More on place value...

The students are working so very hard to understand addition and place value. 

I am finding however that many of them wish to use the traditional algorithm while they have little understanding of place value and the how-much-ness of a number. E.g. If I say 28 - your child needs to understand that the 2 is not two but twenty - or 2 tens. 

Children need endless opportunities to use numbers in authentic and meaningful ways so that, when they are ready to use a traditional algorithm, they will see immediately if their answer is unreasonable. E.g. the answer to 38 + 13 should be approximately 50 since 38 is close to 40, and 13 is close to 10, and 40 + 10 = 50. 

Many children will make the following mistake:

38 +

13   

411     and will not recognize that there is a problem here.

Practise addition with your child at home WITHOUT using the traditional algorithm. Instead, ask him/her to show you the other three ways we have learned to add. 

Place Value

The students have been working hard to master place value and represent numbers between 1-100.

I am attaching a fun game that I highly encourage you to play with your child.  This game will help them practise place value (tens and ones) and give them helpful strategies for addition and subtraction.

1) Use a blank hundreds chart.  Write only the numbers 1 and 100 on the chart.  Leave the rest blank.
2) Ask your child to locate a number on the blank 100's chart (say, 24).
3) Watch how your child locates the number 24 - is he/she counting each square (by 1s) or going to the  4s column and counting down by 10s?  Or is he/she counting by 10s and then adding 4?
All of these different strategies are helping him/her understand and represent numbers!
4) Think of another number and have your child find it
OR
5) You can add on an addition - once at the number 24, add any number (say, 11). 
6) Watch how your child adds the number 11 - is he/she counting by 1s or adding 10 to 24 and then adding 1?

This activity will help with mental math and aims to make addition and subtraction easier, as students pick up strategies for breaking down a number to 10s and 1s.

Amusez-vous!

A little social studies project

Today the students will be bringing home a celebrations chart. They are very excited to interview their parents about three celebrations and to report back to our class their findings. I have told them that they are journalists who will take notes, in either English or French. I will help them to translate if necessary. This work is due by Friday of this week. Students will present to their classmates on Monday of next week (March 4). Please only talk about celebrations which are important in YOUR family. Thank you!

Spelling words for Friday March 1st.

une fille - a girl

une paille - a straw

briller - to shine

un maillot - a bathing suit

gentille - kind/sweet (in the feminine form)

la taille - size

la vanille - vanilla

le travail - work

le grille-pain - the toaster

une écaille - a scale (i.e. on a fish)

Spelling words for Friday February 22

avec - with

une poubelle - garbage can

erreur - mistake

une fourchette - a fork

un bec  - a beak

lecture - reading 

le ciel - the sky   

un verre - a glass

une échelle - a ladder 

quelle - which (feminine)

La Saint-Valentin

Last week we talked about the Lunar New Year / Chinese New Year. This week we're learning all about Valentine's day!

We're having a class party on Thursday morning to celebrate both events. Please try to send in your child with a little something to eat or drink. The children would be so happy to receive anything you can spare, provided that all items are nut-free and gelatine-free.

Merci mille fois !

Spelling words for Thursday February 14

la fenêtre - window
la chèvre - goat
la grippe - flu
la prise - plug / outlet
la vitre - window pane
trop - too much
Mme Trott
propre - clean
préparer - to prepare
près - near