Math

We came back from Presidents Day to celebrate the 100th day of school. Students brought in their 100s projects and shared them with their classmates. Second graders chose from a range of 100s activities and timed themselves performing athletic feats in a hundred seconds.

The third and fourth graders had celebrated by measuring a pan of brownies, finding its perimeter and area, and then dividing it equally into enough portions for the 1-4th graders to each enjoy; so we finished the class with brownies, whipped cream and strawberries, yum!

Next, I introduced some graphing activities and students enjoyed plotting coordinates and discovering the creation based on the coordinates provided. We did a unit from the Everyday Math curriculum on Change to More Stories which incorporated addition, subtraction and solving and creating word problems. This unit included finding distances on a number grid and in order to help with the concept I drew a large number grid in chalk on the math cabin deck so students could use their bodies to find the answers. This class is very creative mathematically and I asked them to create their own number stories, which I have been sharing with them and having them solve each other’s stories on a weekly basis. We completed a wonderful spatial, geometric, problem solving activity called The Four Toothpick problem, in which partners collaborated to find all the ways one can arrange four toothpicks if they must touch another toothpick end to end, either in a straight line or a right angle. The students found 16 ways and then when we created a master chart. Students were asked to create their own decks of cards of the 16 designs and then arrange the cards in a sequence in which only one toothpick needed to be moved in order to create the next design. During this exploration, students continued to solve task cards and perform their weekly jobs, as well as to hold weekly sharing circles. One of the math cabin graph questions during this time was estimating how many cups of beans would fill a large half gallon mason jar. Another activity which involved measurement was the planting of wheat grass and measuring it daily in centimeters. After spring break, I introduced some logic games to be played in partnerships, such as Your Choice Tic Tac Toe, or Fill in One Square or Two. We also worked with money and the students have a strong understanding of the value of coins and how to combine them to create various amounts. Most recently, we have been working on creating an understanding of fact families and fact family houses in terms of addition and subtraction. A fact family is a group of three numbers that are related such as 3, 2, and 5. 3+2=5, 2+3=5, 5-2=3, 5-3=2. This helps to reinforce the connection between addition and subtraction.

The second graders are enthusiastic and creative and help to inspire each other to learn.