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. 

He picked up a 2 ... 

... so he put it down where the 2 goes. 

When he placed his card in the 2 spot, he picked up a 7 (formerly face down in the 2nd place). Off the 7 goes to spot 7!

When he put the 7 down, he picked up a 3, so off that card goes to the 3rd place. 

Notice how when he put his 3 down, he picked up the card in that spot? It is another 7! He already has a 7, so he gets to call JUNK IT and discard it in the middle. 

His 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! 

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!

Problematic Peas and Carrots

We like to joke in our classroom that our brains get really hot when we are thinking and working hard! Although it was a chilly day, we had warm brains in our Math class!

We continue to explore numbers to 20. Today we were presented with a problem:

The children collaborated to find a solution to this open-ended problem. Manipulatives (e.g. counters, blocks, bean bags), whiteboards, and chart paper were all on hand. The children were encouraged to use objects, pictures or numbers to explain their thinking.

Here are a few of the final solutions the children recorded in their Math Journals:

Did you notice that there is no one right answer? The children enjoyed the fact that there were many "right answers" to this problem.

When solving problems, the children are encouraged to draw functional pictures, not fancy ones. In fact, while pictures should be organized and legible, it is not uncommon for scribbles or arrows to be scattered across their work as they carefully count and double-check their answer with the information in the problem.

Many more open-ended problems are to come!

Are the Grade 1's scuba diving?

No, we're not scuba diving, we're subitizing!

We have recently begun a new math unit exploring numbers to 20. One of the major concepts we have tackled is subitizing. Subitizing is being able to look at a group and know how many are there, without having to count each individual item. In short, subitizing is "instantly seeing how many". We subitize when we roll a dice. You didn't have to count the dots to know you rolled a six, right?

We have really enjoyed the challenge of playing different games to practice our subitizing.

Subitizing BINGO



Enormous Snakes and Ladders using a set of
 subitizing cards rather than dice



 Memory



Interactive games on the SMARTboard



Kaboom!
 (based upon the traditional card game "war")


Subitizing helps us see patterns, identify relationships between numbers, and understand place value. We have subitized using a tool called a ten-frame. Ten-frames are two rows of five boxes, and can help us see how numbers relate to five and ten. Here is a ten-frame:

We made a giant ten-frame and filled it with crazy kids to show the numbers 1 through 10:

Ten-frames will also support us as we explore addition and subtraction in the coming weeks, and we can even put two ten-frames together to work with numbers to 20.

Are you up for a challenge? Play the subitizing game below. Can you quickly say how many dots there are on the ten-frame? Here is a hint: sometimes the empty frames can help us know how many frames are actually full. Careful, it's fast!