is approaching a particular date, that of March 14 ... can you explain the significance of this date for the work they're doing in class?
Like all nice things, too, is born by chance.
At the end of October, we studied the circle and the circle and came out of this strange number that has a proper name. I told them which has a long history, which is different from all those studied so far and ... even has a birthday! At the time we said we would celebrate ourselves, perhaps with a cake.
few weeks ago one of them said "March 14 is approaching, do not we tell you something?". I sent them the ball by saying that I waited for ideas and proposals.
After a few days I have proposed riddles, "Mathematical monopolies" and "Snakes" quiz. How not to support them, to encourage, guide them?
What activities are preparing?
The idea of \u200b\u200bthe moment, which is now quite close to being final, is to accommodate other classes preparing our classroom as a kind of amusement park, a fair with many stalls.
There will be: the bank of "formulas and ladder guess magnet" to those who would "understand a tube" that of "ancient history and new games" that of "quiz tremendous ", the angle of the" quick quiz to your computer. "
who comes close is invited to play to win a voucher that entitles you to withdraw a "sweetness mathematics at the special stand.
The decor in the theme and an exhibition of "pi greek jewelry" made with love.
I assure you that I'm having a ball, which I often find myself with tears in my eyes seeing the "creatures" have fun and get excited about things that usually do come a long beard to his feet.
I ask you to ideas and suggestions, but also a "little prayer" so that everything goes well and my kids can always lead to good memories of this adventure.
And you do during the afternoon, the Project Quality and Merit, what are you experiencing?
For those not familiar, the Project Quality and Merit (PQM for friends), proposed by the ministry and financed with European funds, stems from the sad realization that our olds are not good at math either, nor in Italian .
These poor results of the tests OECD - PISA test the skills of our olds, or how they are able to (not) to apply the knowledge acquired in school to real life situations.
I started last year with a grade. 
The class was divided into two groups took turns to two days a week.
With a group, we passed a big taboo learning to use the calculator in a constructive and conscious, not to mention playing a little '. Then we played with the symmetries drawing figures on the computer and building windmills beautiful paper.
With the other group we have learned to read and interpret data and then we drew up our investigation by asking questions to other classes that we had to chase for the whole school (After a while 'we avoided like the plague).
As the last activity we did something much harder to say than to do. Better, I and my colleagues have had difficulty following instructions, the boys immediately knew what to do. It is a readjustment "mathematical" habit of the folk tradition of storytelling in some areas of Angola, but also Central and South Asia and Polynesia. These people, almost illiterate, accompanying their story on the sand drawing a series of points, arranged in tabular form, and mapping, in an oblique way, a continuous line, following certain rules and having the aim to contain all the points.
The illustration of some typical designs (called SONA) produced by these storytellers, as well as capture the attention of pupils, involve them in profoundly different from the western cultures and shows how these writers are capable of evaluating the MCD
For this year we began to scramble and play with Tangram polygons with scissors and glue to make us friendship and end up there will do more "bad impression"!
continue preparing juices and snacks for all: a way the proportions of sweet to digest!
The spirit in which I face this work, exhausting but beautiful, is to give the various Nicholas, Jessica, Matthew, Veronica ... the opportunities that the children of those who frequent this blog. I strongly believe in public schools for many reasons, so I put all of myself to all the guys that I happen to pull you love the culture, see how much beauty there is in the nature and evolution of human thought.
Do you have any books to recommend?
More than a book I would like to talk about an author, a favorite of mine, who passed away prematurely a few months ago: Denis Guedj, a mathematician who wrote novels.
your the famous theorem of parrot.
His last work was Mathematics explained to my daughters, I proposed the book to read to some of my students (extravagant proposal, by a teacher of mathematics.) In the midst of so many masterpieces as: The Coma Berenices which tells the library of Alexandria and adventure of Eratosthenes measure the circumference of the Earth in the third century BC; Zero or the lives of five Aémer che rende giustizia e poesia ad un numero così poco considerato.
Sono libri che ho regalato o prestato più volte ad amici a colleghi e nessuno si è mai pentito di averli letti.
Mi auguro succeda a voi la stessa cosa.
