Math: THe Great Pumpkin Caper
First graders had a fun week of pumpkin exploration and decoration. They were lucky to have their principal, Manila, lead for two days of the pumpkin caper. She brought pumpkins for pairs of students to investigate. Students learned about the metric measurement of centimeters and a meter in comparison to an inch and a foot in standard measurement. They estimated the circumference of their chosen pumpkin after observing centimeters in 10 cm increments. Next, they learned about weight in pounds versus ounces on the ol’ kitchen scale. They weighed and felt the weight of different books, then compared them to their individual pumpkins to guess how many pounds their pumpkin would weigh to the half pound. Finally, they guessed how many lines and seeds their pumpkin would have and if it would sink or float! After all predictions were made, they did their actual measuring, weighing, counting and observation of their pumpkin in a tub of water. Students were able to measure in centimeters, weigh in pounds using the scale, count the lines around their pumpkin and cut, gut and pull seeds from their pumpkin. They grouped the seeds into groups of ten and tallied the 100s, then added 10s and 1s to find the amount of seeds. Most were surprised to find even the little pumpkin had so many!. On our 3rd day of the caper, students worked together in cooperation to agree upon a design, then carve their pumpkin for the Friday night festivities. I was very pleased to hear their conversations and negotiations on compromises, and impressed with their fun design choices.
Next week we will dive deeper into mathematical concepts from lessons taught on ten frames, number lines and grids, uni-fix cubes and tally marks. Students will continue to calculate addition problems and subtraction problems, comparing numbers. They are working on fact families and the commutative property of addition, along with using a variety of strategies to figure out algebraic problems where variables are missing in addition and subtraction problems. They are working on word problems considering some and some more or some and some went away. They are continuing to work on place value and the recognition of numbers, and writing them in the correct direction.
Hope you have a fun Halloween Night!
Jenni
As we enter our 8th week of the school year, I would encourage families to play games and practice addition and subtraction skills at home. Here is a site with some fun activities:
https://www.weareteachers.com/first-grade-math-games/
