Cardboard and Paper Crafting
This material is suitable for children of any school age.
These findings are suitable for those who teach or want to teach math to a child with low vision.
The educator’s task is to teach the child with low vision to interact with the surrounding world, develop logical thinking, imagination, and mathematical language. Sometimes teaching a child with low vision is complicated by the fact that they are not ready to perceive the educational material.
There can be many reasons: from the discomfort of learning to the lack of psychological and physiological readiness for study in the child.
In any of these cases, the teacher’s task remains the same – to teach the child to feel mathematics, to instill an interest in the subject. It is necessary to give the child the opportunity to understand that mathematics is not a scary subject, and it can be comprehended. Euclid, the founder of geometry, said that there are no royal roads in mathematics. To understand mathematics, there are no universal easy ways; one simply needs to study it regularly. Let’s not forget that mathematics develops logic. Mathematics classes contribute to the formation and development of spatial representations of the world.
Modeling is one way to develop spatial representations. Modeling activities develop creative abilities and volumetric spatial thinking. The process of modeling fosters the cultivation of aesthetic feelings. Artistic taste is developed.
Through practical work, it can be demonstrated (felt) that mathematics is a part of our everyday life, it is all around us.
Practical Work “Cone”.
In this practical work, we make decorative items in the shape of a cone. Students try their hand at paper crafting. Equipment needed includes a set of paper (A4 size might be suitable), plasticine, scissors, paints, and glue.
During the practical work, students work in groups. A student with low vision should be involved in the general flow of the lesson and should comment on the constructions being made. The “hand in hand” method can be used to help the student with low vision better glue the models.
The process of modeling a cone (and not only) develops abstract thinking in a student with low vision, which enhances imagination and positively affects the child’s cognitive activity.
Image 1. Cone model
After making the cone models, students work with these models. The main elements of the cone are necessarily commented on, and the cone is drawn on the board. There is a change in activities during the lesson – visual and auditory. It is essential to teach children to analyze, compare, classify, generalize, and reason.
Questions: What is a cone? What does the lateral surface of the cone represent? What lies at the base of the cone? By rotating which geometric figure can we obtain a cone?
Image 2. Various cone models.
Children’s imagination is not limited.
As a result of the work, children develop general academic skills, abilities, and cognitive activities. It is crucial to develop knowledge in the field of geometry for further success in life.