What does
MATH
look like at Connaught School?
One of Connaught teachers' favourite math instruction resources is by an author named Marian Small. Ms. Small has a website where she posts all her presentations and some important information about how kids learn math. Parents, you may be interested in this presentation about how math is taught in 2017, and some strategies you can use to help your child learn their "fast facts" (operations with small numbers, like 7x4=28, 8-4=4, 12+9=21, 40/5=8). There's also a very interesting "Math Norms" poster below put out by another wonderful math experts, Jo Boaler. What do you think? Does this look similar to how you learned math?
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Over the last few weeks, ALL classes in the school tackled a similar problem - how many chairs do we need for the winter festival? Some classes approached it as a division problem:
It was so great to see our whole school's math thinking represented in one place! We noticed how we drew upon patterns, multiplication, addition, area, measurement, and graphing to solve this problem in different ways. Boardgames are a great way to develop problem-solving skills and strategic thinking! When we play boardgames, we need to be able to...
ALL of these skills are vital in math! Boardgames can be tricky in school because of missing pieces or the amount of time it takes. That's why we encourage you to play boardgames at home! You can find a list of wonderful boardgames to play with your child HERE. Many of these games are available in used games stores and online. The Alberta Program of Studies is divided into 5 "Strands" that your child will learn throughout the year. As teachers we recognize that the strands are all inter-connected and we need ALL of them together to be successful mathematicians. We also know that the strands build on each other.
There are huge patterns in multiplication and division - think about the number patterns in a multiplication chart - what do you notice? Calculating mean uses division and addition, and statisticians also need a solid understanding of the place value system and what a decimal is. There are patterns in the relationships between sides, edges, and vertices in 3D objects - could you make a table to keep track of them? What patterns can you find in these attributes? Leave a comment below - what other connections can you find in the strands? Why is it important to learn about ALL the strands together, rather than one at a time? Click the button below for more information about the Alberta Program of Studies, and some parent resources in math! Welcome to the new Connaught Math site! Here you will find resources, practice activities, puzzles, and work samples from our own Connaught mathematicians. Please feel free to look around and comment!
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