Our Learning (Math)

Digit Formation

As with printing proper letters, printing numbers is also an important skill. The concept of reading and writing left to right, up to down helps to build fluent readers. To help them learn how to print the proper numeral formation, I have taught them a rhyme to help them.  We have practiced them using our whole body, writing with our fingertips, and finally printing them on lined sheets. We have talked about digits being the same size as upper case letters so they are “tall”.  

• Down and around, that’s my hero makes the number 0 (please note that 0 is an oval shape, not a circle
• A line down from the sun makes the number 1
• Around the track and back choo choo makes the number 2
• Around the tree, around the tree makes the number 3

Writing Numbers

During calendar, we have been counting how many days we have been coming to school. We represent numbers in a variety of ways such tally marks and place value sticks. We write the number ten using numerals but it can be represented by two complete sets of tally marks and a bundled set of place value sticks.

Subitize      

As humans, it is difficult to look at a bunch of things and be able to recognize more than five or six things at a glance without having to physically count each thing.  Therefore, being able to subitize, looking at a quantity of things and know how many there are without physically counting out each thing, is an important skill to have.  For example, if we roll a die, there are between one and six dots on each of its sides.  If we were to roll a six, it is easily recognizable without having to count each dot.  As an adult, this is a skill that we have built up over time.  Teaching children the skill to subitize is important so that they are able to count on and not always start back at one to find out how many there are.  In addition to die/dice, tally marks also a method of counting with subitization.  

During the week of Sept. 28, we talked about how looking a full sets of tally marks (four vertical lines with a horizonal line across the four) with additional vertical lines is easier than a string of vertical lines.

During the week of Oct. 5-9, we looked at ten frames. Similarly to tally marks, ten frames have two lines of five boxes. We count them from the top left corner and count right, and then move to the next line down beginning at the left again. Rather than counting each box, we look at how many are coloured. for numbers higher than five, we look at a set of five and two more boxes for the number 7.