Algebra - Visual Literacy

We have been working through Algebra Puzzles. We know that accepting challenges and sticking with a problem helps the brain to grow. We have been making our own puzzles!

We came up with a co-constructed success criteria:

Include 4 or 5 pictures
The puzzle needs a good starting point
Make the puzzle 4 or 5 lines
It needs to include some numbers
We need to remember to do the multiplication first

It needs to be simple and clear

We are producing quality work!

Bug Algebra by Kyran

Ocean Algebra by Violet

Why puzzles in Maths?

1. They develop Critical Thinking skills so that you can problem solve in different situations

2. It exercises the brain. Practising these types of puzzles helps the brain to make connections. It helps your brain get used to focusing on a single problem.

3. It will help you to be a more successful Mathematician. You will be able to apply logic to work out Maths problems successfully.

Sarah Flannery, at age of 16, won the Young Scientist of the Year award in Ireland.

This is Sarah talking about Maths and the role her parents played in her own amazing achievements.
“My parents definitely let me see that mathematics was this beautiful subject. I think a lot of people never even hear those two words in the same sentence. So they gave that to me, and they gave me, through these different puzzles, where even I thought I couldn't start out on them, they showed me, no, you have lots of tools, and techniques, and ways to visualise, and get started, and you can do it.”

Ocean Algebra by Alice

Art Supplies Algebra by Olive

Frog Algebra by Henry

Plant Algebra by Kyran

Playtime Algebra by Raife

Sky Algebra by Marcia

Locky's Football Algebra

Squareness- Problem Solving

On Friday we worked with the Year 3 students in Tautoru. We were demonstrating leadership. 

We are learning about the properties of a square and problem solving together. We explored the concept of “squareness.” We know that a square has 4 equal sides and 4 right angles. 

We asked: How many squares can you find that have dots from this array as their corners?

Our brains are growing!

Learning with Minecraft

We love all of the creative ways that you are sharing your learning. Lots of you have been working on Minecraft projects. Minecraft enhances creativity, problem-solving, self-direction, collaboration, and other life skills. Good on you!

 

Minecraft Parthenon by Chris

Our Garden Design by Cameron and Hunter

This is my unfinished replica of my garden on minecraft by Caspian

My Garden Design By Mae

Maths is all around us!

Ella has been posting real life problems on Seesaw. We loved this idea and thought it would be a great activity for everyone. 

Can you add your own problems to the slides? 

 

One of Ella's problems: Grandma came to get some eggs. She brought with her two cartons. There was one space left in the cartons when they had their eggs in them. One box had 10 spaces and one had 6 spaces. Grandma asked - how many eggs were there? If there was a whole tray how many eggs would there be?

Olive has written a story about Number Frog. Number Frog can appear in Maths, story writing and is also helping the police to solve crimes! 

 

Exploring Mathematical Statements

Mathematical practices extend beyond conceptual knowledge. Practices used by good problem solvers involve explaining, justifying, arguing, representing and generalising.

In Maths this week we investigated a Mathematical Statement that some of our students have been curious about: If you add the same amount to both numbers in a two digit subtraction problem, how might it affect the answer? 

We found out that if you add the same number to both numbers you get the same difference.

Our Success Criteria was to:

• Explain our reasoning
• Say whether we agree/ disagree
• Listen to others and take on new ideas
• Negotiate a shared understanding of ideas
• Record our ideas in written form

Problem Solving: I am a thinker!

Students have been working on problem solving in Maths. You may have seen some of these on Seesaw. Our big focus is explaining our thinking and justifying our answers. Please continue these conversations at home...

After camp, our students made up their own problem solving activities for each other. We also sent these to Room 3 at Auroa School to solve. Students at Auroa School have made some problems for us. The photos are of us working on the problems that they wrote.

We have been working through a thinking process for problem solving. This is linked to our learner attribute: I am a thinker!

The problems on the slide below are from Auroa School:

Here are some of our camp problems. Can you solve them? 

Growth Mindset Messages in Maths

If students have a Growth Mindset in Maths it grows their Maths brains. Growth Mindset messages need to be reinforced at home and at school!

Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University says that when students are in a fixed mindset they see that effort means that they are dumb. When students are in a Growth Mindset they understand that the effort and difficulty will help them to get smarter. This is when their brains grow as they are making new connections and they are "really, really learning."

She says that praising student intelligence and talent is harmful. This puts them in a fixed mindset. It makes them afraid of challenge and less resilient when they make mistakes. If they have a fixed mindset, they only care about looking smart.

It is very important that parents and teachers praise the effort, the strategies that students use and the persistence that they show. This gives students a Growth Mindset. This helps students to overcome obstacles and stick with challenges when they are struggling.

We need to make sure that we are all using Growth Mindset messages in Maths (and also in other areas of the curriculum too).

These last few weeks, we have been really proud of our students who stuck with the challenge of designing their own "Greener Worser Bay School."

These students designed a bird feeder- this is their prototype

We have also been excited to see students celebrating mistakes in Number Talks. Some of them have even started to do a mistake dance when they get things wrong. It is great to see many of our students taking risks and having a go.

Transition

In our Transition Groups (now new base groups for 2018) students were given a Maths problem. They had to problem solve in teams. It was so exciting! Some of us acted it out and some of us drew the answer.

Parents were also invited to hang out in the spaces. It was great to have the opportunity to show them around.

Thank you to the parents who came to the Bring Your Own Device meeting after transition. If you have any questions about BYOD then please email Nicola nstevenson@worserbay.school.nz or John johnmcdougall@worserbay.school.nz

Learning Treasure Hunt: A Sneak Preview

Nau Mai Haere Mai!  Welcome to our Learning Treasure Hunt!

We are inviting our parents/caregivers in to see all that goes on on the classroom on Monday the 12th of September.  There will be a rich assortment of activities being run and managed by students.  These include Food Science activities, music, writing, and much more.  

The activity presented below is advanced taster of one of the Maths activities our guests will be having a go at.  If you want to look like a flash mathematician when you visit do this activity in advance and pretend that you have never seen it before.  Ha ha!

Sophia has just been given a dart game for her birthday.

The board has three rings.

The outer ring scores 4 points, the middle ring scores 7 points, and the inner ring 9 points.

The game has three darts.

(a) What scores can Sophia get?

(b) Sophia thought that was a bit boring so she decided that she could add and subtract the 4s, 7s and 9s. What possible positive scores could she get now?

Maths Week

It is Maths Week! Schools throughout New Zealand will be taking part in these activities. Today, some of us worked in groups to problem solve. We had to put our heads together to work out the answers. You can log into the Maths Week site at
http://www.mathsweek.org.nz/ and play the games that they have provided. 

Camp Kaitoke 2015

We all had an amazing time at Camp Kaitoke. We were all able to step outside of our comfort zone and try new things. We worked with lots of different people to problem solve. 

Our Camp Movie: