Building Number Sense: Junk It!

In grade 1 we learn how our number system works by examining numbers up to 100. First, we went hunting for numbers! Where do we see numbers? When do we use numbers each day? Why are numbers so important?

Right now we are working very closely with numbers to 20. 

• How are numbers related? 
• What are some different ways to make a number? 
• How can we take a number apart? 
• How can we count carefully?

Keep hunting for numbers with your child! Road signs, recipes, flyers ... they're everywhere and so important!

Junk It Game

In case you haven't heard, we were introduced to a fast-paced card game, Junk It! It helps us recognize numerals and order them to 10. 

Junk It is a 2-player game. Remove face cards, but keep Aces. 

Put 10 cards in two rows of 5 face down in front of each player. Place the remaining cards in the centre. 

The first player flips a card over, and places it in its numerical spot. 
She picked up a 4 ... 

... so she put it down where the 4 goes. 

When she placed her card in the 4 spot, she picked up a 6 (formerly face down in the 4th place). Off the 6 goes to spot 6!

When she put the 6 down, she picked up an 8, so off that card goes to the 8th place. 

Notice how when she put her 8 down, she picked up the card in that spot? It is another 6! She already has a 6, so she gets to call JUNK IT and discard it in the middle. 

Her opponent can either pick up the card that was just discarded, or select a new card from the pile. Keep playing!

The first player to get all 10 cards flipped over in order wins! 

It is a little confusing to explain on our blog, but the kids are definitely the experts! Will you challenge your child to a game of Junk It?!? Learning is so much more fun when it's a game!

Making 10!

We are having a blast working on addition and subtraction and our favourite game lately has been a new card game called Make 10!

Mrs. Beliveau modified the rules from the original game posted here. 

Today a game board was sent home with each student, but more can be printed here. Have a deck of cards? Then you can play at home!

Take out the face cards. This game uses Ace through 10. We treat the Ace as a 1. 

Using the game board, put out four cards on the spaces 1, 2, 3, and 4. Turn the rest of the deck over on the space marked "deck". 

Here is the challenge! Can you make ten using up to 4 cards?

Look, these kids made 10 with all four cards! They set the group of 10 aside, and put out more cards from the deck. 

Replenish the empty spaces with cards from the deck. 

There are lots of ways they made 10!

Can't make 10?

Choose one card to put back on the bottom of the deck, and take the top card. 

The kids have played several times and should be able to explain the rules and play independently at home. Happy counting!

Subitizing: Seeing Spots and Polka Dots!

We have completed our math unit exploring numbers to 20! A major concept we have practiced is subitizing. Subitizing is being able to look at a group and know how many there are, without having to count each individual item. In short, subitizing is "instantly seeing how many". 

We subitize when we roll a die. You didn't have to count the dots to know you rolled a five, right?

What better way to practice this new skill of subitizing then to play games?

Here is our class playing an "I have ... Who has..." subitizing game together:

We also have many small group and partner subitizing games, too!

This group took on the challenge of playing a subitizing BINGO game:

These students play Snakes and Ladders, but rather than roll a die, they use subitizing cards:

Our memories are tested with this subitizing memory game:

Find It is a game we also enjoy!

Ready to subitize? Below is a link to a subitizing YouTube clip. Numbers appear on a 10-frame, a handy way we sometimes count in class. We know that a full frame is 10, and just one full row is 5. Sometimes seeing the empty spaces is more helpful than looking at the full spaces, too. Careful, it's really fast!




The skill of subitizing is key in developing our number sense, and will be integral in our exploration of addition and subtraction. 

Dressed in dots!

Number Sense: Junk It!

In grade 1 we learn how our number system works by examining numbers up to 100. First, we went hunting for numbers! Where do we see numbers? When do we use numbers each day? 

For now, we will be working very closely with numbers to 20. 

• How are numbers related? 
• What are some different ways to make a number? 
• How can we take a number apart? 

Keep hunting for numbers with your child! Road signs, recipes, flyers ... they're everywhere and so important!

Junk It Game

In case you haven't heard, we were introduced to a fast-paced card game, Junk It! It helps us recognize numerals and order them to 10. 

Junk It is a 2-player game. Remove face cards, but keep Aces. 

Put 10 cards in two rows of 5 face down in front of each player. Place the remaining cards in the centre. 

The first player flips a card over, and places it in its numerical spot. She picked up a 6 ... 

... so she put it down where the 6 goes. 

When she placed her card in the 6 spot, she picked up a 2 (formerly face down in the 6th place). Off the 2 goes to spot 2!

Notice how when she put her 2 down, she picked up the card in that spot? It is also a 2! She already has a 2, so she gets to call JUNK IT and discard it in the middle. 

Her opponent can either pick up the card that was just discarded, or select a new card from the pile. He needed a 2, so he chose to pick it up. 

The first player to get all 10 cards flipped over in order wins! Isn't learning more fun when it's a game?

It is a little confusing to explain on our blog, but the kids are definitely the experts! Will you challenge your child to a game of Junk It?!?

Building Number Sense

In grade 1 we learn how our number system works by examining numbers up to 100. First, we took a speedy march around the school, hunting for numbers! Where do we see numbers? When do we use numbers each day? 

For now, we will be working very closely with numbers to 20. 

• How are numbers related? 
• What are some different ways to make a number? 
• How can we take a number apart? 

Keep hunting for numbers with your child! Road signs, recipes, flyers ... they're everywhere and so important!


Junk It Game

In case you haven't heard, we were introduced to a fast-paced card game last week, Junk It! It helps us recognize numerals and order them to 10. 

Junk It is a 2-player game. Remove face cards, but keep Aces. 

Put 10 cards in two rows of 5 face down in front of each player. Place the remaining cards in the centre. 

The first player flips a card over, and places it in its numerical spot. He picked up a 6 ... 

... so he put it down where the 6 goes. 

When he placed his card in the 6 spot, he picked up an Ace (formerly face down in the 6th place). Off the Ace goes to spot 1!

Notice how when he put his Ace down, he picked up the card in that spot? It is a 6! He already has a 6, so he gets to call JUNK IT and discard it. 

His opponent can either pick up the card that was just discarded, or select a new card from the pile. She needed a 6, so she chose to keep it. 

The first player to get all 10 cards flipped over in order wins!

It is a little confusing to explain on our blog, but the kids are definitely the experts! Will you challenge your child to a game of Junk It?!?

GIANT SHOUT OUT to the Ecole Edwards grade 1 classes in Airdrie (@Grade1Wiggles) for teaching us this game via Twitter! We love it!

Make 10!

We are having a blast working on addition and subtraction to 20, and our favourite game lately is Make 10!

Mrs. Beliveau modified the rules from the original game posted here. 

Today a game board was sent home with each student, but more can be printed here. Have a deck of cards? Then you can play at home!

Take out the face cards. This game uses Ace through 10. We treat the Ace as a 1. 

Using the game board, put out four cards on the spaces 1, 2, 3, and 4. Turn the rest of the deck over on the space marked "deck". 

Here is the challenge! Can you make ten using up to 4 cards?

Look, she made 10 with all four cards! Set the group of 10 aside, and put out more cards from the deck. 

Replenish the empty spaces with cards from the deck. 

There are lots of ways she made 10!

Can't make 10?

Choose one card to put back on the bottom of the deck, and take the top card. 

The kids have played several times and should be able to explain the rules and play independently at home. Happy counting!

Can you keep up with us?

This has been a spectacular week! As always, no two days are ever alike and never is a day boring! Check out our week ... can you keep up with us?

Our week began with another awesome visit from the Bookmobile for our Book Buzz program! A team of ladies from the Strathcona County Library have been coming to share stories and songs, and then help us fill our backpacks with books! 

This week is Para-Sport week! The students had a wonderful opportunity to be exposed to various para-sports, as well as different disability awareness activities. First up? Meeting the Edmonton Steel Wheel rugby team! These amazing individuals shared their personal journeys, demonstrated how they play, and wowed us with their incredible strength!

We had a rare opportunity to try out some wheelchairs. We discovered that they are a challenge and require lots of strength and stamina. We even attempted going in and out the front doors! Many realized that it is no small feat to make it over the metal bump and out the door by the time the automatic doors close! We certainly deepened our respect for those who use wheelchairs. 

We are in the Easter season and have been exploring the mystery of the Trinity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. While they are three, we believe in one true God. We compared the complexity of the Trinity to an apple:

We have returned to addition and subtraction, this time up to 20! We are practising our "doubles" and have enjoyed playing hands-on games with each other! 

A knock at our door brought in a special reader from Robin Hood!  We had a ball listening to some silly stories, all the while deepening our respect and understanding of individuals with disabilities.

Inspired by our week at Zoo School, each child has been challenged to learn more about an animal of their choosing! Using San Diego Zoo Kids, students are researching their own animals. 

Students share a Chromebook with a classmate,
allowing partners to troubleshoot, decode challenging text,
and collaborate! 

Students have been working hard drawing and labelling their animal as well as writing three facts. 

We had a blast working with words! We squirted a generous dollop of shaving cream on the desks and got spelling in the cream ... awesome!

We love words and reading, and decided to do a hunt for our word wall words in some ads and flyers! Great challenge!

We ended the week with our Arbor Day event! We learned to count tree rings to find out a tree's age. 

We worked together to build fairy houses in the woods out of natural materials, like leaves and twigs.

Turns out not all forest fires are bad! We learned how fire can help a forest and how we can be fire safe!

We were astounded by the acrobatic arborists, who demonstrated how they trim and care for trees!

We got sweaty at "nature-cize"!

Each student received a lodge-pole pine sapling, Alberta's provincial tree! They will be delivered to the school on Monday. 

Our trip finished off with a toe tappin' song along with Peter Puffin!

This week rocked, we're exhausted, and we can't wait to see what Monday brings!