The feelings depicted in the silly picture above are completely normal with today's Common Core focus, particularly from parents of older students. Common core has changed the way we approach math. Good or bad, it is a new way of thinking and seeing numbers and mathematical reasoning. That makes the push for students to gain number sense all the more pressing! This is why for our entire first quarter, our sole focus was to help students read and write numbers 1 to 10 and associate them with quantities (number 5 means 5 objects). Now that we have that foundation, there are other things that we are looking for. In order to create a love of learning, we try to spice math up with fun math centers and engaging lessons. Here is a look at what we've been working on the last few weeks:
When working with addition (and the + sign), we use our favorite super math dog, Plus Pup, to help us understand that his plus sign makes numbers bigger! To show this, we used number lines (it takes 1 hop to get from 6 to 7!) and we also used manipulatives to build with 1 color before adding another color. Example: 7 green cubes + 1 yellow cube = 8 cubes!
We also gained some exposure of subtraction and the minus (-) sign with Plus Pup's enemy, Minus Mouse! Minus Mouse is always taking things AWAY from numbers and turning them into less. We know that when we see the - sign, numbers will get smaller. Again, we only focused on the -1 pattern. When 5 turns into 4, it has turned into one less.
Taking it to the next level, we have just begun to discuss teen numbers. While it is important to be able to quickly count and know these numbers (11-20), we are working on having a deeper understanding-- that these numbers are made from a group of ten and some more! 10 + 1 = 11. 10 + 2 = 12. Not all students are at this understanding yet, nor should they be, but it is what we're working towards. And luckily, we have Plus Pup to help us with his TEEN POWER!
Last but not least, we have a number line frog named Hoppy who likes to hop with us on number lines. While in the block center, a student made him a throne. Because what number line frog is complete without a throne?