Number Hunt

On a chilly day it is fun to go on a number hunt around the school to search for numbers. We used tallies to record how many of each number we found. 

Bubble Wrap Print Making

We placed some paint and bubble wrap at the art center and invited the children to explore making prints. 

The children painted the bumpy side of the wrap. 

And stamped it on the paper. 

The result was a beautiful mixture of colours and prints. 

Brrrr!

It seems like winter has arrived a little early this year! Please remember to dress your child for the weather as we do spend time each day playing outdoors. Snowpants, boots, a scarf, hat, warm coat and mittens that are all labelled with your child's name would be appreciated. Also, please remember that if your child wears boots to school s/he needs a pair of clean indoor shoes. These can be left at school in your child's cubby for your convenience. Many thanks!

Magic 10

We played a fun game today called Magic 10. You need 10 dice and a 10 frame to play. 

Once you have your materials you roll all 10 dice. The number that is rolled most becomes the magic number. 

The dice showing the magic number are placed on the ten frame. This is a quick reference to see how many dice rolled have the magic number and how many more are needed to fill the frame. 

The dice are rolled and rolled until the 10 frame is filled. 

Then the game is won!

Plasticine

Plasticine is a great sculpting material. It's firm so it holds its shape well and comes in a variety of colours. It's very challenging to manipulate so it works well to strengthen the little hands and fingers that create with it. Strong fine motor muscles help with future pencil grasp and writing abilities. 

Creating Addition Sentences Using Dice

We offered the children blank paper, dice, and pencils today and were interested to see what would happen when they visited this centre.

The children naturally began to toss the dice and write addition sentences!  We offered a large hundreds chart so they could refer to a model of a larger number that they were unfamiliar with writing.

Many children eagerly wrote their addition sentences, recognizing the number represented on the face of the die without counting (this is called subitizing)!

Some children even challenged themselves to add three and four digits by throwing three and four dice at a time! Wow!

It was so exciting and rewarding for us to observe that the children were able to add the numerals in their heads without counting the dice. Some children throwing four dice were able to add two and two together in order to represent four dice with a two digit equation. Amazing!

Lest we forget

The children worked together today to create some beautiful artwork to reflect upon the meaning of Remembrance Day. Next time you're in be sure to see the display in front of our classroom.