Maths Workshop for the Whanua

On 27th of May we had a Maths workshop for the parents to update them on how Maths is taught in our class and across the school. At our school, in Maths we focus on problem solving  and using mathematical language, making it easier for children to make connections with Maths as a part of their daily life and it's not a subject to be afraid of.
The workshop was attended by eight parents and we had Ms. Christie to share how Maths is taught in her class (Y3/Y4). It was nice to have Ms. Christie because it  showed the parents how the knowledge, strategies and language that children learn progresses from primary levels to higher levels.

The key points I focussed were around  the  mathematical language we use in Room 9:

Calendar Maths - What day is today? what day will be tomorrow? or we can say what day comes after? What day was yesterday? what day comes before?
In four more days what day/date would it be? So today is Tuesday - Children put Tuesday in their head and show four fingers and count on.

What is the date today? or Yesterday was 26th, what comes after 26th or what is one more than 26? 

Even and Odd - So today is  27th of May. Is it a Even number or an Odd number? How do you know it is an odd number? Can you show me? How many cubes do you need to make number 27?
Share it with your friend? How many cubes do you have now? how many cubes does your friend have? Is it shared equally? Do both of you have the same number?

Days at school -  We use beads string, marble jar and straw pipes to make tens. So that children can make connections.
How many days have we been at school? say 64 - how many lots/ groups of tens in  64? How many ones? How many more days until 70? 
We have a jar template in our room and blue-tack marbles on it. We use it for showing days at school. How many rows of ten? How much is that altogether?

Number of the day - What is one less then? What comes before? What is one more /what comes after?.

Fractions - How many part is this cake cut into? What fraction of the cake has blue icing? What fraction has dots on it? You have cut your pie into quarters, how many people can  you share it with?   Parents  can ask how many parts do you want me to cut your apple into? Focus on the language - half, halves, thidrs, quarters. fifths, sixths, sevenths etc.

Making Groups - Get 14 cubes, How many lots of ten will that be? How much is that altogether?How many ones? If I add one more of ten? How many groups of ten will that be? How many tens is that altogether? How many in all?

Problem Solving - Focus is on key words/information. Children know that literacy and Maths is interlinked. We read the problem together and focus on key words, then we focus on "What is it asking us to do?"

In Room 9 my little angles know that Reading,Writing and Maths are integrated. So no excuse to say I cannot read or solve the problem.

If it says altogether -- how many together. join them. add, count on, addition , plus, more, +
it it is left behind - less, take-away. count back, minus,  -

For addition and subtraction we put big number in our head and count on and count back respectively.

I encourage my kids to count in 2's, 5's and 10's.

Ms. Christie shared how making groups at this stage is preparing them to be ready for times tables when they are in Y3/Y4.

For resources - Parents can use pegs for counting as it is readily available source, spoons and plate, numbers on the post boxes for even, odd, number before, after, less or more. 

Thank-you lovely parents for making time to come to this workshop. It was really appreciated.
A big thank-you to Corbin's Mum for bringing yummy cupcakes to share with us.
Thank-you Ms. Christie sharing your ideas and making time for us.