As we approach the end of March, we come close to multiple school days which are palindromes. From 3-20-23 to 3-29-23, our dates will be palindromes, and they may offer opportunities for you and your students to explore palindromes!
Students of all ages can look more closely at palindromes! I am going to focus on explorations with numbers, but your students might enjoy finding words that are palindromes, too. Here are a few books you might share with your students:
Some of your students may get caught up in noticing individual words that are palindromes, but some may enjoy the word play involved in sayings and phrases that are palindromes. At either level, it is word work that many students find FUN!
For math explorations, you might not explain to your young students what a palindrome is, but let them discover!
- Using your pattern blocks as a visual, you can give students numbers to "create" and allow them to notice what makes these numbers special. For example:
If you display the pattern blocks to represent different digits, then you can dictate numbers and ask students to create them. Can they identify the pattern that makes palindromes special? Can they see with the March dates how they are palindromes?
- Ask your students to find all of the palindromes between 0 and 100. What do they notice about two-digit palindromes? Is there a pattern in 3 digit palindromes?
- Will there be other palindromes this year? How about next year--What palindromes will there be? Is there ever a year without a palindrome date? What can your students find?
- Finding palindromic numbers Math For Love has a great lesson exploration opportunity where students search for different levels of palindromes. It offers a way for students to add, look for patterns, and have fun with numbers--all in one activity!
I hope you and your students find some time to explore the fascinating patterns and elements of palindromes in our words and numbers! You might want to consider ending with this Weird Al video, Bob, which is made entirely of palindromes.