I think bodily and sensory experiences can be very helpful in learning and understanding math, at all levels. For younger students, having physical objects to manipulate to solve problems and understand basic math concepts like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division on a more concrete level seems extremely helpful. For older students, being able to touch and examine physical representations of different solids could help with understandings of volume and surfaces area, conic sections and more.
I liked how the article talked about the question of "why?". It's true that even if you can manipulate symbols to prove some fact, there lacks a feeling of satisfaction and deep understanding if there is no answer to the why question. I think this is why students have an easier time thinking of mathematical ideas in terms of concrete things (for example money, temperatures, counting objects, etc.). However, while these concrete or embodied ways of understanding mathematics are a very useful tool, I think it's important to move beyond them into the abstract, as abstract thinking is an important piece of the mathematics discipline.
In English, I can see emodied learning coming into classroom in several ways. For example, while studying a play, having the students actually act out the play and get inside the heads of the characters might help them understand the character's motivations, relationships, and the broader themes of the text. As well, writing creatively in response to a text (for example writing a letter from a character, an alternate ending, etc.) can help the student understand why an author might have made the choices they did, by putting the student in the author's position.
Overall I think embodied learning is very important, and could probably be embraced more in our classrooms.
I liked how the article talked about the question of "why?". It's true that even if you can manipulate symbols to prove some fact, there lacks a feeling of satisfaction and deep understanding if there is no answer to the why question. I think this is why students have an easier time thinking of mathematical ideas in terms of concrete things (for example money, temperatures, counting objects, etc.). However, while these concrete or embodied ways of understanding mathematics are a very useful tool, I think it's important to move beyond them into the abstract, as abstract thinking is an important piece of the mathematics discipline.
In English, I can see emodied learning coming into classroom in several ways. For example, while studying a play, having the students actually act out the play and get inside the heads of the characters might help them understand the character's motivations, relationships, and the broader themes of the text. As well, writing creatively in response to a text (for example writing a letter from a character, an alternate ending, etc.) can help the student understand why an author might have made the choices they did, by putting the student in the author's position.
Overall I think embodied learning is very important, and could probably be embraced more in our classrooms.
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