From Our Classrooms to Yours: “The Joy of Tangrams”
Karen Gaul (January 14; 6:00-8:00 p.m. EST)
For K-12 educators in Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
This presentation shows how tangrams are much more than a simple Chinese puzzle. Participants will learn about the colorful history of tangrams including origin legends, their somewhat mysterious inception, and use of the puzzle by famous enthusiasts, all while deepening their understanding of Chinese history. Opportunities for hands-on exploration of puzzles from basic forms through seemingly unsolvable paradoxes promise to be both fun and challenging to participants. While the math classroom might be the obvious place for tangrams in school, we will also explore creative applications across the K-12 curriculum. Information on resources applicable to all grade levels will be shared.
Karen Gaul recently completed her seventeenth year as an educator at Winchester Thurston School in Pittsburgh, PA. She is currently a fifth-grade teacher, having taught third grade for the first 10 years of her Winchester Thurston career. In addition to providing students with a dynamic and engaging learning environment, Karen is passionate about global education. Karen is a regular presenter at NCTA seminars and has also contributed to the University of Pittsburgh’s Global Studies Center teacher outreach program. Her curricular work has been published in Education About Asia, The East Asian Gateway for Linking Educators, and UCIS International Outreach. Karen currently serves on the NCTA teacher advisory board for the national coordinating site at the University of Pittsburgh. She participated in the 2009 NCTA study tour, “Migration and Identity: A Study Tour of China and Vietnam.” In 2011 Karen established a partnership between Winchester Thurston and Beijing’s Peking University Elementary School. This partnership annually welcomes over thirty fifth graders from Beijing to Winchester Thurston classrooms for a two-week immersive experience.
For K-12 educators in Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Participants from those 11 states will receive a free set of tangrams after the program.
To register, please click on this link: https://pitt.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwvdumupz8qEtVtobgu4hADqh6BBuvhaLn6
Part of the series:
From Our Classroom To Yours:
An NCTA Master Teacher Workshop Series
A series of NCTA Master Teacher workshops on integrating East Asia into your classroom.
Join us for a teacher to teacher presentations that will cover content, strategies, implementation, and resources for bringing East Asia into your classroom this year.
Each presentation will provide Act 48 for Pennsylvania teachers and Certificates of Completion for teachers from other states.