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U n t er r i ch t spl a n
Le f t -R ig ht , Ab o ve -Be l o w, R o wCo l umn
Altersgruppe: 1st Gr ade , 2nd Gr ade
Virginia - Mathematics Standards of Learning (2009): K .12
Fairfax County Public Schools Program of Studies: K .12.a.2,
P r e K .16.a.1
Online-Ressourcen: A r r angi ng T o ys
Opening
T eacher
present s
St udent s
pract ice
Class
discussion
10
10
15
5
5
min
min
min
min
min
Closing
M at h Obj e c t i v e s
E x pe r i e nc e spacial orientation and problem solving.
P r ac t i c e Left-Right, Above-Below, Row-Column while
satisfying constraints.
L e ar n position is relative and that there may be multiple
solutions.
De v e l o p spatial understanding.
Ope ni ng | 10 min
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Display 3 stars on the board. (You may replace any shapes/designs, as per
your convenience).
S ay : Let me arrange them in a row.
S ay : A “row” is the placement of objects in a horizontal line.
S ay : Let me place the 3 stars in a column, which is placement of
objects in vertical line.
S ay ( r e pe at ) : Horizontal arrangement is “row” while vertical
arrangement is “column”.
Display the following on the board. (You may replace any shapes/designs, as
per your convenience).
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A sk : What shapes are in the top row?
Round (circle), star, sun.
A sk : What shapes are in the middle row?
triangle, smiley, heart.
A sk : What shapes are in the bottom row?
Square, diamond, moon.
A sk : What shapes are in the left column?
Round (circle), triangle, square.
A sk : What shapes are in the middle column?
Star, smiley, diamond.
A sk : What shapes are in the right column?
Sun, heart, moon.
A sk : What is above the smiley?
Star (the most likely answer).
Explain that anything above the top horizontal line is “Above” the smiley.
A sk : Are there any other objects above the smiley?
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Yes, round (circle) and sun are “Above” the smiley.
A sk : What is below the smiley?
Diamond (again the most likely answer).
Explain that anything below the bottom horizontal line is “Below” the smiley.
A sk : Are there any other objects below the smiley?
Yes, square and moon are “Below” the smiley.
A sk : What is to the left of the smiley?
Triangle. (Since “triangle” is on the smiley’s immediate left, it is
the obvious answer. The round (circle) and square, are also to the
smiley’s left, tend to get missed).
To explain the concept of top-left/ bottom-left, ask : Is any other
object on the left of the smiley?
Round (Circle) is on the smiley’s left and so is the square.
Round (Circle) is to the left and above the smiley.
Square is to the left as well, but it is below the smiley.
Round (Circle), triangle and square are to the left of the smiley.
A sk : What is to the right of the smiley?
Heart. (Again, since “heart” is on smiley’s immediate right, it is
the most likely answer. The sun and moon, are also to the smiley’s
right, but are usually not considered by students.
To explain the concept of top-right/ bottom-right, ask : Is any other
object to the right of the smiley?
Sun is on the smiley’s right and so is the moon.
Sun is to the right and above the smiley.
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Moon is to the right as well, but it is below the smiley.
Sun, moon, and heart are to the right of the smiley.
A sk : What is above the moon?
There are six figures above the moon: circle, star, sun, triangle,
smiley, and heart.
A sk : What is to the left of the moon?
There are six figures to the left of the moon: circle, star, triangle,
smiley, square, and diamond.
Discuss the relative position of other shapes.
Erase the board and display the following.
A sk : Where is the star, with respect to the smiley? Left, right,
above, below?
Right , above.
A sk : Where is the smiley, with respect to the star? Left, right,
above, below?
Left , below.
Practice identifying relative position a few more times, using different
placement and shapes.
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T e ac he r pr e se nt s M at h game : A r r angi ng T o ys - P o si t i o n:
L e v e l I I | 10 min
Present Matific’s episode A r r a n g in g T o y s - Po s it io n : L e v e l I I to the
class, using the projector or interactive whiteboard, in preset mode.
This episode practices notions of relative positions in space: Left-Right,
Above-Below, and Row-Column. Place toys on shelves according to given
instructions.
The screen opens to a scene with 3 toys on the floor, next to an empty
cabinet with nine shelves. Instructions concerning the desired arrangement
of the toys in the cabinet are listed on the board.
S ay : We have to arrange the toys according to the instructions.
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There are three instructions.
The first instruction is, put 3 items on the shelves, the second is
the teddy should be below the batman and the third, teddy is
above the truck.
A sk : How many toys are on the floor?
3 toys.
S ay : So we need to put all three toys on the shelves, to fulfill the
first instruction.
A sk : What should we put first?
S ay : Though there is no rule for what should be placed first, since
the “teddy” is common in all the instructions, it is a good idea to
place the teddy first.
S ay : To decide where to put “teddy”, we need to consider other
instructions. Let us consider the second instruction, “Teddy should
be below the batman”. It means there has to be space above teddy
for batman.
A sk : Where can we put Teddy?
Teddy can be put on the middle or lower row, as the top row is for
batman.
S ay : According to the third instruction, Teddy should be above the
truck. It means there has to be place below Teddy for the truck.
So, Teddy can be placed on any shelf in the middle row.
Batman can be put on any shelf in the top row while truck is to be
placed on any shelf in the bottom row.
Place the toys and click “done”.
If the arrangement is incorrect, the screen will wiggle.
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Click Next.
There are 4 toys on the floor, and the set of instructions is changed.
Read the instructions: Put 4 items on the shelf. Truck should be in the same
row as Superman. Batman is above Teddy, and Batman is to the right of the
truck.
A sk : How many toys should I place on the shelves?
All four toys.
A sk : What should we put first?
Again, though there is no rule for what should be placed first,
since the Batman is considered in most of the instructions, it is
good idea to place it first.
S ay : The instructions for batman are, it should be above teddy and
to the right of truck.
It cannot be in the bottom row, as teddy has to be below it.
It cannot be in the extreme left, as the truck is to its left.
So the batman can be put in any of the top two rows except in the
first column.
Place the batman in any of the four shelves.
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Place teddy on any shelf in the bottom row, and the truck on any
shelf in the left column.
A sk : Are we done?
No, we still have to place the fourth toy, the superman.
Truck should be in the same row as Superman. We place the
superman accordingly.
Place the superman and click “done”.
Click “Next”.
There are 5 toys on the floor, the set of instructions has changed.
Read the instructions.
A sk : What should we place first?
Let us put the superman first, as it is mentioned in most of the
instructions.
A sk : Where can we place the superman?
Superman has to be on the left of the truck. So, it cannot be in the
right column.
Place the superman in any of the remaining six shelves.
Truck is placed to its right.
Put “bear” in the same column as superman, according to the
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instructions.
A sk : Are we done?
No, we have not placed 5 toys, we have only placed 3 toys.
Place the remaining two toys on any shelf in the cabinet.
Click “done”.
S t ude nt s pr ac t i c e M at h game : A r r angi ng T o ys - P o si t i o n:
L e v e l I I | 15 min
Have students play Matific’s episode A r r a n g in g T o y s - Po s it io n : L e v e l
I I on their personal devices. Circulate, answering questions as necessary.
Students may need help to read the instructions.
Advanced students can move on to A r r a n g in g T o y s - Po s it io n : L e v e l
III
C l ass di sc ussi o n | 5 min
Discuss:
What was challenging about the game? How did they manage to
solve the issue?
How did they decide which toy should be placed first?
How did they decide the place of the toys?
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C l o si ng | 5 min
Present Matific’s episode A r r a n g in g T o y s - Po s it io n : L e v e l I I I to the
class, using the projector or interactive whiteboard.
S ay : This game is similar to the game we just played, but is slightly
more challenging as the number of instructions have increased.
Play the game by involving the class. Let the students guide the answer.
Play the game, as time permits, then ask them to play it as homework.
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