In the interest of trying something new and doing something useful, we got a little crazy with our cameras a couple weeks ago. At AIMS, we produce some great videos for our activities (I think they’re great. If you don’t then you probably haven’t seen them. What gives?), but we wanted to see what we could do outside of the context of an activity. Could we make a video that stands on its own, is short, and would be worth a teacher’s time to check it out? What would a video like that even look like? What would it sound like?
We came up with what we’re calling The AIMS Minute–short, handy videos that communicate one idea clearly and get out. This “idea” could be how to make an easy-to-prepare manipulative, a fun explanation of a tricky math or science concept, or something that could be shown to students the next morning to generate some great discussion.
Whatever The AIMS Minute ends up being any given week (that’s a goal, not a promise) will be something that works all on its lonesome, but it might also clue you in to some of our great activities. That’s certainly the case with our first go-round, which tells you in one minute (maybe a little more) all about how to build an equation mat. Check it out:
Did you catch my cameo? I’m the true star of that video, you can say it.
The equation mat gets a good workout as part of the activity, “Pond Problems,” which is available as part of our collection of activities addressing the 2nd Grade Common Core Standards.
What do you think of the first AIMS Minute?