February 26, 2009

Our Good Math Question today is

How many ways can you roll doubles with 2 dice?

We have worked on a directed drawing of Arf, a character in Chickadee magazine. These can be entered in a contest. If you want your child to enter  the contest, send the drawing to 

chickaDEE

10 Lower Spadina Ave,

Suite 400

Toronto, ON

M5V 2Z2

February 25, 2009

Today we wore pink to show that we are against bullying.

Our Good Math Question today was

There are 8 dinosaurs in the dinosaur park. They are all either eating or drinking. How many could be eating, and how many could be drinking?

The big idea: There is a finite number of ways to put a number into two groups. Using an organized list is an efficient way to find all the ways to split the number into groups.

The children are bringing home their dinosaur work today. Ask your child why (s)he organzied the work in the way (s)he did.

February 23, 2009

Today's Good Math Question:

Bowling pins can be up or down.

How will you know when you have found all the combinations for 10 bowling pins?

This afternoon we will perform Go Home Goldie! at 1:50. We hope you can make it.

Posted later:

And if you didn't make it, here we are...

February 21

Yesterday our Good Math Question was about bowling pins. We noticed that pins can be either up or down. That limits our "numbers stories" to combinations of 2 numbers. The question is, "How can we tell when we have found all the ways five pins can be arranged in up and down positions?"

We have not finished sorting this out in our minds. Some children are hot on the trail of the concept that creating an ordered list (0,1,2,3...) would help, but can't quite do it or explain why that strategy works.

Note that it is important for the children to internalize the strategy, so we are spending time working with the concept instead of simply having me tell them what to do. Knowing when to stop is a big piece of doing Mathematical thinking.

February 20

On Monday at 1:50, our class will perform a readers' theater piece at the Primary Assembly and you are invited to watch Go Home Goldie!

Each of us has a part and we are busy practicing so everyone will hear us.

February 19 2009

How was your day?

We were very busy at Chatelech.

Dr. Roland Case, an SFU professor, was the keynote speaker. His topic was "Critical Thinking." Gibsons Elementary Primary teachers were excited to hear him because he was talking about the sort of Math questions we have been trying to ask more often -- the kind I've begun posting on this blog.

In the morning workshop I learned more about our new computers and got some ideas for lessons. During one of our breaks we listened to a local group called Knotty Dotters. I got a short video of them and the permission to share it here.

We have a very popular bass xylophone in our classroom. I thought it would be great to see and hear what a group could do with similar instruments. We may have a special visit from one of the group members in the future.

February 18, 2009

Mrs. Pugh teaches our Aboriginal Education class. This week she told us a raven story about what happens we do not show respect. We made pictures to show how the story connected to our own life stories.

February 13

We had a great time today!

First we celebrated 100 Day. Then we celebrated Valentines Day.

The video below is a collection of the photos we got today.

Tomorrow is our 100Day/Valentine's Day celebration. Please help your child to organize the collection of 100 things to bring in tomorrow.

Today's Good Math Question:

On a two-coloured mat, how many ways can you make the number 14?

Big Math Idea:

Numbers can be divided in a variety of ways.

I'll be watching for:

Organization. Most children will randomly place their items. A few will be more methodical, starting with one counter on one side. These children show a deeper understanding of the number system and will be more efficient in completing the task.

We had a visit from two-week-old lambs this afternoon.

February 11

The Primary Team in Gibsons Elementary has a focus this year on asking what we are calling "good math questions." A good question is designed to have more than one answer or a variety of ways to find one answer. Answering the question should deepen the students' understanding of a big idea in math. Anyone in the class should be able to work on the question successfully.

Some days we will do more traditional things or have lessons that demonstrate or teach something directly, but the focus will be on "good questions."

I will post our good math questions here so you can get an idea of what your child is doing in Math class. You may want to talk about the question at home.

Today's Good Math Question:

What numbers are closer to 10 than to 20?

The Big Idea:

This leads into successful estimation. Estimation is important in doing mental math.

February 10

Gibsons Elementary has three key words:

• Safe
• Cared For
• Respected

These words tell us how we want everyone to feel.

Some children are using their social power to hurt the feelings of others. You can help your child to look at her or his own behaviour from the point of view of others. This is a new skill for most children who are six.

"How would you feel if..." helps a child to learn empathy.

Watch for opportunities to draw attention to feelings of book characters or to family or friends as you go about your daily lives.

February 10

On Friday, we will celebrate both 100 Day and Valentines Day.

In the morning, we'll focus on 100 Day. For that, each child is asked to bring a collection of 100 things organized in a way that makes it easy for others to count the items. Hint: We have been organizing things in class in groups of 2, groups of 5, and groups of 10 to make counting faster.

In the afternoon we will celebrate Valentine's Day. The children know that if they bring any Valentines, they must bring one for each classmate. I am not allowed to send home class lists because of privacy issues. Hint: Look closely at the weekly Word Wall Word List. You can also ask your child to copy classmates' names to bring home.

Note that bringing Valentines is completely optional. There will be many activities during the afternoon based on our Valentine's theme.

February 9

We worked on the question: How many sleeps is it until our 100 Day/Valentine's party on Friday? That's an important and very big question.

If an event is coming up for your family, in stead of telling you child how long you have to wait, have your child use the calendar to figure out how many sleeps there are. Offer only as much support as needed.

To do this job well, a child has to remember that (s)he does not have to count the sleep of the day of the event.

January 30

What a surprise!

As one student shared her heritage, I began to suspect we might be related. Later, her grandmother came to the classroom door with a book that deals with the family genealogy. Sure enough, there was my great-grandmother in the book, proving that my student and I are distant --very distant-- cousins.

We never know what we will learn when we take on a project.