Wonderful weather = Wonderful learning

In Grade Two, the science curriculum has five different units of study including Hot and Cold Temperature. The students are recording daily temperature since Groundhog Day, learning how to read and interpret a thermometer.  This past week, they had the opportunity to read this book Snowflake Bentley using the mini iPads and the Bookflix website.

The story is full of rich vocabulary, and it became an opportunity to work with words that many of the students were not familiar with.

These word cards were placed around the classroom and the students participated in a 'parts of speech' word scoot.  This means that they walked around the classroom,

read the vocabulary words and then decided if the word was a noun, verb, adjective or pronoun.

There were a great many words but they had the definitions of the various parts of speech on their sheets to help them remember what each term meant.  This type of activity allows the students to challenge their thinking.  They can decide how the word would be used in a sentence and then figure out which type of word it is.  

William Bentley really brought the world a gift in his research on snowflakes.  Much of what we know today, is thanks to this man who was interested in something that most just took for granted.  The students attempted to make a snowflake with 12 q-tips using the criteria that no two q-tips would cross or overlap, that snowflakes have six sides and that each side looks like the other five.  It was a challenge!

Each student has a lapbook where their new learning is being recorded.

There are multiple copies of thermometers and the students are recording how the temperature would look.  They are recognizing the difference between temperatures below

and above zero.

Using boiling water and borax,

and pipecleaners,

we are trying to make crystals.

We're crossing our fingers that is will work!

Lots of new learning about how it snows or rains....understanding the water cycle.

Using this bead bracelet, the students are also trying to remember more 'scientific' vocabulary.

They might tell you:
The sun powers the water cycle (yellow bead)

The sun evaporates the water and it goes up into the atmosphere (clear bead)

The water condenses and we see it gather in the clouds (white bead)

When the cloud is too full, then there is precipitation (blue bead)

The water collects on the ground (green bead

Cool idea (not mine!)

The students created the water cycle on a large plastic bag.  They took it home so that they could add water into the bag (not more than about 1/2 cup), zip up the top, then put it onto a sunny window spot.  Again not my idea, but it should demonstrate the water cycle.  Hope it works!

Thank you to those who came to adore Our Lord last Thursday in the chapel.  Here is the monstrance that was used,

the red light to remind us that Jesus is present,

and the tabernacle that was used.

How lucky we are to be able to know Our Lord within our schools!

Adding Large Numbers

Sometimes parents want to know how to do this 'new math'  Actually, there is nothing new about what we are doing in our class.  We are adding large numbers.  The difference from when most adults learned how to add big numbers, to now, is that we are asking the students to understand what they are doing.  We do not introduce the algorithm until the students can both demonstrate and explain their understanding.

I'm going to walk you through today's lesson.

Here we are going to add two large numbers: 26 and 32

We are using an open number line  so that we can see the addition of one number to another.

I asked the students which number they would like to put onto the number line first and the child chose 26.  We then 'jumped' 32 more.  It is difficult for us to jump that far and know where we are going to land so we jumped in smaller amounts.  We jumped 10 to land at 36, another 10 to land at 46 and then 10 more to land at 56. (NOTE: 10+10+10 is 30)  We felt that we could jump 2 more easily because we know how to skip count even numbers so we landed at 58.  We proved that 26 add 32 is 58.

We then reminded ourselves that in adding, the order of the addends is not important, so we tried it again, starting with 32 and then jumping 26.  Notice that the girl who was helping suggested that  she could jump by groups of 3 to make up the 6 at the end.

In 'teacher talk', the students are able to decompose and compose numbers.  It is a very important part of understanding numbers, which we call number sense.  It is also important that students are able to make those 'jumps' rather than counting on.  It demonstrates that they are visualizing.  Think of it this way:  I started at 14.  Can I visualize what 10 more is?  How about 10 less?  Could I visualize 2 more than 14?  How about 2 less?  If the student is doing this and especially if they can explain or prove that the number they are sharing would be the correct one, then they are confident in their number sense.

It they are looking up and just counting on...their number sense is still as the beginning stages and they need more practise.  We have been practising since September here at school.  Not all students are confident yet.  It may be time for some home practise.

Here is one student explaining their thinking for 38 add 83.  She said "I put 38 on the number line and then I need to jump 10 8 times to add 80."  Can you see how she was able to decompose 83 into 8 tens and 3 ones?

This boy said "I started at 51 and jumped 2 10's and then 3 small jumps and it ended up at 77"

Actually 51 add 23 is NOT 77, but now I can see where his thinking was wrong.  His three small jumps were of 3, not 1.

You might say: "Why bother?  Just teach them the algorithm.  It worked for me!"

The answer is that we want students to be confident with numbers, to understand their patterns, to be able to compose and decompose them because when these students are working with algebra in 5 short years, those are the things they will be asked to do with unknowns.

We want them to have confidence that they know how to do this with our number system so they their concrete thinking can move them into the abstract thinking of algebra.

It's not so far away!  When these students are in the first month of Grade Three, they will be writing a provincial exam known as the SLA.  This kind of thinking and explaining is part of that exam.  It is the way that number sense is revealed.  In the most important way possible, we are working to ensure that students understand what the algorithm is asking them to do.  We don't want them to say "I just do this" without understanding why they do it.

The other thing that is different from mathematics classes of twenty years ago, is that we offer a number of ways or strategies for students to use.  We suggest that they try them but settle on the one that works for them.  This way I call the pull down method, but some people call it branching.  It doesn't matter, but it might be easier for some students to understand.

The two numbers are written horizontally and then the student identifies the tens in both numbers, pulls them down (by drawing lines) and adds them.  They say "20 add 30 is 50", to demonstrate that those digits are in the tens' place.  They do the same with the ones, saying '6 add 2 is 8' and then finally saying that '50 add 8 is 58."

Here's one girl's explanation:
How I pull down - I thought what's 5+2. Then I thought what's 1+3. That's how I did math.

What will I give her as feedback?  I'll write: Remember that it really is "What's 50+20"  Those digits are in the ten's place.  

Why is that important?  Think about what will happen if the digits are '8 and 9 in the ten's place.  What does the student need to recognize then?

This girl wrote "I know because I remember the old pull down and I did that but changed the numbers"

To most of you that won't make sense, but because I have heard her talk about this, I know that she is trying to explain that this method 'old pull down' is something she knows will work every time, no matter which numbers she uses in the equation.

This girl said "I really like the pull down strategy.  It's fast and easy. I learned it in Grade One."

This is a variation of the pull down method and I introduced it this week because I would like to see if the students are ready to have the algorithm introduced to them.

They are again decomposing the big numbers and adding.  

Here's what it might sound like:
20 add 30 is 50 (and they would write the 5 in the ten's place)

6 add 2 is 8 (and they would write the 8 in the one's place)

26 add 32 is 58!

This is the step before introducing writing the two addends vertically.  They need to recognize the place value of the numbers to ensure that they are line up correctly.

LONG explanation but I hope that helps you all understand what your kiddos are doing in math class.

How would you use these strategies for subtraction?

February - a Busy Month!

I am not a tech. expert as you can tell!  Try as I might, these pictures will not upload any other way but sideways!  Hope you can still see that our own little groundhog here at our school DID see his shadow, which means we are to have six more weeks of winter!  Is he right?  We are tracking the weather to find out.

Sister Gertrude came to visit both Grade Two classes last Tuesday, which was Shrove Tuesday.  She helped us understand that when Father says "Do this in memory of me.." that the unleavened bread that he blesses becomes Jesus' Body and that the wine becomes Jesus' blood.  We see a miracle each and every time we go to mass.  

She helped us to understand that when we participate in the Adoration of the Eucharist, that we are seeing Jesus right here, right now. Our school will be having mass at 9:15 on Thursday Feb. 18th at which time Father will be placing Jesus in the Monstrance.  We will be going into the chapel for Adoration later that day.  ALL parents, grandparents and family members are invited to be part of this wonderful opportunity.  Please come if you are able.

Later on Tuesday, we were lucky enough to receive some pancakes and fruit as our morning snack.

Shrove Tuesday is sometimes called Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras.  It is the day before Lent begins.

We were able to travel to our parish church and participate in Ash Wednesday celebration.  

The students in my class were so excited to see the red light that was on in the sanctuary, letting us know that Jesus was present in the tabernacle.  After mass, we all went into the area so that we could see the tabernacle and the light.  That worked well because they had heard all about these important symbols the day before from Sister.

A little look into Inuit culture

Goota always teaches the class so very much in her in-school presentation.  She makes the life of the Inuit come alive through the various items she brings, the stories she shares and her willingness to explain.  She told the children that she was raised until the age of 16 in the area called Cape Dorset, at the southern tip of Baffin Island.  She left her family behind at that early age so that she could complete high school in Iqaluit, only seeing them at Christmas and during the summer.  It is wonderful to know that today, children in Nunavut do not have to leave their families to attend schools.  Each major centre has a school for students up to Grade Twelve.

Here she is showing us the way that the women kept their families warm in the winter, using a fire bowl made of soapstone, filled with seal oil, with a wick made of Arctic cotton that was picked from the land in the summer.  She told the children that the women had to keep care of this fire, more closely than they did their own babies.  Without it, they would not have survived the cold winters.

She demonstrated the difference between the kamiks of the eastern and western Inuit lands.  The one on her foot is from the west and has beading on it.  She said that it is very soft.  The pair would cost about $300 to purchase.  The other pair was made in the east, out of seal skin in the traditional manner.  She explained how to tell that this pair was made for a man, and said that to purchase a pair would cost $1200!

She shared how the Inuit would never waste anything from nature, and that they were always sharing what they caught with all of their families and neighbours.  She had amazing pictures and made a few of the students want to try to eat an eyeball, which she explained was a true treat!

She explained that currently there is a ban on hunting caribou, so we were really in for a treat because she shared some caribou with us.  It is the larger frozen piece of meat on the cardboard.  Many of the students asked for seconds!  

She also shared some Arctic Char and the students quickly made the connection to salmon.  It too was a great hit.  She used the traditional woman's knife, the ulu, to cut and serve the meat.

This was such a rich personal way to begin our exploration of our next Canadian community, the city of Iqaluit in Nunavut.

Move over Punxsutawney Phil and Balzac Billy...

Our own little groundhog did see his shadow today.

Who will we believe?  Will there be six more weeks of winter or is spring just around the corner?

We're doing a little weather forecasting to find out!

Another week of fun and learning. with plans for more busy weeks to come!

We are beginning to work towards visualizing in mathematics.  That means that the students, after working with numbers up to 100 for almost five months are asked to 'see' the 100 chart or number line in their head, moving from concrete to abstract.  Using our iPad minis, the students worked in pairs to find one more, one less, ten more and ten less than the target number.  Here the number was 46.  The students practised finding one more and one less than 46.  Those numbers are found in the same row as 46.  They then practised finding ten more and ten less than 46.  Those numbers are found in the same column as 46.  Once they were able to do many, many examples, both with a partner and on their own, the hope is that they will be able to find these numbers in their head without a 100 chart in front of them.  That is visualizing.

To extend this activity, making it more challenging, the students were given a target number, in this case 73, and asked to find two more, two less, twenty more and twenty less.  What thinking would they have to do to be correct?  What truth about how numbers work would they have to hinge this new learning onto?

They have had multiple opportunities to see how odd and even numbers form a pattern in our number system.  What number always follows an even number?  What number always follows an odd number?

In most elementary  classrooms, worksheets are not what drive the learning in a math class.  Instead, discussions, working with others and manipulatives are the tools for understanding.  What you are seeing is the forming of new understanding as this group works together to discuss their plans to solve the problem that is written on the SMARTBoard.

This problem is specifically written to tease out the students who are reading with understanding.

In small groups, the students work together to demonstrate their thinking.  They are often asked to prove how they know that their thinking makes sense.  The correct answer is not always the goal of the lesson.  Being able to explain your thinking so others understand is!

I love when they are confused!  It means that their brains are really engaged!  They are challenging themselves.  It is the #1 goal of education....to think, to figure out, to believe you can!

Thank you again to those parents (and nanas) who came to watch our final assembly.  Ask your child why we celebrate Valentine's Day.  Who was St. Valentine?  What did he do that was special to become a Saint?  How can we become saints?

It's our last day of working with the stories of Frog and Toad.  One of the stories we read was entitled 'A Swim'  The students used plasticine to create an illustration of the setting of the story.  They watched a short video of how Barbara Reid how done this technique for her many books.  They learned how to mix two colours together to create a new colour and they also had to manipulate the plasticine to cover a large surface area.

They then layered other colours onto the original background of the sky and water.

They added rocks again mixing colours,

showing another part of the scene from the story.

Finally, they used a different technique to roll the clay to create bullrushes or cattails to add detail.  Tomorrow, the final aspect, adding the two main characters will complete the scene.  

Remember that:

a) Report cards come home tomorrow.  So do Literacy Bags.  Writing scribblers are due tomorrow.

b) There is no school for students on Friday, but never fear, I'll be at school!

c) Monday - book orders and hot lunch orders are due. Writing scribblers will go home.

d) Teacher's Convention is next Thursday and Friday.

e) The next week we have Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday mass at church, and another PD Day on that Friday.

f) There is no school on Monday, Feb. 15 as it is Family Day.

St. Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday.  On Thursday, Feb. 11, the students may bring Valentine cards (for everyone in the class please) and we will do an exchange.  As evidenced by our so, so busy month, there just won't be time to have a party.  Please understand.