Daily Calendar and Base-Ten Number System

We locate and label today, yesterday, and tomorrow on the calendar. We count how many days we have been in school. Each day is represented by a straw placed in a "ones" pocket. At every tenth straw, we bundle the group and put it in our tens pocket. The numerals are also represented on a labeled abacus. We count the fast way to 100 by tens. Students also move one "gumball" from our paper gumball machine to a white board to represent each day we have been in school. We use these multiple models to develop initial understanding of place value and the base-ten number system.

Cooking

This year we will make gingerbread men, apple pies, pumpkin pies, homemade butter, corn bread, "fruit turkeys" and many more tasty snacks. The children use measuring cups and spoons and follow a recipe.

Numbers

We spend a lot of time counting with manipulatives and recognizing "how many" in sets of objects. We spend time developing understanding of whole numbers and of ordinal numbers and their relationships. We connect number words and numerals to the quantities they represent.

Computation

We explore the various meanings of addition and subtraction. We will work to develop fluency of basic addition and subtraction combinations up to 10. We will use a variety of methods and tools to compute, including objects, mental computation, estimation, paper and pencil, and calculators.

Problem Solving

Problem solving is interwoven through all of our day. We build new mathematical knowledge through problem solving and adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems. We reflect on the process of mathematical problem solving.