Three in a row bingo!

This week we are featuring a game which builds place value knowledge.  

The best thing is that it uses no special materials, just things you can find around the house.   W3 T2

Three in a Row Bingo

You will need a tape measure (over 100cm is best) some paper clips and a deck of cards.

* Shuffle your deck of cards.  

* The first player chooses two cards to make a two digit number.

* Player one may then use this number, or a number ten more or ten less than the number.

* Player 1 then finds the number on their tape measure and marks it with a paperclip.   

* Player two confirms that the clip is in the right place.  

Play alternates until one player places the third paperclip in a row (like connect four).  They are then the winner!

With your cards

Kings & Jacks =0

Queen = wild card (your choice)

Make the rules easier by throwing out the picture cards and drawing one at a time. Use 1 more one less rather than ten.

Make the game harder by making a custom tape measure (number line) and allowing negative numbers or decimals.

Love the game?  Made a modification of your own?  Share on the St Matthew’s Facebook page!

Where are the algorithms?

Primary maths - different to when you were at school?!   

Often students will be working on maths at home which may appear different to the way it was taught in the past. As research into mathematical learning grows, we aim to use the best strategies we can to build our students understanding.

So where are the algorithms? Isn’t that ‘real’ maths?

As outlined in the syllabus, first we focus on estimating strategies. If you are learning at home a great prompt is “what would you expect / estimate / think the answer could be?” “How could you prove that?” or “How could you work that out?”

Students may find writing out informal mental strategies to be more efficient than using formal written algorithms. For example, 8000 − 673 is easier to calculate mentally than by using a formal algorithm.  

So if your child is inventing strategies or using a more unconventional method encourage it!  We will teach the formal algorithm methods when the time is right, and the answer impossible to work out any other way!

Array Games

Warm Up Games - Times Tables  

Being able to quickly recall times tables is an essential skill for solving mental maths questions. However, the importance is not on being able to recall rote learnt facts but to understand what the fact means.  The following array activity can help children to remember and understand times table facts in  a visual way.

You will need

2 or more players, a selection of counters or small items (pasta is great) and a dice.

How to play

- Each player rolls a die and makes that many rows (e.g. 6)

- Roll the die again and place that many counters in each row (e.g. 5)

- How many counters all together?  Invite your partner to check.  (e.g. 30)

- Extension - write / say / chant the multiplication or division fact that matches the array.  (e.g. 6x5 = 30  5x6 = 30    30 ÷ 6 = 5    30 ÷ 5 = 6).

- The player with the most counters wins the round and the point.  The first to five points wins!

Make it a challenge by using a die with more than 6 sides.  There are lots of websites and apps that feature random dice spinners.  Try googling ‘virtual dice’ to get started.

Double, Half, Stay? Games for at home

Double? Halve? Stay?

At St Matthew’s we have been very lucky to have some amazing visiting teachers from different universities.  Here is a game Miss Van Der Berg has introduced to us which you might like to play at home.

You will need - Two dice (a spinner or dice app works just as well)

Two or more players

How to play  

Choose a starting number between 6 and 132

Player 1 rolls their dice to find out their number (e.g. One dice represents the tens digit and one the units digit.  e.g. 3 and 4 makes 34 or 43)

They can then choose to double it, halve it, or leave it as it is to get the closest to they can to the chosen number.

Each player has a turn.  

The person with the number closest to the starting number scores a point.

Everyone chooses a new starting number.

The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.  

Make it easier - Use only one die or a 10 sided die / spinner

Make it harder - Use three dice, one for a whole number and two for tenths and hundredths.

What a great game for a rainy day!

Mrs Usher

BIG numbers

BIG numbers!

Learning how to read large numbers is a big confidence booster for students and helps them to recognise the maths in real life.   

This week try looking for large numbers in your environment and 

reading them together.

Some places you can might find larger numbers are:

In the newspaper

On television

Real Estate windows / advertisements

3 digit numbers on car number plates

House numbers on long streets   

km on street signs 

Top scores on computer games

What others can you find?  Add your suggestions to the comment section!

Learning about time

What’s the TIME?

Telling time is one of those areas of Mathematics which has obvious links to everyday life.  However many students have difficulty in this area, particularly when reading analogue time.

What should they be able to do?  

The Mathematics Syllabus suggests that at least, students should be learning to read:

Kindy - o’clock time

Stage 1 - half and quarter hour time

Stage 2 - time at one minute intervals

Stage 3 - 24hr time

Some ideas for learning time at home include

• Have a range of clock types (including different number styles and those with a second hand) in use in your home.
• Give your student an analogue watch to wear each day.
• Have an analogue clock next to a digital one so every time it is used the correlation between the two is clear.
• When children ask for  the time or when giving time based instructions use a variety of language and descriptions of the time e.g. Your bed time is at 8:30pm, or half past eight.  You will need to brush your teeth 15min before at quarter past.
• Set your iphone / ipad / device clock to 24hr time

• Estimate, measure and talk about elapsed time, e.g. “I predict that it will take us 25min to get to school on this rainy day”  

When is the right time to learn about time? All the time!!