Number Sense

Thank you to everyone who was able to come out to Math Night this week. The second grade teachers talked about the various math strategies for addition and subtraction that will be covered over the course of the year. The purpose was to help parents see that we have stepped away from the old school mathematical thinking and stepped forward in a way that makes math more meaningful to students.

One of the first steps prior to the addition and subtraction strategies is to help students develop a good basis for number sense. Calendar Math is one of the key elements to help establish this. Every day in Calendar Math we focus on several different skills. This month we are working on number place value, counting coins and writing the value correctly, time, using a hundreds chart for combinations of 5 and 10, and using a calendar. During this short period of Math Workshop, Calendar Math allows us to hit on several different skills as well as help to develop number sense.

Another way we are working on number sense is in Math Workshop. We are working with combinations of ten. Students have learned several new games this week including the one photographed below: Tens Go Fish

Combinations of ten are one of our new Combination Clubs as well as +1 and +2. You can help your child with number sense by working on their yellow Combinations Club flashcards found in their homework folders.