New Math Stations for Fractions, Balancing Equations, and Money

I have included a few photos of some of our new math stations. The grade ones and the grade twos have begun working with probability, and fractions and we are reviewing equal equations, problem solving, and money concepts.

Many of the students continue to need more practice with their addition and subtraction strategies. Please try to practice a few each night. I.e. skip counting, adding doubles, adding ten and nine, etc....

In language we are preparing for our spring writing assessment. The grade ones are learning to write a friendly letter and both classes are learning PERSUASIVE writing.

The grade ones are working on stating their opinion and including, interesting and exciting, supporting details. The grade twos have been looking at advertising and the persuasive way advertisements convince us to buy things we don't need.

We continue to practice all of our reading strategies when we read. I have begun the reading assessments and your child will soon receive, (if they have not already received one), a certificate with their reading level at the beginning of the year and their reading level now! I am so proud of their progress!!! The grade ones should be reading at a level 16 and the grade twos should be reading at a level 24 at this point in the year. Don't forget to continue reading over the summer. Even if they are not at grade level yet a summer of reading can give them that needed boost!

Open House Math Stations

Small but mighty! We had several students away and only one visitor but we still had a fabulous time working on our math stations!

I have included a few pictures from our busy afternoon. I will be away Thursday and Friday but when I get back I will have lots to share with the students! I will be at a big math conference and I am very excited about the opportunities and the learning! I can't wait to tell the students all about the math!

I hope everyone stayed dry on such a soggy day!

Group Problem Solving

Just a quick glimpse into our afternoon! The grade twos worked in groups to solve our math problems. We are continuing to use the 4 step problem solving method. We recently completed a math assessment and now we are working on improving our responses so that our final assessment will be top notch! I'm so proud of all of my mathematicians!

Strategies!

I have included a picture of the mental math strategies that we are working on in class. It would be wonderful if the students could practice a new math strategy each night or even each week. These strategies will continue to strengthen their math skills well beyond grade one and two!

The APE strategy is used when answering questions during our reading and writing lessons. We will continue to practice these skills in class while we get more familiar with the A.P.E. model for answering questions. I hope to include some sample answers so that you can see the criteria we use. You may also see this used when I assess the work the students complete in their daily writing activities. I hope the picture will help you to see what I am referring to in my comments.

When reading nightly with your child it would be helpful to ask your child questions about the story. Make sure that he/she is giving full sentence answers to the question, (not one word answers). I.e. Why was Anna angry at the party? Anna was angry because the dog jumped up and ate her cake. In the story they talked about the dog having cake all over his face. That happened to a friend of mine and it made him very angry because it was his cake.

Math Art!

We were very busy Friday creating our math art. We have been talking about sharing equally and creating equal groups to represent our introduction into multiplication and division. The students did a beautiful job. The students also learned how to represent their sharing as an addition sentence. I.e. 2+2+2+2=8 (the grade twos are beginning to understand the equal sharing as a multiplication sentence as well - 2x4=8).
Just a sneak peek! Hope everyone had a restful weekend!

Hoppy Easter

I hope everyone is having an EGG-citing Easter! The Easter Bunny made a mess at our House! I hope he behaved himself at yours! I had 18 eggs on the table but when I turned around there were only 5! Can you help me figure out how many are missing?

My NEW Favourite Learning Site!

My course is almost over and I am hoping to be checking in more often!  I just wanted to pop in to post a couple of our experiences today.  When your child got home today did you ask... "what did you do today at school?"...and was the answer "nothing"?  Well I beg to differ!  We got to experience some very entertaining math lessons today!  Just check out the links below!

Learning the Importance of Place Value!

We even took a trip to... Math Park!

More Goodies! Parent ideas, tips, and resources!

 More Goodies
Parent Resources and Tips

GAMES!!!  WOO HOO!!!  This site allows you to choose an age level grouping and then a category.  There are many games to strengthen concepts and strategies (but don't tell the kids they will think they are just playing)!  This website is definitely worth exploring!  Let me know if you find any more worth taking a look at in class or any I should be adding to my Blog!  I would love to get your feedback!
Math Games

P.S. Just click on the underlined title and that link will take you right to the site!

Let me explain...

I apologize for my absence recently.  A two day workshop in Toronto, starting my 3 month math specialist course online, report cards, a broken washing machine, ...let's just say life has gotten a little busy!  There aren’t enough hours in the day!  Hopefully you haven't given up on me altogether and you are continuing to check in with my Blog!  

I am currently working on the math calendar and language calendar for March.  I will be listing the new strategies and concepts that we will be working on and I will include more details about each in my Blog.  I am starting with a few websites and videos that may help.  Yikes...look what time it is...off to make dinner...I’ll be right back!  In the mean time check out this site!  P.S. I love it when the kids come into class and they tell me that they were on the Blog!  COOL!!!

Mental Math Strategies

Math Games, Worksheets, Practice, ...

We Really Measure UP!

We are all enjoying the measurement unit!  I have included a couple of pictures from the grade one class to show how we are using our non-standard measuring tools to measure length and compare the measurements of more than one tool.  If you have not already met our snowy measuring tools...you soon will!  The grade twos have turned their snow buddies into a measuring tool for home using a standard cm ruler.  The grade ones are creating a non-standard snowball measurement tool with the help of their snow buddy (also known as a paint stick)!  I hope you enjoy our creations as much as we have enjoyed creating them!  Don't forget to use them for measuring around the house!