Padmapriya Shirali is Part of the Community Math Centre based in Valley School (Bangalore) and Rishi Valley (AP), where she has worked since 1983, teaching a variety of subjects – mathematics, computer applications, geography, economics, environmental studies and Telugu. In the 1990s, she worked closely with the late Shri P K Srinivasan. She was part of the team that created the multi-grade elementary learning program of the Rishi Valley Rural Centre, known as ‘School in a Box.’ She is currently part of the NCERT textbook development group.
Padmapriya Shirali
padmapriya.shirali@gmail.com
From the Author
Handbooks
Preparatory (Class 3-5)
Teaching Area and perimeter
Area and perimeter are forms of measurement that are used commonly in many day-to-day activities. In particular, area is used in an intuitive way on an everyday basis when we select a plate to cover a utensil, a table cloth for a specific table, a sheet of paper to cover a book, etc. Without really knowing the specific words, children also commonly make judgements which involve an intuitive understanding of area. A question that naturally arises is: When or why do we want to know the exact size of a space? Demonstration of this point needs to happen repeatedly through real world applications.
Handbooks
Preparatory (Class 3-5)
Middle (Class 6-8)
Weaving in Mathematics
In January 2025, two editors of At Right Angles made a visit to the District Institutes of the Azim Premji Foundation at Bhopal and Damoh. As part of this visit, they spent time at some of the schools that the Resource Persons of the Foundation interact with. This Pullout is a follow up of the observations made by Padmapriya Shirali who was part of this expedition.
Handbooks
Preparatory (Class 3-5)
Middle (Class 6-8)
Activities that celebrate mathematics
In the Features section of this issue, we have looked at the Why and How of the celebration of a Mathematics Day.
Handbooks
Teaching Word Problems
Word problems become a stumbling block for many children, including those who are adept at operational and procedural skills. Many children develop an approach to tackling word problems based on looking for cue words – such as altogether, difference, sum and so on; but this has a very limited value. Too often, such children resort to guesswork while figuring out an operation. These children experience significantly greater math anxiety when they are confronted by word problems. Why is this?