We all know how those gifted children get caught up in the topical themes we are covering?
Well, my class is studying Mayan people. Anytime I can try to find some type of cross curricular link to make, I jump on it. So we had a lesson on Mayan numbers, which also reinforced our place value unit. They used a base twenty system which we compared to our base ten system.
We had a lot of fun calculating different numbers one afternoon and then we moved on to Mayan letters. I thought that was fun, but the end of it. . .
Well, the several mornings later on our morning math review, one sweet little girl comes up to solve the math problem. She wrote her answer in Mayan. . .
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Math All Around?
Every day, my class does a routine called "Today's Number". This is one of our favorite times of day, and the kids always take note of where it falls when we go over our daily routine. Today, they actually asked if we could have math early because they couldn't wait to share their Today's Number.
We take the date and then find all the combinations and ways we recognize that number. We go through lots of different cycles that we like. One little boy tells us the order that the states joined the union. He also tells us what president was that number. We like to use big numbers like millions and trillions. We reinforce mathematical properties. They loved this month because now I go on the page for the 28th instead of the 27th. It is always a big deal on the 6th and the 7th because you get to do your own birthday. And of course, we have to write the number in Mayan each day. And place value blocks because of our current unit. The possibilities, are literally limitless.
But lately, we have been focusing on The Magic Treehouse. Yep, you heard me right.
It started simply enough. On the 7th, someone said Sunset of the Sabertooth. The next day, we did book #8 Midnight on the Moon.
We can't leave it at that though.
Today was the 4th. These were just a few of the suggestions for today's number.
Leprechaun in Late Winter (43) take away Goodnight for Ghosts (42) add Mummies in the Morning (3) equals 4.
Two copies of The Knight at Dawn equals 4.
Afternoon on the Amazon (6) take away Knight at Dawn (2) equals 4.
Dinosaurs Before Dark (1) multiplied by Pirates Past Noon (4) equals 4.
Who says math facts aren't fun?
We take the date and then find all the combinations and ways we recognize that number. We go through lots of different cycles that we like. One little boy tells us the order that the states joined the union. He also tells us what president was that number. We like to use big numbers like millions and trillions. We reinforce mathematical properties. They loved this month because now I go on the page for the 28th instead of the 27th. It is always a big deal on the 6th and the 7th because you get to do your own birthday. And of course, we have to write the number in Mayan each day. And place value blocks because of our current unit. The possibilities, are literally limitless.
But lately, we have been focusing on The Magic Treehouse. Yep, you heard me right.
It started simply enough. On the 7th, someone said Sunset of the Sabertooth. The next day, we did book #8 Midnight on the Moon.
We can't leave it at that though.
Today was the 4th. These were just a few of the suggestions for today's number.
Leprechaun in Late Winter (43) take away Goodnight for Ghosts (42) add Mummies in the Morning (3) equals 4.
Two copies of The Knight at Dawn equals 4.
Afternoon on the Amazon (6) take away Knight at Dawn (2) equals 4.
Dinosaurs Before Dark (1) multiplied by Pirates Past Noon (4) equals 4.
Who says math facts aren't fun?
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
What Are Kids Reading?
Our media clerk shared this study with us this week. I thought it was kind of interesting. They show the top 20 books kids read last year, based on the AR tests they took. Now, I won't talk (again) about how I am not a fan of AR (and thus how this is not the MOST credible source of what books kids are reading) but I can't find another way to determine what books are being read the most by kiddos. . .
Anyway. . .
If you want to check out what books kids are reading by grade level, here you go. Let me know if you think it matches up with what your kids like to read. It seems to be pretty true for my third graders last year, but my first graders this year are so high that it was way off for them.
Anyway. . .
If you want to check out what books kids are reading by grade level, here you go. Let me know if you think it matches up with what your kids like to read. It seems to be pretty true for my third graders last year, but my first graders this year are so high that it was way off for them.
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