10/15 - Symmetry

We learned about symmetry this past week.  We talked about the different types of symmetry including line symmetry (using letters E, O, M) and rotational symmetry (letters Z and N).  We discovered that a circle has infinite lines of symmetry.

We then broke up into groups to do a few activities relating to mirror images.  They used mirrors that could fold 90 degrees so they could look at an object from different angles.  They also got into pairs, stood facing one another and took turns trying to be each other's mirrors.  They had a lot of fun doing that, as you can imagine.

We then sat back at the table and had them tape a paper to their desk.  They choose two markers, one for each hand, and then attempted to draw a symmetrical drawing using both hands at the same time.  I was pretty impressed.  We closed by cutting out snowflakes.

10/8 - Place Value

We read the book "Sir Cumference and All the King's Tens."  Sir Cumference and his wife have a hard time counting all of the king's party guests until they group themselves in tens, then hundreds, then thousands.  The king has 9,999 guests. 

After reading the book and discussing place value for a few minutes, the kids got in pairs and played a board game about place value.  Then we worked on an activity page about the book.  I also sent home another page with two math problems that they can complete to earn points.

10/1 - How Much is a Million?

Unfortunately, my assistant and I both had sick kids this day and so Teacher Shannon H. took over the class for us.  The kids talked about big numbers and how much a million is.  Then the kids had the task of spending a million dollars using ads for homes, cars, and department stores.  It sounds like they had fun and also realized that it might be kind of hard to spend one million dollars.

9/24/15 - Iconic Quantities

In our last class, we talked all about iconic quantities.  Iconic quantities are objects that represent numbers.  So our hands can represent 5 (one hand) or 10 (two hands). Our eyes/ears/arms/legs represent 2.  We talked about numbers in stories and songs.  Then we tried to figure out how many ants are mentioned in the song "The Ants Go Marching."  Some students figured out right away that 1 by 1 meant 1 times 1 and 4 by 4 meant 4 times 4.  For those who knew their multiplication facts, they were able to do most of the work on their own.  For others, it was more of a challenge and I showed them some different ways to figure it out.  Most of the students enjoyed trying to figure it out. 

I gave the students a couple of math puzzles to take home.  These are completely optional.  Throughout the semester, I will give them other puzzles or assignments they can complete on their own time.  They can earn points for these and if they earn a total of 100 points, they will get a set of 5 colored dice.  The two puzzles I already gave them were worth 5 points each.  They can also draw or photograph examples of iconic quantities for up to 10 points at anytime during the semester.

9/17/15 - G is for Googol

We read the book G is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book by David M. Schwartz.  The book is full of math concepts ranging from abacus to zillion.  After reading the book, we had a longer discussion on the concept of symmetry.  We went through every letter of the alphabet and all ten digits and decided whether or not they were symmetrical.  There were a few letters that the kids thought should be symmetrical but weren't like the others so we briefly touched on rotational symmetry versus line symmetry.  Line symmetry applies to letters like T, H, and A but rotational symmetry works for N, S, and Z.  The letters O and X have both kinds of symmetry.

Weeks 2 and 3

Hello mini-math-makers! I think we have been having some fun in Math Circle.  I was told by one parent that her child calls it "my games class."  Perfect! We have learned many great math games, which promote not only math fluency but mathematical reasoning.  We played a simple guessing game where one child chooses a number, and the others take turns guessing.  The first student tells whether a guess is too big or too little, and circles the guessed number on the board (one color for too big, another for too little). They each wanted to have a turn at the board!  Other games we have played so far include: 1-5 Nim, Pig, Snakey Rods, Animal Crossing, and Balloon Ride.

We "discovered" the pattern of odd-even in the integers, and visually represented with colors on a number line. We determined whether a number was odd or even by using piles of plastic lids - with an even number all the lids had partners (groups of 2), but with the odd numbers one lid was partnerless.

The kids all held up their two hands with ten "digits" on them, and we talked about how our number system is based on 10s because of our anatomy.  We also worked with our egg carton ten frames to count large numbers of buttons.  This coming week we will be working on adding up all the big numbers of buttons we counted to get a total count of buttons in the jar.  To do this we first had to talk about all the ways to make 10, and used Cuisenaire rods.  Someone once recommend the rods to me when I first began homeschooling.  I ordered them, and when they came in the mail I thought, "What am I supposed to do with these?"  I have since found many ways of exploring mathematical ideas in very concrete ways using the rods.  But a real gem of a resource is the website EducationUnboxed, where there are videos with ways of demonstrating, playing, exploring, and learning with Cuisenaire rods.  

I can not link all the games on the blog because I do not have a document host for storing them.  But if you would like to have instructions for any of the games in class, please email me! 

Welcome and Week 1

Welcome everyone to Math Circle!

This week in class we discussed what math is, and how we can find math all around us.  I must tell all you parents that I was impressed with how composed and responsive this group of kids are.  They had an excellent first day!  We spent the second half of class playing some new games: Nim, Pig, and Snakey Rods.  We ran out of time before everyone got to try all three games, but don't worry.  We will bring back these games and many more throughout the year.

We were lucky enough to receive an egg carton donation, so we do not need anyone to bring in egg cartons! We will have enough available for the whole class.

One thing that I think would be really helpful to me as a teacher is if you could give me an idea of what your child thinks about math.  Does he like math? Does she like solving problems? Does he have little interest in math? Is this her first big exposure to math? Any insights will be helpful! If you could respond in the comments, and include your student's initials in the response, I would greatly appreciate it.  Thank you for sharing these amazing kids with Teacher Isabelle and me!