Enrichment Units in Math, Book 3, Grades 5-7

Go beyond the regular curriculum with these units to challenge your more able intermediate grade math students. With their ease of use, clear instruction, and motivating topics, these are the perfect enrichment activities for the regular math curriculum. This book contains four units that are structured so that students can easily develop an understanding of the topics on their own. The four topics are:

• probability,
• topology,
• magic squares, and
• number characteristics.

Each unit provides sequential activities that allow students to work through these motivating topics, whether they are working by themselves, in a small group, or in a whole-class setting. The units lend themselves easily to a math center arrangement with each student having an individual folder and checklist to record his or her progress. While they were designed to provide added challenge for students who have mastered the regular curriculum, some of the units can be used as supplements for whole-class instruction. The emphasis in these units is on promoting thinking, developing perseverance, expanding students' view of mathematics, enjoying a challenge, and keeping math students actively involved and enthused about math. This book will help you provide students with opportunities to explore mathematical ideas in ways that promote their intellectual growth and expand their views of mathematics.

This is one of a three-book series. For younger students, see Enrichment Units in Math Book 1―attribute pattern blocks, tangrams, sets and Venn diagrams, and ancient Egyptian numbers; and Enrichment Units in Math Book 2―permutations and combinations, tessellations, line drawings, and graphing.

For other math units to extend the math curriculum and provide opportunities to work independently, see Math Extension UnitsBook 1 and Book 2.

Grades 5-7

Dianne Draze holds both a bachelor's degree in education with a major in mathematics and a master's degree in curriculum and instruction. Beginning her tenure in the field of education in 1968, she has found many ways to enrich the educational experiences of children. She taught upper elementary grades, junior high mathematics, English and history, gifted programs for grades 1-8, and education classes at the university level. Draze founded Dandy Lion Publications in 1977, creating a publishing house that specialized in curriculum materials that were appropriate for able learners and gifted students, that combined motivating content with challenging activities, and that were easy for teachers to use. In the capacity of owner and editor, she wrote more than 50 books and edited an additional 119 books. Her goal, whether writing or editing, was to create materials that would engage students in thinking, creating, making new discoveries, and applying what they learned to new situations. A person with a great curiosity, she has written curriculum guides on many topics and is always interested in whatever topic she is currently researching or editing. Draze has retired from full-time involvement in Dandy Lion Publications and currently consults, writes, and edits on a part-time basis.