Math on Fantastic Friday

We have been working on number of the day this week.  It is a great strategy for expanding our understanding of number sense.  Here is an example of what it can look like.  It gives students a way to practice multiple ways to work with a particular number.  A new number is picked everyday.  

You can practice this at home with your parents.  Another category to add to this when you talk at home about numbers is:  Where in the world would  I find this number of things?      For example I might find 615 students in a middle school.  Or 615 dollars in my bank account.  Or 615 paintings in a gallery or 615 cattle on a ranch.  

We have also been challenging ourselves to understand how fractions and division are connected.  Below is a picture of how we can divide the number 368 in half.  Or, another way to look at is 368 divided by 2:  You can see that we have modeled how to divide this number in half.  We used decomposition into place value  and drawing out the base ten blocks (100 flats, 10 rods and one units).  Drawing out this way allows us to see exactly how we can divide each of the place values in half.  It is a really good strategy to visualize division, and fractions through decomposition (breaking the number into its place value).  Being able to do this builds student's mental math fluency.  Mental math is when students are able to do it in their brains rather than having to write it down on paper.   

We are continuing to expand our understanding of identity and are now exploring the Aborignal cultures here in Canada and especially in Alberta.  Here is a link from the Glenbow Museum that you can explore at home to learn more about Blackfoot  (Niitsitapi)  traditional stories and their way of life. http://www.glenbow.org/blackfoot/EN/html/traditional_stories.htm

Don't forget that you can sign into D2L to extend your learning and to share with your parents all of the concepts we have been exploring.  There are many, many links here for you to explore.  I have put some new math videos for adding 3 digit numbers that require regrouping.  Here is a link to our D2L shell once again:  https://d2l.cbe.ab.ca/d2l/home/421850