Place Value

The purpose of this blog has always been to allow parents into the world of their children as students, learning new concepts, practising, making mistakes and then finally, after much hard work, being successful.  Sometimes it takes a great long time to understand the value of new ideas.

The best way to learn is to be able to hinge our thoughts and ideas onto a real life experience.  In teacher talk, that is called scaffolding.  The students in Grade two are just beginning to work specifically on the concept of place value for numbers.  I decided that a real life application would be to count groups of objects that are really large.  We read a story about the Masloppy Family who took inventory of various collections of items in their home.  We have been taking inventory of items in our class.  On the first day, pairs of students counted bins of books.  As I watched and listened I finally heard a child count by 2's and not singly.  It was then that I called a math congress.  Basically that is an opportunity for all students to share their ideas in a safe way within the class, knowing that their ideas are valued and helpful to others.

Once we discussed why counting by 2's worked better than counting by 1's (the smart child told us it was much faster!), I encouraged the students to choose other groups to count by.  The group today that was counting keys, decided to count by 2's until 100, then they went onto create another group of 100 and so on.  Here they are using pen and paper to record their ideas.  That's the other thing that is different than when you (parents) went to school.  The teacher doesn't immediately tell you the best way to do something.  The students discover through some trial and error and then through sharing during the math congress, what ways work best for them, or which may be more efficient.

These girls decided originally to count the centicubes by 5's but when they saw how many groups they were getting, they changed their strategy and moved 2 groups of 5 together so they would have groups of 10.  They were making decisions based on their needs in the situations...that's becoming real problem solvers!

It was also interesting to hear  one girl share that when she was making groups of 5, she looked for groups of 2 and groups of 3 to put together (rather than counting individually up to 5).  She is demonstrating her understanding of composing (putting together) numbers!

Finally, another girl shared that she and her partner chose different groups to count by depending on how many items were in the container they were going to count.  If the amount seemed small, they counted by 2's, but if the amount was larger, they grouped by 5's and when they thought the amount would be very  large, they then used groups of 10's.  Math is about making sense of the world around you.  Listen to how your child is thinking BEFORE telling them how you would solve the problem!

Attributes

What are attributes?  Why are they important?  What subject would we use them in?

Attributes are the characteristics of something that we are discussing.  They are important because they show the similarities and the differences between a number of objects.  For that reason we use them in all subject areas.  Currently and concretely, the students are looking at how to sort objects by attributes in mathematics.  How are the keys the same?  Sort them into two or more groups and ask your partner to name the attributes that you were using to create the groups.  For example, you can sort buttons by the number of holes they have or sort keys by the shape of the tops.

What attributes did the girls use to sort these flowers?

How to Blow a Bubble

The fun of the Fiftieth Day of School just keeps hanging on!  Writing non-fiction is very different than writing fiction and having some experiences to 'hinge' our understanding onto makes the actual exercise much easier.  Bubblegum was a relatively new chewing delight in the 1950's and being able to blow a bubble with gum is a sign that you are really growing up!

What are the items that are needed if you want to blow a bubble? What are the steps to creating a bubble?  Could you write these down in full sentences in order and have a reader follow them?

When the students write their sentences, they have had the opportunity to try, to talk and share with others, have created a plan and have reminded to use the mechanics of writing appropriately.  For all of that, you will notice that some still do not start sentences with an uppercase letter, end with punctuation or spell the words (or copy them) correctly.  That makes the difference when assessment is being done.

Whisper Phones

A HUGE "thank you" to the Parent Council at Jean Vanier Catholic School for supporting our request for ten 'whisper phones' for our classroom.  These simple devices allow the students to read to themselves, hearing their own voices among the multitudes of noises created in a hectic classroom.  Being able to hear yourself read can be very important to a student who is still not ready for 'silent reading'.  Knowing what the sentence sounded like allows for better comprehension.  The students love these so much!

The Fabulous Fifties continue.....

Last Thursday just wasn't long enough to complete all the ideas that I had found in a wonderful pack from Cara Carroll, a blogger at First Grade Parade. It's wonderful to have a fun day full of activities that the students will remember, but every activity also has a connection to our curriculum objectives.

Here the students had an opportunity to compare their life to the life of others in the 1950's.  They practiced writing a comparative sentence with the joining word but.

Those delicious root beer floats provided the perfect segway into learning to write to inform.  The students completed a planning sheet, to recognize that when making a float, steps were followed in a certain order.  Using the planning sheet, each student then wrote a book that explains, step by step how to make a root beer float.  

The assignment provides the opportunity for me to assess each students' skills in spelling.  All of the words that they would need were written on their planning sheets.  If a student didn't know how to spell a word independently, they could have referred to the sheet.  When the student doesn't follow through with that opportunity, it alerts me that I must re-teach that lesson, to ensures that all students know that there are many ways to help themselves to spell words correctly.

Winter is here!

Here's what the well dressed student is wearing this winter season in Mrs. Matheson's class.  Note the covering of every inch of skin eliminating the possibility of frostbite.  The mittens are not just stylish, they are also much thicker than the inexpensive knit gloves that become soaked when snow is played with.  Boots are a must as are the snow pants.  This lovely model is ready for a romp or slide in the snow.  Especially key is the hat that covers the ears, not just a hood.  When the wind blows, she will be toasty warm!  Glad to see the zipper done up right to the neck to ensure no nasty colds will take her away from the times she loves best, learning new things in Mrs. Matheson's class!

A whole lotta shaking' going on....

We took this day to do a whole lotta learnin' as well.  I used a wonderful resource made up a teacher named Cara Carroll, who has a blog called "First Grade Parade."  She had so many wonderful ideas on how to celebrate the 50th day of school that I knew that the students would both love and benefit from.  We spent the morning really looking at the number 50, recognizing that it is an even number and that there many ways to get to 50, such as counting by 2s, 5s and 10s.  We also compared life in the 50s to life in 2011, recognizing that we might like music, but we don't use LPs today!

The students really enjoyed the chance to dress up, but they know that students in the 1950's would have considered these clothes as just their regular everyday wear.

The students now know what a jukebox, saddle shoes, and dungarees are, as well as knowing that when you learned to read in the 1950's, you might be reading books where Dick and Jane or Tom and Betty were the main characters.

In the afternoon, we all went into our Daily Physical Activity room and took a bunch of fun pictures, both in front of the Jukebox and in our own pink cadillac!

We learned how to do the stroll, the twist, and the jive.

Look at all that 'shakin' going on!

Like the students in the 1950's after dancing so much, these students were a tiny bit thirsty, so what better way to end the day, but with a root beer float!  Our day had come to an end, but I have so many activities that we didn't get to, that I think 50th Day of School, Part Two will be taking place on Monday!  (We just won't be dressing the part!)  Thanks to Mrs. Kaban for providing the music and to our two mom helpers who took pictures and made floats!

Increasing Patterns

Sometimes the students amaze me with their ability to really learn a new concept.  Today, increasing patterns was introduced.  In the Mathematics program of Studies, students in Grade Two must demonstrate an understanding of increasing patterns by describing, reproducing, extending and creating both non-numerical and numerical patterns. 

 I told the students about a little caterpillar who on his first day out of the egg, had a head, one body part and two legs.  After eating all day long, he slept and the next day he had two body parts and four legs.  This continues until the caterpillar has four body parts and eight legs.  I then asked what he would look like on the sixth day AND they got it!  They recognized that as his body increases by one part, his legs increased by two!  They were they sent off to create their own increasing patterns.  It didn't happen instantly for all of them, but with support and explanation as well as visits to others' desks, they eventually were quite successful.

This work looks easy but would you believe that the students are actually building pre-algebra skills?

Think in terms of x and y and other unknowns.  Here is the number example to go with the example above.  Each day, the creature increases by 3 legs.  How many legs would the creature have on the 7th day?  The students need to extend the pattern, in their head, recognizing the relationship between the upper number and the lower number.  This is a 1 to 3 relationship.  As the top number increased by one, the lower number increased by 3.

In this example (cool that they started to make the patterns both in horizontal and vertical planes) the yellow hexagons increase by twos, as the red quadrilaterals increase by ones.  It is an inverse relationship if you put the yellows in the top spot on the grid and the red on the bottom.

How do the red quadrilaterals and the green triangles relate to each other in this example?

Here's a true challenge.  Can you find the first part of the pattern?  Where does it start to increase?  What colour increases and by how much?  How would you create a chart for this one?  What might look like child's play is truly work!  

The best part was how excited they were when I brought out the camera!  They really LOVE to see their ideas showcased on our classroom blog!

Week of November 14 - 18

The sound that we are focusing on is the short vowel sound of o this week.  Words such as ox, clock, mop, and got all have the sound.  The students noticed that when they make the short sound of o, their mouths made quite a large o shape, but when they tried the long sound of o, their mouths could not be opened as widely.  They were surprised at the way that the 'Bossy R' changes the sound of o, so that you almost don't hear it at all.  All you can hear is that 'Bossy R'!

You'll notice that in the spelling duotang there is a list that also includes words that the Grade Two students will be focusing on, and a different list for Grade Three students that are words relating to their study of Hearing and Sound in science class.  The words for the Grade Two students are already on the Word Wall, so after this week, they will be expected to print them in their everyday work without error.

Upcoming Conferences

This will be the note that you will find in the front pocket of the Bee Binder tomorrow.  Please fill in and return asap! Thanks...

Three Way Conferences: Respond Promptly

Elk Island Catholic Schools is implementing a new method of communicating student’s progress with parents district wide.  In some schools this is completely new, but in some schools, this method has been in place for a number of years.

Later this month, your child will bring home their “Evidence of Learning” binder.  In it will be pieces of work and a variety of assignments that demonstrate growth over time, areas of strength, areas of challenge that need perseverance, and formative and summative examples.

On Monday, December 5 and Tuesday December 6, students and parents, will come to meet with classroom teachers to discuss individual strengths, challenges to work on, and create a plan to support continued progress.

Please sign up for a preferred time and I will do my best to accommodate your requests.  We will be working collaboratively between teachers to schedule family groupings as close together as we can.

Monday                     Tuesday

_____ 3:45               _____3:45

_____ 4:00               _____ 4:00

_____ 4:15                _____ 4:15

_____ 4:30               _____ 4:30

_____ 4:45               _____ 4:45

_____ 5:00               _____ 5:00

_____ 5: 15               _____ 5:15

_____ 5:30               _____ 5:30

_____ 5:45               _____ 5:45

_____ 6:30               _____ 6:30

_____ 6:45               _____ 6:45

_____ 7:00               _____ 7:00

_____ 7:15                _____ 7:15

_____ 7:30               _____ 7:30

Student Name along with name of adult who will be attending

The upcoming week

Just a quick note to let you know a bit about the busy month ahead when we return on Monday, November 14 from our Fall Break.  Mark your calendars! 

1.  Tuesday, November 15 (morning) - We will be making a special present for Christmas with the assistance of the people from Clay For Kids.  The students will be making their clay projects right in the classrooms, so no extra costs for travel this year.  Please send $8.50 for the cost of the clay and the instruction, as soon as possible.

2.  Tuesday, November 15 - Cookie Dough orders are due to the office and orders will be available for pickup Dec. 5th (one of the nights of our Three-Way conferences.)

3. Thursday, November 17 - We will be celebrating the 50th Day of School with a day filled with fun exploring the number 50.  Dress the children up for a 'blast from the past' 50's style! (see the letter above that was sent before Fall break began) 

4.  Wednesday, November 30 - The Archbishop Jordan High School is presenting the play "The Velveteen Rabbit" and we will be rearranging our schedule for that day to attend the early afternoon performance.  Mrs. Pohoreski is in charge of the arrangements, so I don't have a final total, but I do know that the cost of the play is $6.00 each so with bussing, I suspect the final charge will be between $7.00 to $7.50 per person.

5.  Monday, December 5 and Tuesday, December 6 - Jean Vanier Catholic School will be hosting Three Way Conferences for Grades 1 - 6 and interviews at the Jr. High level. (I don't know the plans for the Kindergarten class).  We will be booking those times almost as soon as we return from Fall Break, and will do our best to accommodate our busy families.  You might want to check how hockey, Brownies, dance and other lessons will be impacted and make plans to ensuring that the time we spend talking about your child's academic progress takes precedence.  We'll be making plans on how best to move your child forward to reach their personal best.  The Evidence of Learning binders will be sent home on Nov. 28 and can be returned either before or right at the scheduled meeting time.

Patterns all around!

Currently, the Grade Two class is exploring the concept of patterns in mathematics.  This curriculum adds more depth to the concept as the students move up the grade levels.  The students this year will explore numbers up to 100 and the students will explore numbers up to 1000.  The students are asked to describe, extend, compare and create patterns.  As well, their new learning to to do the same for increasing patterns.

 In pairs the students revealed a pattern that they created and then hid in a paper tube, to a partner, who then named the pattern using either alphabet letters, numbers or colours, as a way to describe the pattern.

This pattern could be named as aabc or as 1123 or as red red brown orange. The core of the pattern is repeated at least three times when the students are practicing creating a pattern.

The students used different paper elements to add to a Haunted House to create a pattern.  They then had the opportunity to name (describe) the pattern that they created and extended three times.  When the houses were finished, they shared the patterns with other classmates, who compared their own pattern with that of a friend.