Mean Median Mode – Kinesthetic Based Learning

         Mean, Median, & Mode for the Kinesthetic Learner

       Christina Whates    

Teaching mean, median, and mode can become a routine lesson, but there are always ways to make mathematics lessons interactive for learners. I have included a short, but detailed lesson teaching mean, median, and mode.  I decided to use Smarties instead of M&M's to keep my lesson nut free. Considering all the allergens present in elementary schools today peanut free is always the best option, and including a treat can always be fun! I bought a box of Smarties for a dollar, so an easy way to make this lesson more cost effective is to have students work in pairs.

Ontario Curriculum (Grade 5):

• 
  
  – read, interpret, and draw conclusions from primary data
  – calculate the mean for a small set of data and use it to describe the shape of the data set across its range of values, using charts, tables, and graphs (future lessons students can extend their knowledge by graphing what they found).
  

Included is a definition of Mean, Median, and Mode. These are just rough examples of what can be done as a class. Together a definition of each can be created with an example, that can be posted on the class math bulletin board.

 

Activity:

1) Provide students with Smarties.
2) Organize the Smarties.
3) Calculate Mean, Median, Mode.
4) If time is permitted students can organize the data into a graph.