Math 4 - Act. 06: Spaghetti and Meatballs for All

Materials

• Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! by Marilyn Burns
• Math paper
• Rainbow tiles
• Centimeter cubes

Background for Teachers

Review basic patterns with the students. This will give you a sense of their pattern experience.

Intended Learning Outcomes

6. Represent mathematical situations.

Instructional Procedures

Invitation to Learn
How many different ways could we seat 32 people around tables?

Instructional Procedures

1. Read the story through once without asking any questions. Simply acquaint the students with the story.
2. Give each student 8 rainbow tiles, 32 centimeter cubes, and a sheet of blank math paper.
3. Reread the story stopping at each table arrangement. Have the students make the arrangements with their manipulatives.
4. After the students have made all of the table arrangements, have them draw the arrangements on the math paper.
5. For each arrangement they have made, they can make a table using a T-chart.
6. Have the students write a rule for determining the number of chairs when given the number of tables.

Curriculum Integration
In the science area you could have the students take three or more rock types and place them in various pattern forms (e.g., AB, ABC, ABCD, ABBA).

Extensions

Possible Extensions/Adaptations
Put the students in small groups and give them larger numbers to work with. This lesson would also work to teach area and perimeter.

Homework & Family Connections
Give the students a different table arrangement to make. Have them draw their arrangement, make the table, and determine the rule for their arrangement.

Assessment Plan

Give the students a number. Have students write draw and label the steps of their arrangement in their math journals.