“PLAYING’’ TO LEARN: A PLAYFUL APPROACH TO TEACHING FUNDAMENTAL OPERATIONS WITH NATURAL NUMBERS

Abstract

This article presents the results of a didactic-pedagogical intervention project, of a qualitative nature, carried out as part of the subject Mathematics Teaching Practice I, during the Mathematics degree course. The proposal was applied to a class of 40 6th grade students from a public school located in the municipality of Moju, in the state of Pará. The main aim of the research was to help improve the learning of fundamental operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with natural numbers) through playful practices. The study started from the realization, based on teacher observations and reports, that many students had persistent difficulties in performing these operations, even after completing the initial years of elementary school. The intervention involved the application of activities with a strong visual appeal and concrete manipulation, seeking to make the teaching process more meaningful and accessible, the impact of which was assessed by comparing the results obtained before and after the intervention. This article presents the results of a didactic-pedagogical intervention project, of a qualitative nature, carried out as part of the subject Mathematics Teaching Practice I, during the Mathematics degree course. The proposal was applied to a class of 40 6th graders from a public school located in the city of São Paulo. The data generated showed significant improvements in the students' performance, especially in solving content that previously had high error rates. The results suggest that the use of playful strategies can encourage the construction of mathematical knowledge and be an effective alternative for teaching operations with natural numbers in classes in the final years of elementary school.