Counting More than 1,2,3!

More to counting than 1,2,3!

When you are counting at home tools to help often show the numbers 1-100.

Here are some tips to help you practise counting at home (or in the car, waiting for a sport to start etc!).

Make 120 your target number (at least).  

Many students get lost after reaching 100, or even 109.  Making a higher target helps them learn the pattern numbers follow.

Count forwards and backwards

As often as you count forward, count back.  This helps build number awareness and develop skills in other areas later on.

Use concrete materials

When learning to count always pair the words with actual objects to help students understand quantity.

Skip Count

Count by 10s, 5s and 2s.  When they are mastered start on a number which is not a multiple of those.  e.g. Can you count by 5s starting at 3?

Next add skip counting by all other numbers.

Choose challenging numbers

Can you count by 6s starting at 14?  Can you count by tenths starting at 1.2?

What does a Mathematics Lesson at St Matt's look like?

What would I see if I joined in on a Mathematics lesson at St Matthew’s?

At St Matthew’s Mathematics is taught for at least one hour each day, every day in all classes.

All of our classes follow the same outline.

10-15min warm up - focused on whole number games and activities. These differentiated activities are open ended and encourage maximum participation from all students (e.g. no whole class turn taking games). This gets students focused, thinking hard and revises key number concepts.

30- 40min Rich Open Ended Task - With minimal discussion beforehand students are encouraged to do some ‘hard thinking’ about an open ended mathematics problem. Some confusion is important here as students look for solutions and pose questions about the mathematics. This enables teachers or peers to give a prompt or some feedback which can switch on a new way of thinking, leading to that ‘ah-ha! moment that is so rewarding.

10 - 15min Reflection - This is where the explicit teaching happens. Students are brought together to reflect on the maths with a focus on how and why solutions worked.  This leads specifically into more varied or challenging questions which build on the learning of the day. Students are then ready for more hard thinking the next day!

Don’t steal the learning, give students a chance to think hard about Mathematics.   

Students share their number busting solutions on a class white wall. Number busting is a high yield warm up activity completed 2-3 times a week. 

Number Busting

Here is our first instalment of Numeracy News.

Each fortnight keep your eyes open for information on how we teach numeracy in the school and on ways you can support your child at home.   

This week our focus is ‘Number Busting’.  Number busting is a warm up strategy that each class in the school uses three times a week.  Students are given a starting number and are then to partition this number as many ways as they can in a given time.  Number busting is a fantastic way of revising and reinforcing different skills, techniques and concepts that are learnt in class.  

In blue are some cues you might like to use if you want to try some number busting at home.

Can you make your number with counters? (buttons, beads, peas etc)

How can you split your number into two groups, three groups, four groups etc.

Can you make a ____ pattern (+10, +20, takeaway, double and halve?)

Can you put your number on a number line?

Can you write a word problem for your number?

Three in a row bingo!

This week we are featuring a game which builds place value knowledge.  

The best thing is that it uses no special materials, just things you can find around the house.   W3 T2

Three in a Row Bingo

You will need a tape measure (over 100cm is best) some paper clips and a deck of cards.

* Shuffle your deck of cards.  

* The first player chooses two cards to make a two digit number.

* Player one may then use this number, or a number ten more or ten less than the number.

* Player 1 then finds the number on their tape measure and marks it with a paperclip.   

* Player two confirms that the clip is in the right place.  

Play alternates until one player places the third paperclip in a row (like connect four).  They are then the winner!

With your cards

Kings & Jacks =0

Queen = wild card (your choice)

Make the rules easier by throwing out the picture cards and drawing one at a time. Use 1 more one less rather than ten.

Make the game harder by making a custom tape measure (number line) and allowing negative numbers or decimals.

Love the game?  Made a modification of your own?  Share on the St Matthew’s Facebook page!

Where are the algorithms?

Primary maths - different to when you were at school?!   

Often students will be working on maths at home which may appear different to the way it was taught in the past. As research into mathematical learning grows, we aim to use the best strategies we can to build our students understanding.

So where are the algorithms? Isn’t that ‘real’ maths?

As outlined in the syllabus, first we focus on estimating strategies. If you are learning at home a great prompt is “what would you expect / estimate / think the answer could be?” “How could you prove that?” or “How could you work that out?”

Students may find writing out informal mental strategies to be more efficient than using formal written algorithms. For example, 8000 − 673 is easier to calculate mentally than by using a formal algorithm.  

So if your child is inventing strategies or using a more unconventional method encourage it!  We will teach the formal algorithm methods when the time is right, and the answer impossible to work out any other way!

Array Games

Warm Up Games - Times Tables  

Being able to quickly recall times tables is an essential skill for solving mental maths questions. However, the importance is not on being able to recall rote learnt facts but to understand what the fact means.  The following array activity can help children to remember and understand times table facts in  a visual way.

You will need

2 or more players, a selection of counters or small items (pasta is great) and a dice.

How to play

- Each player rolls a die and makes that many rows (e.g. 6)

- Roll the die again and place that many counters in each row (e.g. 5)

- How many counters all together?  Invite your partner to check.  (e.g. 30)

- Extension - write / say / chant the multiplication or division fact that matches the array.  (e.g. 6x5 = 30  5x6 = 30    30 ÷ 6 = 5    30 ÷ 5 = 6).

- The player with the most counters wins the round and the point.  The first to five points wins!

Make it a challenge by using a die with more than 6 sides.  There are lots of websites and apps that feature random dice spinners.  Try googling ‘virtual dice’ to get started.

Arrays in the Environment

An array of arrays!

In a previous post we focused on how to learn times tables using arrays.   

But St Matthew’s is looking for the most creative array!

We challenge you to look for arrays in the environment and take a photo.  Either upload to facebook or email them to stmatthews@parra.catholic.edu.au

Try adding a maths fact to match!

Happy Arraying!