Friday, December 8, 2017

Fri. Dec. 8th Math and Baking Activity!

We planned for and were prepared to bake our cookies!
-Ingredients: we had them all!
-Tools (oven and all tools to bake): we had them too!
-A Recipe: Found one, here it is:  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/10813/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/
-Organize ourselves: 3 groups of six students, each with everything needed. Communicate, work together, take turns!
Follow the recipe carefully.
Wash hands first! Clean up at the end.
Food allergies? No.
Math learned: what's half of 1 cup? 1/2 a cup! What's half of a 1/2 a cup? 1/4 cup!
Great outcome! Here's the first batch:

Batch #2


Friday, December 1, 2017

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Math Homework: Thurs. Nov. 30th to Thurs. Dec. 7th

My apologies for not posting yesterday, as mentioned in students' agenda.

Did you tell your Mom/Dad about our classroom challenge? Tell them what we need to do in class if we are going to bake in class next Friday, Dec. 8th. Of course, the baking will all be based on following steps for a successful recipe using correct measurements! Should be delicious! 

For homework, keep doing Math 3 or 4 times a week for about 20 minutes. Here are your options:

1. Teach, Mom, Dad or an older sibling to play the new Math game we learned in class. Remember to teach the strategies of combining cards to make it easier to add (like a King -worth 13- and a 7 add up to 20). 

2. Review and complete these problems worked on in class: 

#1 Gr 2 level problem: How long would it take you to walk 100 metres? Explain your thinking.

#2 Gr 3 level problem: Draw a triangle in your notebook that has a perimeter of about 20 centimetres. How long could each side be? If you forgot, perimeter is all the sides of a shape added together. 

#3 Gr 4 level problem: A person is about 135 cm tall. About how old is that person likely to be?

Good luck! 

Friday, November 17, 2017

Friday Math Homework Review

Well done to these students who handed in their Math homework sheet today: Sophie, Kayleigh, Mikayla, Alyssa, Madeleine, Lukas and Brooklyn. You can still hand it in on Monday.
We solved, reviewed and looked at possible answers together for all 4 problems today. We made a game out of it! Lots of learning happening. Enjoy the weekend! M.K.

Reviewing what it takes to be successful in Math (applies to other areas as well), students remembered that:

                  1. Everyone can learn Math to high levels (B.Mc)
                  2. Mistakes are important for learning (A.B.)
                  3. Believe in yourself, have grit, a growth mindset and keep trying (A.D.)
                  4. Speed is not important (M.S.)

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

UPDATED Nov 15th: Math Homework: Nov.14th to Nov. 17th

**Wednesday note: Well done Sophie, first person to complete the three problems and hand in their work today! Now, try gr 4 problem added today! :-)

Remember to do homework 2 or 3 nights a week for 15 to 20 minutes. Many of you have been doing more, that is great! Well done.

This week, try and solve the following 3 problems. Write your answers on a separate sheet. Try and put in all good information and illustrations that will help you get a level 4. Have fun with it, try and write what you think the answers might be. Then, ask your Mom or Dad to check it over with you.

This problem is a grade 1 level problem: You skip count by a number and you eventually say the number 20. What might you have been counting by? What were you not counting by? How do you know?

This problem is a grade 2 level problem: You have two piles of counters. Altogether you have just a few more than 12 counters. How many counters might there be in each pile?

This problem is a grade 3 level problem: You subtract two three digit numbers, and the number of tens in the answer is greater than the number of hundreds. What numbers might you have subtracted?

This problem is a grade 4 level problem: Create a growing pattern that involves multiplying by 2 and includes the number 80. Can your pattern include the number 2?

If you complete all 4 problems and want a tougher challenge, ask Mr Kennedy for a gr 5 problem!

Bring your answers to class on Friday and we will see what the possible answers might be.
Make it a challenge! Make it FUN! Even if you find it hard, persevere, work through it! :-)

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

How do you get a level 4 (or 'A') when solving a problem?

We've been working very hard at getting level 4 answers in class. Today we had 3 groups of two who did! Here's a photo of one of the groups' answers. Notice how they used numbers, computation, symbols: $, words to answer the question. Well done!

The problem was: If you buy a hot dog for $1.25 and a fry for $1.50 and a juice for $0.75 how much will it cost you altogether. If you give a $10.00 bill, how much change will they give you back?


Math Homework: Oct.31st-Nov.3rd

Happy Halloween! If you're busy trick or treating tonight, do your Math homework tomorrow night. This week's Math homework: watch 3 Math videos. Click on the following Link to Khan Academy Math Videos

They are only about 4 minutes long. Please watch the videos with your Mom, Dad or an older sibling. The videos (some were watched in class) should be paused here and there and you need to try and guess what the answer will be. Then, click play again and see if you were right!

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Math Homework this Week: Oct. 23-27

Hello everyone! Please remember that students who improve their Math skills (or any other skills), persevere and show grit trying to solve the problem when they are having difficulty! Try to figure it out by yourself first. Then, after trying and trying again if you can't, ask someone to help.

This week's homework: we started Mathletics in class yesterday. Lots of fun! At home this week, work on it 2 or 3 evenings for 15 to 20 minutes. If you do more, great! To log on to Mathletics, go to this link: Student School Portal. Then, go to the icon called Mathletics. To sign in, use your Chromebook sign in email (bobby.ryan@ocsbstudent.ca) and password. At least 3 students were able to access from home last evening. If you don't have a laptop or computer at home, please do any of the many Math activities posted on this website before.

Mathletics: you have assigned problems to solve. Right now, what you are doing is pretty easy. It will become more tricky as we go. Remember to challenge yourself if you want to improve. Here is what we came up with for Success Criteria for Mathletics:


Tuesday, October 17, 2017

This Week's Homework (Oct. 16-20th)

Hi! Please do Math homework 2 or 3 times this week for 15 to 20 minutes each time. Some of you are doing more than that. Guess what? If that is the case your Math skills will improve even more! Way to go!!!

Here's what we've been learning and that you can review:

Great website with TONS to teach you about Math: Kahn Academy. Watch again, the video we saw in class: Using an abacus to represent numbers

Then, challenge yourself or have someone challenge you to find the following numbers: 20 589, 
1 005,  509,  390, 68 087.  Good luck!

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Homework this week and Math Grit Challenge!

As written in their agenda yesterday, students need to do Math homework twice this week, for 15-20 minutes each time. Here's something else (or choose from previous posts) you can work on:

Math GRIT challenge! 10 questions!

Today, we did a Math Grit Challenge. As we all know, in life, it is the people who work hard at a skill who improve and become successful. Mrs McAnany and I have been teaching students the importance of focus and hard work in class. Below are the challenges we did in class. We reviewed some of them but not all yet. Take a minute to go over them with your child! 

A couple of rules: -if you don't understand something, persevere, re-read the question many times, write what you think is the answer. Finally if you still don't understand, ask THREE than ME (the teacher). Other option is: skip the question and go to the next. You don't have to do the questions in order! You can start with #9 if you wish.
For each question, show ALL your work, use numbers, words and drawings if necessary.
#1) 5 x 5 = #2) using the 100 chart in your notebook, look at the number 45. What number is two rows below and 3 three columns over to the right?
#3) write the following number using words: 401 098
#4) using the same number, 401 098, write what each digit is worth.
#5) How can you easily add 29 + 29 ?
#6) find the blank numbers:  a) 20 - ___ = 16     b)17 = 25 - ___   c)17 - ___ = 14 - 7
#7) Do question 4 a) and 4 b) on page 35.
#8) Write these numbers from least to greatest: 862, 802, 869. Explain with words how you know.
#9) Sue says that 9 > 2, then she says 987 > 2134. Is she correct? Use words, pictures or numbers to explain.
#10) How hard did you work on your Math questions during these 40 minutes?  Write a number from 1 to 10. 1 means you did nothing. 5 means you worked but should have worked harder. 9 or 10 means you tried your best and you are today's Math GRIT Challenge Champion!

Monday, October 2, 2017

This Week's Challenges

K.G. said: "You can even do Math when you are driving with your parents!" Good point! Yes, you can even do your Math homework driving somewhere, discussing, thinking it through! We worked on it in class and will continue working on it this week. Try these:

Easy: If you had to round to the nearest TENS, explain how you would come to an answer if you had to round 74 to the nearest ten. How about 88? Write your answers and write your explanation.

Medium: You are skip counting forward starting at 50. How far might you get if you say 10 numbers? What numbers would you say? Talk it through with Mom or Dad.

More challenging:  Which estimate makes the most sense to your for 16+16= ___?
20, 30 or 40? Explain.

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Know your Doubles!

Students should all know their doubles!
This, will help them 'crunch' much bigger numbers later on.
Take 5-10 minutes each evening to practice with your child.
Doubles to know: 6+6=12    7+7=14    8+8=16    9+9=18

Then, challenge them to add: 38+18=        49+9=        
        16+16=        27+27=        Find your own challenges! Keep improving. Don't forget to continue practicing other challenges posted earlier this year on this website.

Also, review place value with your child:  How do you read the following numbers? 40 087?
    23 989?    10 003?  210 423?   Greater numbers: 2 650 987?  23 980 137?    8 230 299 448?
Good luck! :-)  M.K. 

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Who are we?

Hello! Please try to bring one photo of yourself with your family members to school. We will be doing a decorative visual arts wall of 'Who We Are!' Two students have already brought a photo. Thank you.  If you only have a digital photo available, you can bring it on a memory stick or send it to me, Mr Kennedy, at my email address and I can print it here at school for you. My email address is: mark.kennedy@ocsb.ca  Thank you! M.K.

Also, don't forget to do Math homework 2 or 3 evenings a week for 15-20 minutes. Do some of the activities and games that are posted on this website (scroll down).  

Friday, September 15, 2017

Math Homework

Math homework: Please do 15 minutes of Math homework 2 or 3 times a week. What Math should you do? Simply scroll down on my website and play a game we've done in class, do one of the challenges or review a concept we learned. Try and challenge yourself to get better. Remember that you are ALL smart and can improve your skills if you put in some effort!

Image result for Grit

One more thing: explain to your parents how or weekly draw works. Explain to them how important sharing ALL kind of solutions is SOOOO IMPORTANT! Explain to them how you get a number for the draw when you ask a question too! Questions are AWESOME! Providing wrong answers help us all learn. Providing good answers help us all learn. Providing partially correct answers help us all learn too! Have fun learning!! :-)  Have a great weekend. M.K.

Thursday, September 14, 2017

4 KEYS to Learning Math (& anything!)

Please take the 8 minutes required to watch this video with your child: 4 Key Messages Video

1. Everyone can learn Math 
(your brain grows all the time)
2. Believe in yourself 
(Have grit and a growth mindset)
3. Struggles and mistakes are really important!
4. Speed is not important!

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Math Talk: take a minute and review with your child!

Most recent on top!
Taking 10 minutes 2-3 times a week to play/question your child will help them become confident in 'crunching' numbers and will facilitate solving more difficult problems!

Sept 13th: After working in small groups, students came up with these answers (see initials).


Challenge: Find numbers in any literature, pamphlets or news and discuss with your child what they represent. Extra challenge: make a copy of it, send it to school with your child to show us in class!

Sept. 11th:
-Visit this site: Random Number Generator With your child, choose the range (1 to 10 or 1 to 50 etc.), set it. Choose a number, say it out loud. Generate a number. Whoever is closest wins. Talk about best numbers to choose!
-Play the Card Game: adding up to 10. Then, try this same game, adding up to 20! Remember, you can have multiple cards to score a point (example: ace + 4 + 5 = 10). The goal here is to improve your child's ability to easily add numbers!
Sept. 7th: Card Game: adding up to 10!
Find a deck of cards and play the game with Mom, Dad or a sibling. Remember, to get a point, it must add up to 10. If you have a face card, it is worth one point, a joker is worth two points!
Sept. 6
Math drills and review:
-what numbers add up to 10? To 20? How is 17 + 3  a bit like 3 + 7 ?
Sept. 5
Ask your child to explain a row vs a column.

Monday, September 4, 2017

Welcome to grade 4 Math!

Welcome to grade four Math at MPB!
We will learn together, we will help each other, we will improve our skills. We will be successful!
Pep talk from Kid President, shown in class today: Kid President PEP talk!
To have success:
-Believe you can! Say good things about your progress. Have positive talks to yourself. Focus on the things you can do. If you start believing you can, you will!
-Make it fun for yourself! Sometimes Math will be difficult. Try and see it as a challenge and enjoy, relax. Remember that you will be able to solve many problems. You won't be able to solve them all right away!
-Persevere, have grit! When Math is tricky and complicated, keep trying. Use other strategies, ask a friend, write what you know, re-read the problem... eventually you will figure it out! In life it is the people who don't give up and keep trying that succeed.
-The power of 'Yet'! Instead of saying: "I can't do this." Say: "I can't do this YET!".