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The Power of Color

Color.

It’s the natural extension to the series that begin with Provide Massive Space to Notice.

So, after 180 Opportunities to Notice and How to Create 9 Identical Dot Patterns in 10 Seconds or Less, I’m adding 2 new templates.  This time, the circles are blank, so students can use color to record their observations.  They can also build layers of sketching right on top of the color in order to identify even more connections.  Watch the video, download the new templates, and try this with your students.

 

Download the NEW blank template #1 here, and the NEW blank template #2 here.

If you haven’t yet seen How to Create 9 Identical Dot Patterns in 10 Seconds or Less, I recommend watching it to learn how the templates work.

If you have pictures of pages that are colored, I would love to post them on the blog!

 

Other Posts You May Enjoy

5 × 9 is More Than 45

Stepping Into Each Other’s Classrooms

The Animated Learning Walks Series

 

 

 

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About the author

Steve Wyborney
Steve Wyborney is an award-winning teacher and instructional coach from Oregon. He is well known for his use of instructional technology and his work with mathematics and his passionate belief in the exceptional potential of every student.

5 responses to “The Power of Color”

  1. Melissa W Avatar
    Melissa W

    Hi, Steve. Have you done anything with integers? If you have, I have not found them yet. I want to play around with either dot patterns or splat with positive and negative numbers.

    Reply
    1. Steve Wyborney Avatar
      Steve Wyborney

      No, I haven’t posted anything on my blog of that nature. I’ve written some that I’ve used, but not a full series to post.

      Reply
  2. Amy H Avatar
    Amy H

    Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I very much appreciate your words of wisdom!

    Reply
  3. Amy H Avatar
    Amy H

    Hi Steve. I love your work! I am a 5th grade math teacher. Can you please explain how you introduce the Power of Color lessons to students? How do you ask the students to color the dots? Do you give them a directive on how many colors they have to use? I would like to try it with my kids but wasn’t sure how to go about it without giving them too much information. Thank you in advance for your help.

    Reply
    1. stevewyborney@gmail.com Avatar
      stevewyborney@gmail.com

      Hi Amy,

      Great question! I would suggest showing the the video from The Power of Color post. After that, I recommend letting the use up to 3 colors. I find that highlighters work well. Also, allow the to use a pencil to circle and annotate what they are seeing. Provide them with a page that has a different pattern than the one seen in the video and then let them decompose, annotate, and talk about what they are seeing. I hope you really enjoy this! I can lead to some very powerful math insights.

      Reply

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