Multiplication: Partial Products Algorithm

Dear Parents,

The way we teach math now a days is very different from when I was young. We have just recently started a unit on multiplying two-digit and three-digit numbers by a single factor. Throughout the unit I will be teaching three different algorithms or ways of solving the problems.

The first one is the partial products algorithm. This is a great way for kids to understand what multiplication actually is before learning more traditional algorithms that just have kids solve the problem and go through the motions. If you are unfamiliar with this method or the students need help with their homework this week, you can use this too.

Enjoy,
 

Multiplication Math Game Visit

A few Fridays ago Mr. John invited our class over to play their multiplication math games that they created from scratch. It was wonderful and such a fun way to practice our multiplication facts. The kids were so inspired by our neighbors that they decided to create their own, so stay tuned for that.

 

Friday Family Math Game

With the weekend upon us, I wanted to share a new math game that I found from another teacher online. The game is simple and helps students practice their math facts. It is called Spiral Math and can be played with up to four players. We are practicing our multiplication, but you could also adapt it for addition and subtraciton.

Materials:

• Deck of cards (face cards removed)
• Dice
• Coins or objects to mark players

Directions

• Shuffle the cards and set them out face up in a spiral formation.
• Roll the dice to see who goes first.
• Put both chips on the first card and the first player rolls the dice. 
• Then they multiply the number on the dice by the number on the card.
• If they are correct, they move the same number as the dice. If not, they stay there.
• Then the next player goes.
• The first person to get to the end wins.

Give it a try this weekend and let me know how it is!
 

Practice Measuring Angles

In geometry we have been learning about angles and how to measure them. The students are pretty knowledgable about finding right angles in the environment, making them with their bodies and identifying the measure of a right angle but are working on learning what acute and obtuse angles are. I found these images on another teacher blog http://mamontoff.wordpress.com/2012/02/15/plane-geometry.

 

We call right angles "book angles."

We remember acute angles as small "cute" angles.

 We remember obtuse angles as fat, "obese" angles.

Here is a link to an angle measuring game we played in class. It is fun so give it a try!

 

Tricks for Learning Geometry Terms!

In class we have been studying geometry. There are so many geometry words and vocabulary that make it difficult, especially for those students learning English. Many terms and words are not only complicated to understand but difficult to decode as well.

Here are some brain tricks for remembering some geometry words.

• Horizon- Horses walk on the horizon.
• Vertical- In skateboarding a ramp that goes up and down is called a vert ramp and vert is for vertical.
• Diagonal- In tic-tac-toe you can win up, down and diagonal.
• Intersecting Lines- Just like an intersection, intersecting lines cross.
• Parallel Likes- The word parallel has parallel lines in it.

The kids are having a good time working with geometry concepts in class. Yesterday we got out the geoboards, tanagrams and pipe cleaners. The students had a choice of materials for the task "discuss what you are making using the geometric terms we are learning in class." Here are some photos.

Math Story Problems from 3R

Yesterday the students created their own math story problems. Try to see if you can solve these and leave a comment with the answer.

Arran's- I am inviting some beavers onto my trampoline. My trampoline can hold 100 lbs. How many 20 lb. beavers can come on?

Saniya's- It's the first day of the Injured Aqua Animal school. We will be teaching one 200 lb. harp seal, four 300 lb. common dolphins, two 50 lb. sea otters, one 2,500 lb. walrus and three 400lb. bottle nosed dolphins. How much do all of our students weigh together?

Yuna's- We are going on a field trip on an airplane and I have to tell how strong the airplane has to be. We are going to have two gray whales and two beluga whales on. A grey whale is 45,000 lbs. and a beluga whale is 2,000 lbs. How much do they weigh?

Annalisa's- I'm going to the yacht club with the snowshoe hare, three walruses and the harp seal. They all want three pizza's. How much would I need to pay if every pizza costs $12.00? Oh, wait, another animal friend comes and he wants 5 pizza's. How much do I need to pay?


 

Helping Our Friends Learn Symetry

After a lesson about symmetry, we played a simple game on the white boards to help our friends practice symmetry. Each student drew a line of symmetry and a design on one side of the line. The students swapped and exchanged boards so the partner could draw the matching image along the line of symmetry. You can even play it at home with paper! It was great fun and the game is simple, simple, simple.

I find that students either "get it" right away or they have some challenge so the take home message is.... practice, practice, practice.

 

Multiplication Math Games

Happy holidays to my Awesome Owls! As I spend my last Saturday of the holiday on the couch watching my San Francisco Giants in the World Series, I find time to catch up on some blog work. I published many new multiplication math games to go with our new EM unit. Click on the EM Math Game page and enjoy!

Also, I know many of you are trying to improve your basic math facts/number bonds/minute math. Here is a great game where you can practice your fast math.

 

Lattice Method Multiplication

The students have been working so hard the past few months on their multiplication skills. They have been practicing minute math, taking extra math packets home, and paying attention in class as I teach different strategies for figuring out multi-digit multiplication problems. 

But today, I taught some "math magic." Our math curriculum, Everyday Math, focuses on teaching many different strategies for solving problems and encourages the children to choose the one that fits them best. Today I taught the Lattice Method. It was unfamiliar to me until just a few years ago, when I learned it at University, and like me, the kids were amazed. I know it will be unfamiliar to many parents, so I wanted to share a tutorial I found on youtube. Enjoy!

 

Weekly Newsletter: Monday April 16, 2012

 

Click the image above to download document.

Can You Count to a Googol?

Unit 5 in Everyday Math teaches students about place value and numeration. Today in class, I shared the book "Can You Count To A Googol?" by Robert E. Wells. The students were fascinated with it and the book got them inquiring about other numbers and just what it means to be a HUGE, TREMENDOUS, BIG number.

As we were reading, I posted "What if...?" questions and the students loved it. For example, I asked questions such as "What if you saw 10,498 lions while on safari?" or "What if you ate 9,207 kernels of popcorn?"

After the book, the kids got to create their own "What if...?" sentences with large numbers. Check out their questions!

What if...

… you had 1,000 boxes of ice creams? Jescah

… you ate 9,846 cookies? Adrienne

… you had one million dogs? Vansh

…a there was 607,896 air in the world? Tanay

…there were 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000… students in the school? Christophe

… there were 900,000 fruit flies in the class? Travis

… there was a googol children in a 4X4 meter room? Luka

… 77,777 spiders were born in one egg? Zoey

… you had 88,888 million bunnies? Noelle

… 9,000 people made trucks? Elrad

… you had googol pets? Evan

… 9,640 of your friends each had 7,000 kids? Magali

… everyone had an octillion chocolates? Stan

… you had 10,000400 dog? Tristan

… you have 99,999 toys? Elin

… there was 7,504 hats on each person? Maiya

… you had 100,000,000 pets? Alma

… you had 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 dollars? Ethan

… you wore 1,000 t-shirts? Meet

Check out the book with your class and post your own "What if..." questions below?

Partial Sums Addition Algorithm

With Everyday Math, I teach many different algorithms for math computations. This past week, we have been practicing some algorithms for addition. One of those taught was the Partial Sums Addition algorithm. Here is a great video to help you understand this algorithm for when you are doing your homework at home.

Video courtesy of youtube.com: Love2TeachU