Monday, March 1, 2010

Tape Marks the Spot


Painter's tape is the best--it comes in the prettiest colors, it's cheap and it doesn't crumple up as easily as regular masking tape.

If you have students who seem to pay little attention to the cutting line, warm up their eyes and attention spans by placing little bits of painter's tape along the perimeter of the shape to be cut. Oops, that piece of tape is on the line, we better move it over a little so we can cut on the line. Hmmm, the student's pinch is looking a little better, too.

When the student starts cutting they have already tuned into to the fact that there really is a line, and squeezing the scissors feels different if they accidentally begin cutting through the tape. Ta-da! A great circle!

No comments: