Teacher Appreciate Geometry GIVEAWAY!!!

Finally!  It is finally here!  I have been sitting on this little nugget for weeks... MONTHS!  Now, I finally get to blog all about it.  EAI contacted me and asked me to review one of their products earlier this year.  Well I jumped on that in a heart beat because I absolutely love all the EAI products I have ever bought and I am like a kid at Christmas time when I get their catalog in the mail!  One thing that caught my attention above all else was their GeoModel Everyday Folding Shapes.

As you might remember, this is the first year I am teaching math and I wanted to make sure this would work great for my kiddos this year AND next year when we transfer over to the Florida Standards (very similar to Common Core).  Well wouldn't you know it... IT DOES!

Point for EAI.

Here is the blurb that EAI Education has for their product:

Help students see that the 3D geometric shapes they study surround them in everyday life! This set of 8 jumbo, transparent 3D shapes (Hexagonal Prism, Cylinder, Cube, Triangular Prism, Rectangular Prism, Square Pyramid, Triangular Pyramid, and Cone) has removable bottoms that allow students to insert and remove any of the 26 durable folding nets to transform them from ordinary shapes to everyday objects like a can of dog food or a piece of cake. This 10cm set includes 25 full color Question & Answer Activity Cards. Cards measure 2"H x 3"W. Also includes an activity booklet with reproducible task sheets.

 

 

I started off by using the models as an introduction to 3-D shapes.  It was perfect for my kids to relate their background knowledge to what we were learning in math and my visual and kinesthetic learners were in heaven!  They knocked this concept out of the ball park and I know it was in part to being able to explore with these.

 

 

Inside each durable plastic shape is a net of a real life item with the same shape.  Even though there are only 8 plastic shapes, there are 26 everyday object folding nets included as well.  I am going to be honest and tell you that when I first saw these nets I was very skeptical.  I just knew that within minutes of my kiddos getting their hands on them, they would be ripped apart.  Well I was wrong and couldn't be happier about that!  They are not made out of regular paper like I assumed when I first saw them.  I don't really know what the material is but it is more like a durable smooth plastic meets paper but still flexible without breaking...  Any way, whatever it is, it holds up!

 

 

Point for EAI.

 

Along with the task cards, nets and shapes you get a handy dandy activity booklet that comes with four other stand alone activities and answer keys for everything!  You will have to scan the worksheets from the book and print them out, but it was easy!  I printed them out on cardstock and ended up laminating them for longer use.

 

 

 

All in all I am thoroughly pleased with this product!  So much so that I passed it around to my team and we even used it for FCAT math rotations.  It was perfect because it helped some of the students who needed a deeper understanding but it was also adaptable to our kids who needed the enrichment.  it was all there in one nice package!  I used all the different activities in class and then set it out in our math centers for rotations afterwards and this was always something the kids went back to.  Now usually I am one to say, "You've been to that station three times before, try something else!" but I don't have to because there is so much to do with this set that even by their fourth visit to this center, they might just be finishing up the task cards!

 

Okay, here is where I go rogue...!?

 

By no means did they ask me to do this but I have to tell you anyway!  I have two other geometry goodies from them that I use to introduce/review skills and keep them in my center stations.  I LOVE them and suggest you add them to your collection!

 

1. Exploragons - I have a teacher set that comes with LOTS of task cards with varying levels of difficulty and a couple student sets.  I cannot say enough good things about these!  They help with EVERY aspect of geometry!

 

 

2. GeoModel Folding Nets - I have a couple sets of these and they are very similar to the item I reviewed today.  The activities are a little different and there is no real life example but always nice to have on hand!

 



 

Since you read through ALL of that (and because it's teacher appreciation week!!!) I wanted to give you a little something.  I whole heartedly believed in this product so much that I emailed them to ask if it was okay if I bought a set and did a giveaway with this review.  Well she immediately emailed me back and said they would be happy to provide the giveaway for free!  So it is your lucky day y'all!  You have the chance to enter to win your own set of the GeoModel Everyday Folding Shapes!  All you have to do is enter in the Rafflecopter below and wait (patiently, which is not my forte, lol) until Saturday when I will reveal the winner!!!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you are having a fabulous teacher appreciation week and are enjoying all these wonderful sales, giveaways, freebies, and just all around good vibes about what we do and why we do it.  It might only have a fancy title for one week out of the year, but know that I really appreciate all of y'all the whole year through for everything you do for me.  Your ideas and support are what get me through the tough teaching times and I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it and you!