected entries will win an individual set of A+ Tiles.
Entries should be uploaded to our Facebook page, NCTM Illuminations. Or, you can submit to Christa Koskosky, email@example.com, who will post any emailed entries to the Facebook page.