We use narration for evaluating learning in all subjects, including math. You may be wondering how to incorporate math narrations into your homeschool so today I want to share some ways that we have evaluated math learning through narration.

What is math narration?

Narration is telling what you heard, read, or studied–in your own words. Specifically, math narration is telling what you learned about a math concept. Narration can be oral, drawn, written, or demonstrated with manipulatives.

What math narrations look like in our home

Math narration will look different for every family. Keep in mind that in these pictures the children are elementary-aged students. Math narrations will look different for older students. These pictures are meant simply to give you some ideas of how math narrations could look in your home. Let them inspire you to come up with other creative narrations.

Download a PDF of these math narration ideas.

Play a game with a younger sibling—teaching a concept is one of the best ways to narrate what you have learned.

Measure anything and everything. Does your student include the appropriate units?

Use measurement and problem solving skills to make your own jump rope.

Food is an excellent way to evaluate math learning. Snack time math is a fun activity for younger children.

Help mom find and photograph shapes and patterns in nature at the Botanical Gardens.

Demonstrate concepts of symmetry and patterns with manipulatives.

Make hexaflexagons.

Explore geometry concepts with anglegs and geoboards.

Kinetic sand can be a great way to show what you learned in the math lesson. (See the full post of 8 ways to use kinetic sand for math.)

Written narrations can take many forms. We have used icing to show the math facts, chalk on the driveway to practice part-whole equations, or writing your own equations on a hotel notepad because you want to be like big sister.

Written math narrations could include learning and practicing fractions while camping.

Students could take a poll of their friends’ favorite dessert and demonstrate they know how to make a graph.

You could even use your journal while on a trip to practice doubling. (Notice that she only wrote the answer. She did all of the calculations in her head. I was impressed since I don’t think I could do that as high as she did!)

Narration ideas

If you would like more ideas for narration for all subjects, check out my narration jar. It includes 115 narration ideas sorted by subject, age level, and time required to complete and includes specific suggestions for math, science and nature, composer study, and picture study.

How have you used narrations to evaluate math learning?

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