Math Update for November

During number corner (calendar) time this past month, we learned about time and fractions.  Children are learning how to break something into parts - or a fraction of the whole.  They are identifying 1 whole, 1/2, and 1/4.  We are also learning about clocks- and how to tell time to the hour. We will move on to half hours later in the year. We are also trying to understand 24 hours a day, am/pm, and what time of day we do certain activities. This coming month (December) we we will be focusing on three dimensional shapes.  

We continue to count each day in school. We are so excited there are less than 50 days until day 100!  Today marked the 58th day.  Students are learning about groups of ten and ones in double digit numbers, and learning to add these together as we approach the 100th day!  INQUIRE with your child how they figure out how many days until the 100th day!

During our fluency activities each day, students have been practicing counting - forward and backward by 1's, 2's, 5's, and 10's.  

Seeing the relationship between addition and subtraction is an important and challenging concept for first graders.  As we continue to explore the idea of subtraction, students are working on finding a variety of ways to solve these complex problems.  Students are learning to count up on a number line to solve a subtraction problem, in addition to counting backwards.  They are encouraged to think about the way that makes the most sense.  Some of these problems are more complex - and don't necessary have students solve a quick 9-3 (had 9 of something, 3 were taken away).  An example of a problem from this week had kids thinking - should I add or subtract?  Understanding math story problems and solving them in a variety of ways can be challenging, and kids are working hard each day to understand them. (There were 9 laces and velcro sneakers. 3 of them were velcro. How many were laced? 9-3=6 or 3+_=9)  We will continue learning about the addition/subtraction relationship as the year progresses.  We continue to have time during our  math block for math games, that give kids more practice in the skill and help them to become more fluent with number sense and math facts.  

These next few weeks we will begin looking at finding more efficient ways to solve problems by looking for the friendly ten when adding more than 2 numbers, and also when adding on to 8 and 9.  

In addition to all these components of our math block, students were introduced to a new program on the ipads today, which we will explore further in the next few weeks.  Here is some information from "Zearn."

"Zearn is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help every child learn and love math. In our classroom, Zearn helps personalize learning for every student. It does this in a couple ways. Your child will learn and practice math with engaging digital lessons that challenge and support them precisely when they need it. Zearn Math also helps me spend more time teaching in small groups, focusing on exact areas your child needs support. If you would like to learn more about Zearn, visit their website at www.zearn.org, scroll down and view their orientation video."