We've been doing a "marathon" of assessments these last two weeks: French writing, English writing, English reading comprehension, and math. This was a lot of hard work: good job everyone! Now I am busy reading all of this: I love to see the interesting writing that came out of these assessments! Today, students started to share some of their writing during morning meeting: Chloe's writing demonstrated how to include interesting details to create strong mental images. Keira's story touched a lot of students who could remember the event that she was writing about. Jack's story was well constructed (beginning, middle and end) and interesting. Thank you to all students who are brave enough to share their work with the class: we can learn a lot from each others' strengths.
Field trip to the Bug Zoo and BC Museum
Being a successful learner
Reader's Theatre
Mental Math Games
This week, we are using card games in the class to play "Adding war". In this simple game, two players divide a deck of cards (start with using only the cards from 1-10). They each turn one card at the same time. The first one to say the total of the two cards keeps the cards. You can keep playing this game for a long time until a player no longer has any cards.
Try playing this game at home with your child a few times this week for extra practice!
Students can also practice mental adding on their own by turning two cards and finding the answer, rolling two dice, etc. Some students have also started to make their own addition flashcards by using index cards: they can write a question (ex: 6 + 7) on one side, and the answer on the other. They can practice on their own, and ask a parent or sibling to quiz them when they are ready.
If your child finds math challenging, playing these games or making their own flashcards can be a way to practice math in a fun way. If your child already knows their adding facts, change the game and make it a Subtraction War, or Multiplication War. The better they know their basic facts, the more confident they will feel in math.
Making animal shelters in the forest
Nathalie