Christmas Lights Math

I just posted a new website link in the Websites tab. It's called "Christmas Lights Math" and provides students with some fun practicing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division math facts. For each fact they answer correctly they will get lights to decorate a house. Once they've completed a game, earned their lights and put on their house, they can choose a style of music. The lights will then turn on and blink as the music plays. There are three levels of play.

Keep practicing math facts........any opportunity, including before bed, during commercial breaks while watching tv, before leaving the house in the morning, before/after eating a treat. Put them around the house.

In the New Year we will be continuing with addition and subtraction -- getting into 3-digit numbers -- and then multiplication. We'll also hopefully have a look at perimeter. January will be a busy month!!

I wish all of you a very happy and safe holiday.

Math Facts - VERY IMPORTANT!

At a meeting last week with consultants from the Department of Education, information was shared about Parkside's results on the Provincial Math Assessments over the past few years. In analyzing the results, they have noticed a very interesting trend: students who knew their math facts did better overall on the entire assessment each year it was given in both Grades 3 and 6.

THAT IS VERY INTERESTING.

Another interesting piece of information they shared is that students in both Grades 3 and 6 are weak when it comes to solving 2-step problems, such as the following (this is just a simple example):

"Jill bought a package of gum for $1 and a magazine for $3. She paid with a $10 bill. How much change did she get back?"    [Students would be expected to add $1 and $3, then subtract that amount from $10 to get the final answer]

So, though we do not want students or parents to forget about all of the other areas of math, I do want you to know that practicing math facts is important. Please do this with your children. Do some when driving in the car, when getting dinner ready, before bed. Whenever you have a bit of time with your child, ask a few math facts. Post some around the house. Flash cards are great and you can usually find them at Dollarama or other places for a low price. Use the links in the "Websites" tab above. Make it fun. Notice which ones they have the most difficulty with and be sure to review them.

ALL STUDENTS SHOULD KNOW OR BE WORKING TOWARDS KNOWING:

all addition facts to 18 and their related subtraction facts

Here's a link to a site with tips and tricks for addition and subtraction facts to 20 (going to 20 won't hurt them!):

Addition/Subtraction Facts to 20

And don't forget to try making some 2-step problems. 

I'll be adding more websites in the next day or so to the Websites tab above.

Have a great week!

Finishing Touches on Place Value....for now

Actually, place value and knowing the actual value of digits in numbers is something we will continue to use a lot throughout the year, so it is an important concept. We'll also be comparing and ordering numbers this week...another concept which requires knowledge of place value.

Last week was unexpectedly a very short week, to say the least! And, I realize I didn't make a post last Sunday. After meeting with some parents the week before, I came to realize that many parents have not been receiving my email with the link to the blog. So, rather than continue to use SAS, I have created a separate group with your emails and I will contact you that way and send you any updates to the blog.

This week we will continue practicing representing numbers in various ways:

• standard form (regular numeric form, such as 341)
• written or word form (three hundred forty-one)
• expanded form (300 + 40 + 1)
• using Base Ten blocks

We've also been mixing things up a bit and trying to wrap our heads around different ways of representing the same number. For example, with Base Ten blocks, 341, could be represented using 3 flats, 4 rods, and 1 little cube. But, it could also be represented using 1 flat, 24 rods, and 1 little cube. Or, no flats, 33 rods, and 11 little cubes. The object is, there is not only one way to represent a number and, if it suits a particular situation, it may be helpful to be able to deconstruct a number in a different way.

To give a different example, 341 can be expanded to 150 + 150 + 20 + 20 + 1.

As we begin to concentrate more on mental math, being able to break up a number in different ways will be very important for your child.

Check out the sites in the "Websites" tab above. There are some games there and a Base Ten tool for the kids. I made a suggestion in an earlier post about how the Base Ten site could be used. I'll add more websites as we go along. If you are okay with your child using any of these resources for extra practice, that would be great. If you or your child know of any online math games that are useful, please let me know so I can post them on this blog for everyone to access.

I told the kids last week that going on the blog to do some math practice can be a great way to spend 10 or 15 minutes on a rainy day or a storm day. I haven't given any homework to take home yet, but using some of these online games can double as homework and be fun too :-)

Have a great week!