Earlier in the year, even before we Had Dr. M’s class about cutting, a first period lesson didn’t go over too well, and during our second period planning the second year math teacher at my school, GS, masterfully concocted a new lesson about the Order of Operations involving paper cutting. It was the one where you fold hot dog style, then hamburger style, then hamburger again, and cut down the creases only on one side of the paper so that you have four flaps. We put P(arentheses) at the top, E(xponents) on the second, MD(multiplication/divison) on the third, and AS(addition/subtraction) on the fourth along with the accompanying information under each flap.
I really think the kids enjoyed it overall simply because it was a break from the norm which had already established itself even though it was still early in the year. They were pretty good with instructions and with the safety of the scissors. The activity also seemed to manage the kids for me. They seemed to occupied with cutting the paper and writing down the information to care about talking. Admittedly, I let some talking go, but it was the volume was low and controlled, which honestly gave the classroom a very comfortable environment.
Though I haven’t gotten to use another paper cutting activity, it’s definitely something I would like to incorporate into another lesson
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