Chunking by 5s and 10s

First grade mathematicians continued chunking by 5s and 10s this week.  In math, we think about different strategies to solve our number problems and sometimes, chunking our numbers into friendly 5s and 10s help us be more efficient.  Here is a picture of what it looks like on our number grid when we chunk, and count, by 5s and 10s.

Discovering math conjectures

Our 1st grade mathematicians are making incredible conjectures, generalizations, in class.  As we explore numbers together, they are starting to see the similarities and differences between different number patterns.  For example, through our daily explorations of number sentences representing the days in school, the students have started to discover the patterns of even and odd numbers.  Please see our attached picture.  Can you check on these generalizations at home and see if other number sentences also fit this pattern?

Math Update

In Math this week, students have created a beautiful Sea Star Quilt which we have used to focus on counting by 5's. Next week students will be focusing on counting by 10's. We are wrapping up our current unit, and we are excited to be moving onto a new unit next week!How many ways can you find to count by 5s? If you count by 5s three times, how can you write that in a number sentence? Can you write it in many ways?  Let me know.

Learning about rekenreks

Ms. Schaw, our math specialist, joined our classroom this week to teach us how to use rekenreks.  Rekenreks are a mathematical tool that allows us to learn about parts of numbers and practice our fluency with numbers.  Thanks you, Ms. Schaw.

Sorting Objects

1st grade mathematicians continued to sort objects in our class this week.  They learned that mathematicians sometimes organize their sorts into neat piles, or columns, to compare their sorts.  We started by neatly organizing our objects.  Here is an example.  Can you see what attribute these mathematicians used? Next week, we will start to graph our objects.

Learning about attributes in math sorting activities

First grade mathematicians learned about mathematical attributes while participating in different sorting activities last week.  The students worked in partnerships and explored how objects can be sorted based upon color, size, texture and shape.  Here are some pictures from our stations.  Can you sport objects at home too?  How about socks, cutlery or fruits?

Counting by 10s

Here are some pictures from our class, counting objects while grouping them by 10s.  First grade mathematicians learned that chunking by 10s sometimes allows us to be more efficient and more accurate.