Sunday 31 August 2014

Sunday Night Game

Teaching Addition Facts with Cards 



If you want to teach your child an easy way to learn addition, have each player deal two cards face up. 

The player with the highest total wins. 

What’s great about this game, is that the playing cards have the symbols which they can use as a counting guide until they are able to memorise the addition facts. 

 Once your child has picked up adding two numbers, you can increase the difficulty level by having them turn up three cards, then four and five and add those numbers.



Saturday 30 August 2014

3D Shapes

We have been revising 3D shapes in Year 5/6 and today was about showing what you know.
We have explored nets, labels and parts of shapes.


We have these great nets to explore - they fold out, bend and are very hands on.


We can use them to help us work out nets and the name of the shapes that fit together. 


Some students have been working on drawing these shapes to show what they know.




Then the extension group have been using Mathletics and google Sketch Up to show what they know.



How many 3D shapes you can see here?



Wednesday 20 August 2014

We are going international...

We are so excited to announce that our iSURF maths is going international.
We will be adding the USA CCSS to some of our products. 
Our belief is that all students should be fluent, show reasoning and understanding and be able to able to solve problems. 
So we have taken the 
S from solving problems
U from understanding 
R from reasoning
F from fluency 
and 
the 
i = individual goals
and
iSURF was born!

This is our first unit to be converted and will be 20% off for a limited time and for one day if you use the code BOOST at checkout in TPT you will get an extra 8% off.



This unit has a detailed week plan as well - all the planning is doe for you. 

Stay tuned for more products as we convert them.




Sunday 17 August 2014

Sunday Night Games

Two-Dice Equations (Grades 1–8)


Math concepts: Students of all ages can play this game, as long as they're able to add the numbers that come up on two dice. While younger children benefit from the practise of adding, older students have the opportunity to think about the probability of the sums from rolling two dice.

The object: to remove all the counters in the fewest rolls possible.
How to play: Two or more players can play. Each player needs 11 counters, a game strip that lists the numbers from 2 to 12 spaced far enough apart so the counters can fit on top of each number, and a recording sheet. Here are the rules for playing:

1. Each player arranges 11 counters on the game strip and records the arrangement.
2. Once the counters are arranged, players take turns rolling the dice.

3. For each roll, all players can remove one counter if it is on the sum rolled. Players keep track of the number of rolls of the dice it takes to clear their game board.

After students have had the chance to play the game for several days or so, have a class discussion about the different ways they arranged the counters and the number of rolls it took. Have them write about the arrangements that are best for removing the counters in the fewest number of rolls. 



Wednesday 13 August 2014

Adding To Our Addition Collection!

Four Processes – Addition
Australian Curriculum
Level (Year) Two & Three

 
As students explore addition, this unit aims to combine the sequence of learning required to develop the addition concept, while meeting the requirements of AusVELS.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Four-Processes-Addition-1390123
The sequence for developing the addition concept is directly from Teaching Primary Mathematics, Booker et al, Pearson, 2010. Both the sequence for developing the addition concept and AusVELS are combined to provide a thorough approach to the teaching of addition.

Included are a range of effective teaching strategies (adapted from Teaching Primary Mathematics, Booker et al, Pearson, 2010) accompanied by iSURF resources to support their implementation.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Four-Processes-Addition-1390123  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Four-Processes-Addition-1390123

This unit includes:
• On overview of the concepts and strategies relevant to the development of addition
• Key teaching points
• A Student Progress Record sheet
• Tasks to support the teaching of addition
• Resources to support the teaching of addition
• Identified assessment tasks to support a differentiated teaching approach
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Four-Processes-Addition-1390123

There is also room to include your favourite addition tasks and activities that are relevant to the strategies being taught or to practice the addition concept.
 

Sunday 10 August 2014

Sunday Night Games

Building Mathematical Language...

Continuing on from last Sunday night's post, here are some more suggestions to help build student's mathematical vocabulary. These can be used as a warm up at the start of a session or as a review at the end of a session (this helps develop Fluency and, when used in context, develops Understanding).
  • Hangman
  • Memory (standard Memory or matching language to a definition/image)
  • Snap (have multiple cards with matching mathematical language to increase the fun! Students must be able to say the word and give a definition or example before being able to take the pile)
  • Crosswords
  • JigQuiz (9 square tiles - match language to a definition/image)
  • Quizzes
  • Use a range of Thinkers Keys (For example: the Alphabet Key)
  • Students keep a glossary in the back of their maths book
  • Jigsaw puzzles (make a poster with mathematical language written on it - then cut it up to make a jigsaw - ensure the words are cut up to make it a challenge to put back together)
  • Word segments (segment several mathematical words and write each segment on different card. For example: squ/are   tri/angle   ob/long   cu/be   sph/ere etc. Jumble these up and time how long it takes to put them all back together)

Have fun with your students and feel free to add your favourite language building games to our list.
Comment on our iSURF Blog or email us your ideas...
kpisurf@gmail.com


Monday 4 August 2014

A sale for you - 28% off

We have joined TPT in the Back 2 School Sale and have 20% off all my products.

When you enter the promo code BTS14 you will get another 8% off.

Even though our products are based on the Australian Curriculum, they can be easily adapted to the American CCSS. Our Curriculum in Mathematics is so close. 

This event coincides with the USA teachers returning from their summer break and just helps out by providing our products at a discounted price. 

For those of us who are halfway through our year, it enables us to pick up some things on our wishlist.




Sunday 3 August 2014

Sunday Night Games

Mathematical Language

We all know how important using the correct mathematical language (with correct understanding) is.
Why not use some of the games & activities we commonly use to support literacy learning, in maths?
 
Below is a link to a website that has Maths Word Search puzzles (upper) and also included is a link to a site to make your own...
 
(go to the light blue menu on the left hand side and select 'Easy Games'
http://www.math-play.com

(there are many free online puzzle makers - this is a basic one to get you started!)
 
Next week we will share some other literacy based activities to support the learning and understanding of Mathematical language.