Area with Isai Ambalam children

In Isai Ambalam School I was introducing multiplication as area to the 4th graders. Children were having difficulty to do two digit multiplications. So we started using graph sheet to solve multiplication. We started with single digit and then we build on it. I found that using graph sheet children could only see the area and couldn’t build on it. Then children started to use Denies block. Children who were having difficulty started with the Dines block. Children who felt confident started to use scale and measuring tape to measure the object. In STEM land children started to measure the entire object which were in rectangle and square shape. They kept the Dines block on each object that they wanted to measure. They started with a note book and ended measuring the white board. Children also understood that they need to know the length and width to find the area. Children were able to calculate and checked how many 1cm² (centimetre) cube can fit in that area. I also introduced the unit convention to the children I told cm square. One child wrote cm and drew a square on top of cm. Then I explained him that what he wrote was correct and for writing convention we write it as cm².

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