SNOW on the 100th Day of School! Oh no!

I still can't believe it!  Today the schools are closed and it has been declared a SNOW DAY!
We were planning on celebrating the 100th day of school today.  Just so students are aware, we will carry over our special 100th day festivities to Monday.  Monday isn't my preferred day for celebrations, but we will enjoy our activities related to the very special and friendly number 100 anyway!

As I gaze out my kitchen window while writing today, it looks like a hundred snowflakes are landing on my deck every second!

I hope everyone has a fun weekend playing in all this white stuff and I will see you on Monday!

Who is Antonio?

Ask your child who Antonio is?

Our Next Mathematics Investigation

This week we will begin our study of SHAPES AND THEIR PROPERTIES.  Both groups/grades will be working on the BIG IDEAS:

• Some attributes of shapes are quantitative (the fact that a triangle has three vertices is quantitative), others are qualitative (the fact that a circle is round is qualitative);
• Many of the properties and attributes that apply to 2-dimensional shapes also apply to 3-dimensional shapes;
• Many geometric properties and attributes of shapes are related to measurement (Group 2 will be revisiting AREA when we focus on 2-dimensional shapes)

(from Marian Small's Big Ideas from Dr. Small - Creating a Comfort Zone for Teaching Mathematics Grades Kindergarten to Grade 3, page 63)

This week, we will begin our study by focusing on 3-dimensional geometry.  You can support your child's learning at home by trying these activities with your child:

• Ask your child to describe the shape of an object, for example, whether it is like a sphere, a cylinder, or a rectangular prism.
• Challenge your child to check several shapes to see which ones will roll, slide, or stack.
• Ask your child to explain how two shapes are similar and different (encourage the use of "math words")
• Challenge your child to sort shapes into group, then to try sorting them a different way.
• Describe the shape of an object and ask your child to guess the object; then switch roles.
• Have a 'shape hunt' at home - find examples of cubes, triangular prisms, pyramids, etc.
• Use playdough to model various 3-dimensional shapes. Count the number of faces, edges, and vertices on each shape.
• Invite your child to help you put away the groceries.  Talk about why you place particular packages and supplies together.

Ideas from Math Makes Sense Grade 2 (Pearson Education Canada) and Mathematics 1(Nelson)