Mathematics can be described many ways, one of which is the study of patterns. This 4-page activity gives your students plenty of practice in patterning in a game-type format. They study the clues, then make guesses for the rest of the pattern and also the name of the pattern.
By using this pedagogy you are helping students develop and organize their minds mathematically. Giving their brains the opportunity to make sense out of data is a wonderful gift. Remember: the mind resists disorder – it wants to make sense out of what is sees.
The downloadable Common Themes activity is in a pdf format so it will print well at your site. You will have four full-page masters ready for overhead transparencies. The answers for each are at the bottom of the page, so take care to cover them up when displaying on your projector.
TIP: Only expose one clue at a time to promote students’ organized “guessing”. You may even want to divide your class into teams for more fun and active engagement.
These patterns are easy to make; why don’t you make up your own Common Theme patterns after looking at the examples, and send me a comment – I’ll share it with the rest of our readers.
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