Math Art with Origami

Name: Shelby Hoefs

Date: November 26, 2017

Grade level: 3rd
Subject: Geometry/Japanese Culture

Context: This is one lesson of a unit on geometric shapes. Students should have the basic understanding of different shapes and their basic characteristics. Students should also have some previous knowledge of academic language such as halves, whole, and fourths. In this lesson, students will learn about the Japanese art form, Origami, and how each piece is created using specific mathematical folds.

Standards:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.G.A.1

Understand that shapes in different categories (e.g., rhombuses, rectangles, and others) may share attributes (e.g., having four sides), and that the shared attributes can define a larger category (e.g., quadrilaterals). Recognize rhombuses, rectangles, and squares as examples of quadrilaterals, and draw examples of quadrilaterals that do not belong to any of these subcategories.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.G.A.2
Partition shapes into parts with equal areas. Express the area of each part as a unit fraction of the whole. For example, partition a shape into 4 parts with equal area, and describe the area of each part as 1/4 of the area of the shape.

Oregon Social Studies: Historical Knowledge

3.1. Describe how significant people, events and developments have shaped their own community and region.

ELP.2-3.2

Participate in grade-appropriate oral & written exchanges of information, ideas, & analyses, responding to peer, audience, or reader comments & questions.

Learning Targets:

I can identify different shapes such as squares, triangles, and rectangles, as well as their attributes.

I can divide shapes into equal parts and describe each part as a fraction.

I can describe the art of origami and its influence on Japanese culture.

Content Objectives:

Throughout this lesson, students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of geometric shapes by identifying the shapes on their origami art and describing each shape’s characteristics.

Throughout this lesson, students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of parts of a whole by using academic language such as halves, thirds, and fourths to describe how a shape is divided.

Learning Objectives: Students will participate in oral communication through large group and partner discussion about each shape that is being created during the origami art folding. Students will use academic language when discussing the shapes, focusing on how the shapes are divided (halves, thirds, fourths, etc).

Student Assessment: Students will demonstrate their learning by communicating their understanding through oral language. Informal assessments will include large group and partner discussions about the geometric shapes the students have created by folding their origami paper. Students will discuss the different shapes, their characteristics, and use academic language to communicate the ways in which the shapes have been divided. Students will have the opportunity to create their own origami creation. Students will discuss the shapes that were created with the different folds.

Materials/Preparation: Before this lesson begins, I will print out instructions to many different origami patterns and hand out to students. Students will be provided with plenty of origami paper of different sizes and designs. Students will be encouraged to try out different origami patterns from the print outs as well as coming up with their own patterns. I will record the shapes that we see throughout the project, as well as the attributes each shape has, on a poster where students can refer back to it throughout the lesson.

Origami paper
Print out of step-by-step directions of different origami patterns
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr
Large poster
Markers and writing utensils

Differentiation Strategies: Although this lesson is designed using a Universal Design for learning framework, some differentiation may be needed to support specific students needs. Students who need extra scaffolding will be prompted with specific questions during the large group discussion. During the partner discussions, I can walk around and assist students who may be struggling to identify shape characteristics or academic language for fractions. For this students, I will also be creating a large poster of shapes that are discussed as well as the attributes of each shape that they can look at if they get stuck. Students who need to be challenged during this lesson will be encouraged to create their own origami art pieces and observe the different shapes that can be created. These students will also be encouraged to focus on more complex fractions such as fifths and smaller.

Lesson Sequence

Lesson Introduction/Set: (20 minutes)

“I am going to start math today with a story. I know what you are thinking, why are we reading for math? Today’s math activity is going to be a little different than what we have been doing but I think you all will enjoy it. I am going to start by reading a part of a book. This story is about a little girl named Sadako. Sadako was a little girl who was in Hiroshima when the city was attacked with an atomic bomb during World War II. When an atomic bomb is used, it sends something called radiation into the air, which can cause the people around to get very ill. Because of this attack, Sadako developed a disease called Leukemia which made her very weak. I’m going to read a chapter from this story and then we will discuss what you all think it means.”

I will read chapter 5 from Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr.

“Does anyone know the name of what Sadako and her friend were doing?” (Students may or may not know) “They were doing something called origami. Origami is a kind of Japanese art. In Japanese, ‘Ori’ means folded and ‘kami’ means paper. The art of paper folding began in China and was passed through Korea and eventually to Japan. Because paper was expensive, the paper folding was only used for special occasions. Over time, as paper became less expensive, this art form became more of a common practice. In Japan, origami began as a way to pass the time in the Japanese imperial court. Over time, it became a magnificent art that requires specific mathematical folds of paper to create different patterns. Origami was taught in Japanese art classes and has since became a popular pastime. In the story, we heard of a Japanese legend, 1000 origami cranes. The crane was thought to live over 1,000 years. The crane became a symbol for healing after the story of Sadako became well-known. Cranes are folded as a good luck symbol.”

Communication of Learning Targets: (5 minutes)

“Today, for our math lesson, we are going to create our own origami art. While we do this, we are going to discuss the shapes that we see, as well as identify their attributes or characteristics. We are also going talk about fractions and expand our math vocabulary with words like halves, thirds, and fourths, and discuss what those mean. Our learning targets are on the whiteboard. Let’s read them together. “I can identify different shapes such as squares, triangles, and rectangles, as well as their attributes. I can divide shapes into equal parts and describe each part as a fraction.”

Learning Activities: (45 minutes)

Folding Together: (20 minutes)

“Up at the table, I have lots of different pieces of origami paper. As I call your group, you may each come up and take three pieces of paper. Later, if there is more left over and you have finished with your other pieces, you can come up and take another piece.”

“Look at the pieces of papers in front of you and tell me what you notice about them.” (Possible noticings: square, four sides, right angles, rectangle)

“Together, we are going to make a few folds. Take one of your pieces of paper. Fold it in half.” (Students may fold it to make two rectangles or two right triangles). “Look around at your classmates. Did everyone fold theirs the same? What shape is your paper now that you have folded it?” (Rectangle or triangle). “I’m going to write these shapes down on my poster. First we had a square and we said that it had four equal sides, right angles, it’s also a rectangle. Then we folded it in half. Raise your hand if you made your paper into a rectangle. Tell me something you notice about your rectangle” (Possible noticings: two sides long, two sides short, right angles, parallel sides.)

“Now raise your hand if you folded your paper into a triangle. Tell me something you notice about the triangle” (Possible noticings: three sides, one right angle, right triangle.) “Open your paper back to the square. You should see two sections. Can someone tell me what the fraction would be if I colored in one of those sections?” (one half) I would be writing these fractions down on another poster as well.

“So far, we have come up with a few different shapes and characteristics. Now I am going to have you fold your paper in half again and then fold that half in half. Once you have made a crease, open your paper all the way back up. You should notice sections on your paper. How many sections do you have? (4). Can anyone tell me what the fraction would be if I colored in one of those sections?” (one fourth)

“Now that we have talked a little bit about shapes and fractions, I am going to let you create an origami art piece. I have printed handouts of different patterns you can follow or you can create your own pattern. As you are folding your paper, I want you to look and see if there are any new shapes that appear that we haven’t put on our poster. You can talk with a partner about the different shapes and fractions that you see? Can you make an odd fraction such as one-fifth? I will be moving around the classroom to observe your art and see what shapes and fractions you have come up with. In about 15 minutes we will come back together and discuss what we have found.”

Independent Work Time: (15 minutes)

Students will have free time to fold their origami paper. I will be moving around the class observing discussions and assisting where needed.

Group Discussion: (10 minutes)

"Okay, let’s come back together. Raise your hand if you have something you want to share about your origami art." (Students will hopefully share new shapes or fractions they observed while folding their paper which I will write down on our big poster).

Closure: (5-10 minutes)

“Can someone remind me what our learning targets were for today? If you need assistance, they are written on the whiteboard.”

“Did we identify different shapes and their attributes? Let’s look at the poster.”

“Did we fold shapes into equal parts and talk about the parts as fractions? Let’s look at the poster.”

“What else did we learn about today? Does anyone remember what origami means in Japanese? How about the legend of the thousand paper cranes?”

Field Notes: Before this lesson begins, my main challenge will be timing. This is an extensive lesson that has multiple different aspects that go with it. Keeping with the time outline will help this lesson to fit into the allotted time for math. Although constructed as a math lesson, this topic can lead to curiosity of the Japanese culture. If students show an interest in learning more about Japanese culture and its different art forms, the class can participate in research and further learning about the culture, which can tie into our social studies and writer’s workshop blocks.