How to Use Thinking Maps for Intermediate Math
Visual aids such as thinking maps are frequently used in intermediate classrooms. They are often associated with language arts, social studies or history. Moving beyond these common subject areas to include math makes thinking maps even more useful as an educational tool. There are different types of thinking maps, but the circle map, flow map and tree map are most useful in the math curriculum. Creating a template for the thinking maps makes reproduction easier.
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Instructions
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Circle Maps
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Create a template for the circle maps by making two circles, one inside the other. The center circle will hold one concept while the outer circle will hold many so leave more room on the outer circle.
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Choose a math concept to use with the circle map. Things such as math facts, multiples, factoring and fractions work well with this form of thinking map.
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Assign the students a number to place in the middle of the circle. For example, if you're working on fractions they might write 1/2 in the middle. The center number is the commonality between all information in the outer circle.
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Ask the students to fill in numbers in the outer circle that equal the number in the center circle. In the fraction example, they would write fractions equivalent to 1/2 such as 2/4, 6/12 and 10/20. To practice multiples, the students would write a number in the middle and list several multiples of the number in the outer circle.
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Review the intermediate math curriculum to find other ways to use the circle maps.
Tree Maps
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Create the tree map template. It consists of one long horizontal line across the page with several vertical lines branching off of it.
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Choose an intermediate math concept ideal for classifying. Concepts that might work include different types of measurement units, math fact families and geometric shapes.
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Have the students write the overall concept at the top. You can either assign them a specific concept for each branch or let them come up with their own. For instance, a geometric shape tree map might have branches for the different number of sides. Under each number, the students list different shapes that qualify. Under 4 they might list square, rectangle, rhombus, trapezoid and parallelogram.
Flow Maps
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Develop a flow map template. The flow map uses a series of boxes in a row with lines or arrows depicting the flow. They are used to show a process.
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Give the students an intermediate math concept that involves multiple steps to solve the problem. This might include story problems, solving equations or the order of operations.
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Have the students fill in the steps to solve the specified problem. You can also give a sample problem and have them work out the steps below the boxes.
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