During number corner (calendar) time this month, we have been learning 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. First graders have even been introduced to adding fractions - as their enthusiasm for learning is always going above and beyond. I am amazed with the questions these kids come up with - that are often extending our learning each day.
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.
We continue to count each day in school. We are so excited there are less than 50 days until day 100! Today marks the 59th 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! We are also exploring numbers in the hundreds as we learn more about place value.
Each day, we continue practicing ways to add and subtract. In particular, we explore ways to add more automatically - looking for "friendly 10's" when adding bigger numbers. This strategy has helped us mentally add numbers of increasing value. Looking at patterns and strategies to develop fluency, without using manipulatives is a focus of 1st grade math!
