We've been exploring even and odd numbers and learning a new math strategy - "doubles"! Games always make it more fun! Anything that involves dice is engaging for little kids and then they get to practise 'subtilizing' (recognizing small groups without counting) and 'counting on' (counting on from the amount on the first die, instead of counting all the dots). Building number sense is so important because, believe it or not, it is actually the foundation of algebra! And here's the very best part - it's not something you're born with, it's something you learn! And EVERYONE can learn it!
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We use the Smartboard every single day and it occurred to me that I've never really posted about it! When the children enter the room, the board is set and ready to go. They unpack and put their agendas on their desk, put their chairs down, and head to the carpet where, all on their own, they use the board while I check agendas, do attendance, and deal with any 'first thing in the morning' issues (like collecting money, etc.). This works so well! The children are engaged in meaningful activities and our day is off to an organized start! We then do our calendar activities, shared writing, and work on literacy and math activities. I always try to put the sites we work on up on the website (see the 'Links for Fun and Learning' page), but we also use other applications and programs and often visit Youtube especially for science and social studies.
This year we are once again participating as a school in the board's "Cereal Challenge"
The cereal drive provides great curriculum connections, including activities involving mathematics strands as well as opportunities for health, reading, and media activities. The winning class will earn a pizza party. Calculations will be made per pupil to ensure fairness for all classes. From personal experience, I can assure you that these drives are critical parts of Breakfast Programs in communities where many children are very hungry when they arrive to school. If you could, please donate cereals with 10 GRAMS or less of sugar and 2 GRAMS or more of fibre, that would be SO appreciated. Teaching children how to critically read nutrition information is a great task and an important lifelong skill. Cereals that don't fall under these guidelines cannot be served in schools on their own. You'd be surprised how many cereals (even sugary ones) are perfectly fine under these guidelines. Having said that, we will accept ALL cereals as programs are allowed to mix those that fall short with others that meet the guidelines. Wal-Mart had suitable cereal on sale for $2 a box this weekend! Thanks for your assistance in this worthy cause! The many different 'hands on' materials we use in math are called 'manipulatives' (your child's ten fingers qualify). We use 'ten bracelets', ten frames, abacuses, rekenreks, dice, dominoes, snap cubes and more to aide in developing number sense concepts such as the fact that wholes can be divided into parts.
Guided reading and writing, shared reading and writing, independent reading and writing, phonemic awareness activities, 'word work' - small group, large group, partner work! The kiddos are starting to get the hang of it all! Of course I'd like to add that the work done at home with the Take Home Reading activities is a big boost to your child's achievement at school. I can really tell the difference when kids are reading at home too!
Aren't numbers wonderful? They arrange themselves so nicely into patterns and always follow the rules! (Not like those tricky letters!) Rote counting is all very well, but what we're striving for here is an understanding of what the numbers represent and how they relate to each other - it's called 'number sense'. The other great thing about this is that you can use that understanding to solve problems! We've also been discovering that there can be many different strategies used to arrive at the solution - some are more efficient than others - but as long as you arrive at the right solution it's all good!
We have paired up with Mrs. Lucier's grade 3 class this year for regular reading and math sessions. So far, we've gotten together three times. We've taken advantage of nice weather to use our outdoor learning area to read, and have used the library twice. We worked on the school's weekly math problem in pairs and had an amazing amount of collaboration and problem solving displayed! Our work has been displayed in the hall by the office and lauded over the school morning announcements! |
About Mrs. C.Mrs. Cuckovic, or "Mrs. C." as she's called, is a retired educator who spent a long and varied career with the Greater Essex County District School Board in Windsor, Ontario. Archives
November 2020
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