May 22-25:
This week, we began our patterning and algebra unit on expressions and equality. Students were asked to consider the relationships between numbers (more, less, equal) to balance equations.
In grade 1, students are expected to:
-demonstrate examples of equality, through investigation, using a “balance” model (Sample problem: Demonstrate, using
a pan balance, that a train of 7 attached cubes on one side balances a train of 3 cubes and a train of 4 cubes on the other side.);
– determine, through investigation using a “balance” model and whole numbers to 10, the number of identical objects that must be added or subtracted to establish equality (Sample problem: On a pan bal- ance, 5 cubes are placed on the left side and 8 cubes are placed on the right side. How many cubes should you take off the right side so that both sides balance?).
April 30-May 18:
This week we continued to practice different math strategies for addition and subtraction (Doubles, counting up, counting down, using fingers, mental math, base tens, number lines, manipulatives etc). Students were encouraged to consider what strategies work best for them and make this known on their assesment at the end of our units. Because we are all different, some strategies will be more helpful than others, by exploring new strategies we can help make new connections in our brain! :)
April 16-26th:
This week, we began exploring our next Number Sense Unit on Money. In grade 1, students are expected to be able to manipulate and count coin amounts to 20-25 cents. It is essential that children still be exposed to penny as it enables them to build critical thinking, numeracy and problem solving skills prior to being able to understand the concept of rounding which is not officially introduced until grade 3. Children should be applying skip counting strategies and grouping strategies (10s and 1s) when solving money problems.
This week we began exploring Canadian coins and their distinguishing features. In the second week of study week, we will continue exploring money amounts as it relates to making purchases, and creating change through addition and subtraction.
Penny = un cent
-Made of copper (cuivre)
-Worth 1 cent
-Has a picture of two Maple leaves and the Queen
Nickle = cinq cents
-Made of nickle (silver colour)
-Worth 5 cents
-Has a picture of a beaver and the Queen
-I can make 5 cents with one nickle, or 5 pennies
Dime = 10 cents
-Silver in colour
-The smallest coin
-Has a picture of a boat
-Worth 10 cents
-I can make 10 cents with 1 dime, 2 nickles or 1 nickle and 5 pennies
Quarter = 25 cents
-Silver in colour
-The largest cent value coin
-Has a picture of a caribou
-I can make 25 cents in many ways: 25 pennies, 5 nickles, 2 dimes and 1 nickle or by combining many different coin values
April 9-13th:
This week we completed our unit on time by exploring the various ways I can write "l'heure" (the time)
-I can show the time on a clock (the big and little hands point to the 12)
-I can show the digital time (12:00)
-I can use words (Il est 12 heures, 12h, midi, minuit)
April 3rd-6th: We began our unit on time and explored les 4 parties du jour (the 4 parts of the day)
-Morning = matin (am)
-Afternoon = après-midi (pm)
-Evening = soir
-Night = nuit
Students were introduced to clocks and should know the following:
Clock = une horloge
L'aiguille grande/longe = the minute hand (counts by 5s)
L'aiguille petite/courte = the hour hand
In grade 1, students are expected to be able to tell time to the nearest hour and half an hour. Students are expected to recognize that when the hour hand is between two numbers, I must look to the smallest number.
Please help your child by encouraging to tell time on a daily basis.
March 26-29th:
This week students completed a few inquiry based learning activities to explore and review the concepts of mass and apply French terminology. In class, students covered Easter eggs with clay and compared their weights using both a human scale (comparing weight with our sense of touch) and balance scale. Toward the end of the week we began exploring our next unit on time by discussing the passage of time and how this relates to months, seasons, weeks, days, hours etc. Students should be able to tell you how many months and season are in a year, how many days are in a week, how many minutes are in an hour etc. Students were also required to think about their daily routines and how this relates to parts of a day "Morning, afternoon, night".
Week 26: March 19-23
To ease ourself back into routine after March Break we completed various problem solving activities to review and apply skills from our previous units.
Using a translated version of Shel Silverstein's poem: Band-aids students worked together to figure out how many bandaids are on the character, and if it would be more or less than the "extra" band-aids left over in the box.
I have a Band-Aid on my finger,
One on my knee, and one on my nose,
One on my heel,and two on my shoulder,
Three on my elbow, and nine on my toes.
Two on my wrist, and one on my ankle,
One on my chin, and one on my thigh,
Four on my belly, and five on my bottom,
One on my forehead, and one on my eye.
One on my neck, and in case I might need 'em
I have a box full of thirty-five more.
But oh! I do think it's sort of a pity
I don't have a cut or a sore!
For patterning, students worked on finding patterns in 100s charts, using skip counting patterns to help us solve problems more quickly and created patterns in Easter eggs!
For data management, students were surveyed on their favourite juice flavours and asked to solve the following problem: How many of each juice do we buy for a party if we want everyone to have at least 1 of their favourite juices?
How many packs do we need to buy? Apple (4 pack), Orange (6 pack), Grape (8 pack)
In measurement we worked on the concept of capacity by trying to scoop an exact target amount of various materials and applying counting strategies and the concepts of less and more.
Week 23 & 24: Feb 26-March 9th:
This week we explored equal parts and fractions while reviewing our vocabulary from geometry (french shape names). Students learned about how fractions are written and what they mean. Ie: 1/2 means 1 out of 2 portions is represented. It means I am getting HALF of the shape. The word half ALWAYS means the parts are equal.
In Grade 1 we focus on the following key points of understanding and use it to help us develop our problem solving:
égale = equal
inégale = unequal
moitié = half = 1/2
quart = quater = 1/4
Feb 5-16th:
Over the course of two weeks we continued to work on our our measurement understanding by exploring mass and capacity (see below for the terminology for this unit). We also completed a variety of numeracy activities surrounding Valentine's Day and 100s day. Students completed centers requiring them to use their number sense, measurement skills and ability to estimate capacity for lots of fun-filled and inquiry based centers. As our battery recycling contest continued, we learned about place value and practiced our skip counting by 1s, 2,s, 5s and 10s.
Mass = masse
Capacity = capacité
Full = plein
Heavy = lourde (heavier = plus lourde)
Light = léger (lighter = plus léger)
Week 20: Jan 29-Feb 2nd
This week we worked on various group problem solving tasks and centers applying our knowledge of addition and subtraction strategies (ie: doubles, making 10, making 5).
Later in the week we used our knowledge of French question words to help us finish up our unit on surveys and applied our knowledge to the Raw Materials Battery Surveys to help promote environmental initiatives.
Week 19: Jan 22-26
This week, students continued to explore how we can represent information in bar graphs and pictograms. Our main focus this week was on surveys (Les sondages) which we can use to ask for opinions. In class, students surveyed one another to find out their favourite seasons, favourite animal and favourite type of cookies. By the end of the week we were ready to begin assessing this unit and students' knowledge of: tallies, bar graphs, pictograms, and surveys.
Week 18: Jan 15-19
This week we used time in class to connect what we know about Math to other areas of study. We sorted and classified objects into the 4 food groups, created graphs representing the types of food we eat and took tallies of our daily feelings at the carpet. Students used this information as an introduction to our Data Management unit and worked on vocabulary such as:
le choix le plus populaire (most popular) vs. le choix le moins populaire (least popular)
Week 17: Jan 8-12
This week we finished up our geometry unit and became 3D shape experts. Students completed a variety of activities (sorting, building etc) to enhance their understanding of the properties that distinguish 2D and 3D shapes. Please make sure to check Dojo and discuss the activities we have been completing with your child.
Week 15: Dec 11-15
This week we focused on reviewing the defining features and characteristics of 2D shapes and began exploring and recognizing various 3D shapes as well.
Terminology for this unit:
Cube = cube;
Cone = cone;
Sphère = sphere;
Prisme rectangulaire = rectangular prism
Cylindre = cylinder;
Week 14: Dec 4-8
This week we completed a variety activities to become shape experts! We used manipulatives, geo boards, centers and technology to enhance our understand of 2D shapes and their distinguishing attributes.
To help your child with shape recognition and spatial reasoning, please check out the free app: Pattern Blocks available in the Apple App Store.
Week 13: Nov 27-Dec 1st
This week students completed assessments for our Introduction to Addition and Subtraction unit. We began our next unit on "Les formes géometriques" (Shapes) and explored various shapes and their identifying features.
Word bank:
Circle = cercle; rond et courbé
Square = carré; 4 cotés et 4 sommets
Rectangle = rectangle; 4 cotés et 4 sommets
Diamond = losange; 4 cotés et 4 sommets
Triangle = triangle; 3 cotés et 3 sommets
Week 12: Nov 20-Nov 24
Students continued to work on their flexibility in applying addition and subtraction problem solving strategies through the game "Splat" (to test it out, please visit the math tab under resources and download the power point.
Week 11: Nov 13-16
This week we continued to practice different math strategies for addition and subtraction (Doubles, counting up, counting down, using fingers, mental math, base tens, number lines, manipulatives etc). Students were encouraged to consider what strategies work best for them. Because we are all different, some strategies will be more helpful than others- by exploring new strategies we can help make new connections in our brain! :)
Week 9 & 10: October 30th-Nov 10th
Students have continued to explore Number Sense through the the addition of simple numbers, with special emphasis placed on the addition of numbers relative to 5 and 10. Students were encouraged to develop various counting strategies such as counting on, re-grouping and manipulatives. Students also began to explore simple subtraction stories.
In class, we built a "Rekenrek" which is a simple tool that can be used to help students see the connection between numbers and be manipulated when solving addition and subtraction stories.
For instance: The Rekenrek at the top shows 20, I can figure this out by:
-counting 1 at a time
-counting two groups of 10 (10 + 10 = 20)
-counting 4 groups of 5 (5 red + 5 white + 5 red + 5 white)
The Rekenrek at the bottom only shows 10. I can figure out that it shows ten by:
-counting one at a time
-counting 5 red beads and 2 white beads + 3 white beads: 5 + 2 + 3 = 10
-counting on from 5 (there are always 5 red) and making 7, now I know 3 + 7 =10
This week, we began our patterning and algebra unit on expressions and equality. Students were asked to consider the relationships between numbers (more, less, equal) to balance equations.
In grade 1, students are expected to:
-demonstrate examples of equality, through investigation, using a “balance” model (Sample problem: Demonstrate, using
a pan balance, that a train of 7 attached cubes on one side balances a train of 3 cubes and a train of 4 cubes on the other side.);
– determine, through investigation using a “balance” model and whole numbers to 10, the number of identical objects that must be added or subtracted to establish equality (Sample problem: On a pan bal- ance, 5 cubes are placed on the left side and 8 cubes are placed on the right side. How many cubes should you take off the right side so that both sides balance?).
April 30-May 18:
This week we continued to practice different math strategies for addition and subtraction (Doubles, counting up, counting down, using fingers, mental math, base tens, number lines, manipulatives etc). Students were encouraged to consider what strategies work best for them and make this known on their assesment at the end of our units. Because we are all different, some strategies will be more helpful than others, by exploring new strategies we can help make new connections in our brain! :)
April 16-26th:
This week, we began exploring our next Number Sense Unit on Money. In grade 1, students are expected to be able to manipulate and count coin amounts to 20-25 cents. It is essential that children still be exposed to penny as it enables them to build critical thinking, numeracy and problem solving skills prior to being able to understand the concept of rounding which is not officially introduced until grade 3. Children should be applying skip counting strategies and grouping strategies (10s and 1s) when solving money problems.
This week we began exploring Canadian coins and their distinguishing features. In the second week of study week, we will continue exploring money amounts as it relates to making purchases, and creating change through addition and subtraction.
Penny = un cent
-Made of copper (cuivre)
-Worth 1 cent
-Has a picture of two Maple leaves and the Queen
Nickle = cinq cents
-Made of nickle (silver colour)
-Worth 5 cents
-Has a picture of a beaver and the Queen
-I can make 5 cents with one nickle, or 5 pennies
Dime = 10 cents
-Silver in colour
-The smallest coin
-Has a picture of a boat
-Worth 10 cents
-I can make 10 cents with 1 dime, 2 nickles or 1 nickle and 5 pennies
Quarter = 25 cents
-Silver in colour
-The largest cent value coin
-Has a picture of a caribou
-I can make 25 cents in many ways: 25 pennies, 5 nickles, 2 dimes and 1 nickle or by combining many different coin values
April 9-13th:
This week we completed our unit on time by exploring the various ways I can write "l'heure" (the time)
-I can show the time on a clock (the big and little hands point to the 12)
-I can show the digital time (12:00)
-I can use words (Il est 12 heures, 12h, midi, minuit)
April 3rd-6th: We began our unit on time and explored les 4 parties du jour (the 4 parts of the day)
-Morning = matin (am)
-Afternoon = après-midi (pm)
-Evening = soir
-Night = nuit
Students were introduced to clocks and should know the following:
Clock = une horloge
L'aiguille grande/longe = the minute hand (counts by 5s)
L'aiguille petite/courte = the hour hand
In grade 1, students are expected to be able to tell time to the nearest hour and half an hour. Students are expected to recognize that when the hour hand is between two numbers, I must look to the smallest number.
Please help your child by encouraging to tell time on a daily basis.
March 26-29th:
This week students completed a few inquiry based learning activities to explore and review the concepts of mass and apply French terminology. In class, students covered Easter eggs with clay and compared their weights using both a human scale (comparing weight with our sense of touch) and balance scale. Toward the end of the week we began exploring our next unit on time by discussing the passage of time and how this relates to months, seasons, weeks, days, hours etc. Students should be able to tell you how many months and season are in a year, how many days are in a week, how many minutes are in an hour etc. Students were also required to think about their daily routines and how this relates to parts of a day "Morning, afternoon, night".
Week 26: March 19-23
To ease ourself back into routine after March Break we completed various problem solving activities to review and apply skills from our previous units.
Using a translated version of Shel Silverstein's poem: Band-aids students worked together to figure out how many bandaids are on the character, and if it would be more or less than the "extra" band-aids left over in the box.
I have a Band-Aid on my finger,
One on my knee, and one on my nose,
One on my heel,and two on my shoulder,
Three on my elbow, and nine on my toes.
Two on my wrist, and one on my ankle,
One on my chin, and one on my thigh,
Four on my belly, and five on my bottom,
One on my forehead, and one on my eye.
One on my neck, and in case I might need 'em
I have a box full of thirty-five more.
But oh! I do think it's sort of a pity
I don't have a cut or a sore!
For patterning, students worked on finding patterns in 100s charts, using skip counting patterns to help us solve problems more quickly and created patterns in Easter eggs!
For data management, students were surveyed on their favourite juice flavours and asked to solve the following problem: How many of each juice do we buy for a party if we want everyone to have at least 1 of their favourite juices?
How many packs do we need to buy? Apple (4 pack), Orange (6 pack), Grape (8 pack)
In measurement we worked on the concept of capacity by trying to scoop an exact target amount of various materials and applying counting strategies and the concepts of less and more.
Week 23 & 24: Feb 26-March 9th:
This week we explored equal parts and fractions while reviewing our vocabulary from geometry (french shape names). Students learned about how fractions are written and what they mean. Ie: 1/2 means 1 out of 2 portions is represented. It means I am getting HALF of the shape. The word half ALWAYS means the parts are equal.
In Grade 1 we focus on the following key points of understanding and use it to help us develop our problem solving:
égale = equal
inégale = unequal
moitié = half = 1/2
quart = quater = 1/4
Feb 5-16th:
Over the course of two weeks we continued to work on our our measurement understanding by exploring mass and capacity (see below for the terminology for this unit). We also completed a variety of numeracy activities surrounding Valentine's Day and 100s day. Students completed centers requiring them to use their number sense, measurement skills and ability to estimate capacity for lots of fun-filled and inquiry based centers. As our battery recycling contest continued, we learned about place value and practiced our skip counting by 1s, 2,s, 5s and 10s.
Mass = masse
Capacity = capacité
Full = plein
Heavy = lourde (heavier = plus lourde)
Light = léger (lighter = plus léger)
Week 20: Jan 29-Feb 2nd
This week we worked on various group problem solving tasks and centers applying our knowledge of addition and subtraction strategies (ie: doubles, making 10, making 5).
Later in the week we used our knowledge of French question words to help us finish up our unit on surveys and applied our knowledge to the Raw Materials Battery Surveys to help promote environmental initiatives.
Week 19: Jan 22-26
This week, students continued to explore how we can represent information in bar graphs and pictograms. Our main focus this week was on surveys (Les sondages) which we can use to ask for opinions. In class, students surveyed one another to find out their favourite seasons, favourite animal and favourite type of cookies. By the end of the week we were ready to begin assessing this unit and students' knowledge of: tallies, bar graphs, pictograms, and surveys.
Week 18: Jan 15-19
This week we used time in class to connect what we know about Math to other areas of study. We sorted and classified objects into the 4 food groups, created graphs representing the types of food we eat and took tallies of our daily feelings at the carpet. Students used this information as an introduction to our Data Management unit and worked on vocabulary such as:
le choix le plus populaire (most popular) vs. le choix le moins populaire (least popular)
Week 17: Jan 8-12
This week we finished up our geometry unit and became 3D shape experts. Students completed a variety of activities (sorting, building etc) to enhance their understanding of the properties that distinguish 2D and 3D shapes. Please make sure to check Dojo and discuss the activities we have been completing with your child.
Week 15: Dec 11-15
This week we focused on reviewing the defining features and characteristics of 2D shapes and began exploring and recognizing various 3D shapes as well.
Terminology for this unit:
Cube = cube;
Cone = cone;
Sphère = sphere;
Prisme rectangulaire = rectangular prism
Cylindre = cylinder;
Week 14: Dec 4-8
This week we completed a variety activities to become shape experts! We used manipulatives, geo boards, centers and technology to enhance our understand of 2D shapes and their distinguishing attributes.
To help your child with shape recognition and spatial reasoning, please check out the free app: Pattern Blocks available in the Apple App Store.
Week 13: Nov 27-Dec 1st
This week students completed assessments for our Introduction to Addition and Subtraction unit. We began our next unit on "Les formes géometriques" (Shapes) and explored various shapes and their identifying features.
Word bank:
Circle = cercle; rond et courbé
Square = carré; 4 cotés et 4 sommets
Rectangle = rectangle; 4 cotés et 4 sommets
Diamond = losange; 4 cotés et 4 sommets
Triangle = triangle; 3 cotés et 3 sommets
Week 12: Nov 20-Nov 24
Students continued to work on their flexibility in applying addition and subtraction problem solving strategies through the game "Splat" (to test it out, please visit the math tab under resources and download the power point.
Week 11: Nov 13-16
This week we continued to practice different math strategies for addition and subtraction (Doubles, counting up, counting down, using fingers, mental math, base tens, number lines, manipulatives etc). Students were encouraged to consider what strategies work best for them. Because we are all different, some strategies will be more helpful than others- by exploring new strategies we can help make new connections in our brain! :)
Week 9 & 10: October 30th-Nov 10th
Students have continued to explore Number Sense through the the addition of simple numbers, with special emphasis placed on the addition of numbers relative to 5 and 10. Students were encouraged to develop various counting strategies such as counting on, re-grouping and manipulatives. Students also began to explore simple subtraction stories.
In class, we built a "Rekenrek" which is a simple tool that can be used to help students see the connection between numbers and be manipulated when solving addition and subtraction stories.
For instance: The Rekenrek at the top shows 20, I can figure this out by:
-counting 1 at a time
-counting two groups of 10 (10 + 10 = 20)
-counting 4 groups of 5 (5 red + 5 white + 5 red + 5 white)
The Rekenrek at the bottom only shows 10. I can figure out that it shows ten by:
-counting one at a time
-counting 5 red beads and 2 white beads + 3 white beads: 5 + 2 + 3 = 10
-counting on from 5 (there are always 5 red) and making 7, now I know 3 + 7 =10
Week 8: October 23-26th:
This week we continued to work on our number sense using counting, drawings, ten frames, number lines, tallies and graphs. We also used our grade 1 math knowledge to complete a variety of projects:
-pattern spiders: using shapes and colours to create AB, ABC, ABB, ABBA patterns
-measurement pumpkins: applying vocabulary: grand, petit, moyen and measuring length using non-standard units
Week 7: October 16-20th:
This week we continued our exploration of number through equality and anchors of 5 and 10. Students began to work in various exploratory centers which explore representing number, the conservation of number and found various ways to build the numbers 5 and 10. Over the next two weeks we will be exploring the +, - and = symbols as they relate to simple addition and subtraction stories.
Week 6: October 10th-14th
This week we began to explore non-standard units of measurement. Through inquiry based learning, students found out how we can use various items to measure height and length of many objects including pumpkins. We began to use "educated guesses" to estimate how many paper clips and stacking cubes long our items in our class are. We also discussed the idea that what we consider big or small is relative to our own size. What I think is big might actually be considered small to an elephant or giraffe!
Here is some terminology to help you with our measurement study:
-Taille: size --> petit, moyen, grand (small, medium, big)
-Longueur: length --> long, court (long, short), aussi long que (as long as...)
-J'estime: I estimate, I guess...
Week 5: October 2nd-6th
This week we continued to explore patterns according to a variety of rules. Your child should be able to create and describe a variety of patterns using colours, shapes, sizes and even their bodies! For example, in class, students sit in a pattern such as "boy, girl, girl" when we are learning at the carpet. I can make a musical pattern which follows the same rule by going: "stomp, stomp, clap; stomp, stomp, clap". We began to explore "les motifs" et les "regularités" which are the rules and repeated units of patterns.
Example:
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 (my repeating motif is 1 2) and my rule is ABABAB.
Stomp, stomp, clap (my repeating motif is stomp, stomp, clap) and my rule is AAB.
Please encourage your child to recognize patterns in the world around them :)
Week 4: September 25-28th:
Now that we have completed our basic number review, we will begin exploring math concepts in a spiraled fashion to allow students to revisit important concepts frequently. Students will continue to explore number sense and problem solving on a daily basis. This week student began exploring the concept of sorting objects according to their attributes. We began using these attributes to make different patterns (suites en français) using one attribute.
Les attributs:
Colour = la couleur
Size = la taille
Shape = la forme
Type = le type
Week 3: Sept 18th-22nd:
This week we have been working on our French counting (backwards and forwards) and our representation of numbers using digits (chiffres), words (mots) and base tens (grille de 10). We have enhanced our understanding of place value and learned about number lines (une droite numérique).
Week 2: Sept 11th-15th
As we continue our representation of numbers 0-20, we will be working on representing numbers with various strategies starting with number lines. We will be employing French vocabulary like before (avant), after (après) and bigger (plus grand) or smaller (plus petit).
Each day we review our calendar, the date and the temperature to help with our counting as well. It is also helping us to gain lots of useful French vocabulary (days of the week, months of the year, types of weather, today, yesterday, tomorrow).
We are so proud of our students and their English and French Math abilities! We will begin our school year by working on getting into the habit of representing numbers en français, and continuing to fine tune our understanding of numbers 1-20. Our Monster teams will be established and we will be using base ten manipulatives to earn points up to 20.
Each day we review our calendar, the date and the temperature to help with our counting as well. We will be representing the date using our grade 1 strategies: numbers, words, ten frames, base tens, number lines and building toward addition and subtraction. This daily routine helps us to gain useful French vocabulary (days of the week, months of the year, types of weather, today, yesterday, tomorrow).
Each day we review our calendar, the date and the temperature to help with our counting as well. We will be representing the date using our grade 1 strategies: numbers, words, ten frames, base tens, number lines and building toward addition and subtraction. This daily routine helps us to gain useful French vocabulary (days of the week, months of the year, types of weather, today, yesterday, tomorrow).