South Carolina ETV

South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Pattern Power (Grade PreK- 2)

Master Teacher

Anita Turner Padgett

Time Allotment

35- to 45-minute class period

Overview

This lesson will help students see how patterns are a part of our daily lives. The students will also work in small cooperative groups using pattern blocks to design their own patterns. The Cyberchase program and Web sites will provide a visual aid to students as they explore patterns.

Subject Matter

Mathematics

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

Sort pattern blocks using one or more attributes;
Classify objects by color;
Recognize, describe, and extend patterns of color;
Analyze how both repeating and growing patterns are generated.

South Carolina Standards

These Standards are available online.

Mathematics: Algebra—Pre-Kindergarten:

I. Understand patterns, relations, and functions.

B. Recognize, describe, and extend patterns such as sequences of sounds and shapes or simple numeric patterns and translate from one representation to another.

1. Recognize a two-part pattern and extend.

Kindergarten:

1. Identify, describe, and extend a representing relationship (pattern) found in common objects, sounds, and movements.

2. Construct two-part and three-part patterns.

First Grade:

1a. Using symbols and objects, identify and create and extend a wide variety of patterns

1b. Use letters to represent a created pattern

(e.g., ABC, ABC).

Second Grade:

1. Create, extend, and label a wide variety of patterns, orally, and in writing, by using symbols and objects.

Media Components

Video

Cyberchase, Lesson 107: “The Poddleville Case.” During this episode, the Cyberchase kids discover the power in patterns as they work to save Poddleville from the Evil Hacker. They look for similarities in patterns and explore how to extend the pattern stem.

Web Sites

Cyber-Pattern Player
This Web site gives students the opportunity to develop a pattern with sounds. This address will take you directly to the patterns.

Virtual Manipulatives: Complete the Pattern
This Web site gives students the opportunity to recognize, describe, and extend patterns of color. This address will take you directly to the pattern activity.

Materials

Per group of 2-3 students:

variety of pattern blocks

Equipment

TV
VCR
computer with Internet access
AverKey

Prep for Teachers

Preview the video Cyberchase, “The Poddleville Case.” Note the Focus for Media Interaction points in the Learning Activities section. Also, cue the video to the beginning.

Make yarn necklaces with the following alphabet cards. You will need three “A” card necklaces, two “B” card necklaces, and two “C” card necklaces. (These letters can found after the list of Student Materials.)

Access the Web and bookmark the following sites:

When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Select four students and ask each of them to wear a pre-made yarn necklace. One of these students will wear an “A” necklace, another student will wear a “B” necklace, another student will wear a “C” necklace, and the last student will wear another “A” necklace. Have them stand at the front of the room in this order—ABCA. Ask the rest of the class to read aloud the pattern that they see. (Answer: ABCA)

Step 2: Select three more students to wear necklaces with cards that read A, B, and C. Have these students stand near their desks. Ask the rest of the class to read aloud the “cards” that are now standing.

Step 3: Ask the rest of the class to help solve the pattern and arrange the students in order according to the pattern. Ask the class which card should come next. We have at the front of the room ABCA, which card will come next? (Answer: B). Tell the class that we now have at the front a pattern of ABCAB, what will come next? (Answer: C). Then, tell the class we now have at the front a pattern of ABCABC, what will come next? (Answer: A) Discuss with the entire class what the pattern stem is in this pattern. (Answer: ABC)

Learning Activities

Step 1: Introduce the video. Explain what is happening in Poddleville so far. (The Cyberchase kids are trying to help save Poddleville from the evil Hacker.) Tell the students that they will be helping to figure out the pattern with the Cyberchase kids.

Step 2: PLAY the video and STOP at the point where the three Cyberchase kids are hiding behind a tree while some Poddleville residents use a secret code to get through the gate. STOP the tape when Jackie says, “What’s the deal here? The best decorator wins?” Provide a Focus for Media Interaction by asking students, “What pattern will the Cyberchase kids need to gain access through the gate?” (Answer: circle, triangle)

Step 3: PLAY the video and watch as the kids figure out that the pattern repeats and they are able to get through the gate.

Step 4: STOP the video after the kids get through the gate. Ask the students, “Did we guess the right answer to the pattern?” Discuss how the Cyberchase kids figured out the pattern stem and compare that to what the class thought.

Step 5: FAST FORWARD the video up to the point where the Cyberchase kids have been locked up and they have one Poddleville kid who is trying to help them. The Poddleville kid has been keeping a record of which pods have been stolen. He is about to share that information with the Cyberchase kids in hopes that they can help solve the mystery. PLAY the tape when Inez says, “Tell us everything you know.”

Step 6: STOP the video when Mother board says, “The power is in the pattern” and the cyberboard with the missing pods is on the screen. Provide a Focus for Media Interaction by asking students, can they find a pattern. Discuss all suggested patterns. (Answer: Triangle 1)

Step 7: PLAY the video and watch as the Cyberchase kids figure out which pod Hacker will need next.

Step 8: STOP the video when the Cyberchase kids give each other high fives as they solve the pattern. Ask the class if their solution to the pattern was correct. If not, ask them what clues they missed.

(For example, did they notice that all the pods were odd numbers and did they notice that the circle and squares were each missing 6 pods so the missing pod had to be a triangle since there were only 5 missing pods from that group?)

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Access the Web and locate the following site: Virtual Manipulatives

Step 2: Provide a Focus for Media Interaction by asking the students to watch the TV screen as we solve the missing pieces for the patterns together. Select a student to read out loud the pattern as it appears.

Step 3: Ask another student if he/she can find the pattern stem that keeps repeating.

Step 4: Then, take suggestions from the class as to what they think the rest of the pattern might be.

Step 5: Input the suggested solution and discuss with the class whether it was the correct solution to the pattern or not.

Step 6: Continue on with this activity for a few patterns or as time allows. Tell the students that this Web site has been bookmarked on the classroom computers and can be accessed during Computer time.

Assessment

Step 1: Give each student Activity Sheet 1 (Pod Pattern Activity), along with pencils.

Step 2: Tell the students they will draw and continue the pattern for each line.

Step 3: Have the students share with the class the patterns that they created.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Music: Students can access the following Cyberchase site and design their own patterns using music to repeat the pattern. http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/patterns/patterns.html

Art: Students can find patterns in architecture by looking at pictures, drawings, or by taking a walking field trip.

Language: Students can find patterns in words by looking at word families. (For example: cat, fat, bat, mat, sat, hat; all of these have the at pattern)

Science: Students can collect leaves. The students can then sort and arrange the leaves to form different patterns.

Community Connections

Invite the students on a pattern search outside. Students can look for patterns in nature, such as in leaves, plants, and clouds.