A Rapid Rouding Game - 3rd Grade

As third graders begin to work on more complex  exercises, they will need some way to quickly double check their answers. That's why rounding is such an important skill set to master in third grade. The good part? "Rapid Fire Rounding" can be fun. This kinesthetic game will help your child practice this skill and get her adrenaline rushing.

What You Need:

• 9 pieces of poster board in various colors
• masking tape
• large black marker
• index cards
• stop watch

What You Do:

• Label the poster boards by hundreds from 100 to 900 (100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900). Each poster board should have one number on it. Tape these all in a row to the ground outside, or in an open space in your home where it's okay to stomp on them.
• On the index cards, write a variety of numbers from 100 to 900, such as 136, 879, 510, etc... There should be about 40 cards.
• Tell your child that you are going to hand him a card, and he has to round the number to the nearest hundreds place and then jump on the correct answer as quickly as he can. After three tries to get the slickest time, switch places. Now it's your turn to claim the title as the fastest rounder!
• After a few rounds like this, shuffle the poster boards around so that they are no longer in order, but all mixed up. How does this affect your time?

Play the Number Sentence Game - 2nd Grade

Now that your second grader has beginning addition under his belt, it's a good time to try comparing and ordering numbers. Inject a little fun into the process by playing a quick number game that's all about building number sentences.

What's a number sentence? Your kid should already be familiar with one type of number sentence: the equation. For example: 4 + 2 = 6. This game is based on inequalities, like 9 > 4 or 3 < 7. Use the alligator trick if he needs a little help: pretend the symbols are alligator mouths, and remind him that the alligator always eats the bigger number!

What You Need:

• 30 number cards: 3 each of numbers 0 - 9
• 10 symbol cards: 3 greater than symbols (>), 3 less than symbols (<), and 4 equal signs (=)
• 2 players

What You Do:

1. Before beginning the game, decide if you're going to play with one-, two-, or three-digit numbers. Shuffle the number and symbol cards together and deal 10 cards to each player face down. Place extra cards in a pile face down in the middle of the table.
2. Have each player turn over his cards at the same time and begin making number sentences.
3. When each player has made as many number sentences as he can from his 10 cards, it’s time to declare if each sentence is true or false.
4. Have each player read his sentences aloud. After each sentence, another player calls out "true" if he thinks the sentence is correct, or "false" if he thinks it isn't.
5. When the players have finished reading their senteces, have them save their correct sentences, and mix up their incorrect sentences to use in the next round.
6. Have the players draw enough cards from the pile to bring their hand back up to 10.
7. Now start the next round. Rounds continue until there are no more cards left in the pile. The player with the most “true” sentences wins!

Grade Information for Parents - Term 1 Maths

Maths Grade 5

Counting Partitioning and Calculations Number sequences Decimal notations and partitioning. Rounding large number to the nearest multiple. Using calculator to solve multi-step problems. Estimate and check calculations. Knowledge of place value and multiplication facts. Securing Number facts Understanding Shapes Knowledge of place value and multiplication facts to 10x10 to derive to multiplication and division facts. Classify 2 D shapes with perpendicular or parallel sides. Draw shapes with knowledge of their properties. Data Handling and Measures Solve problems by interpreting data Construct and interpret tables, bar charts, line graphs and pie charts. Use standard metric units of measure for conversions. Read scales and answer questions accurately. Answering questions about data. Work out different types of average. Calculating Measuring and Understanding Shapes Unit Add subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers and decimals. Convert measurements. Solve problems with several steps Add, subtract, multiply and divide whole numbers and decimals Use calculator to solve multistep problems Estimate results of calculations. Read and interpret scales. Finding perimeters and areas of shapes. Securing Number Facts, Calculating and understanding relationships Use place value and tables to work out facts. Simplify fractions and put them in order of size. Record calculations and solve problems. Problem solving involving fractions, decimals and percentages. Relate fractions to multiplication and division.

Maths Grade 4

Counting,partitioning and calculating using and applying mathematics counting and understanding number Knowing and using number facts Calculating Securing number facts,understanding shape Using and applying mathematics Knowing and using number facts Calculating Understanding shape Handling data and measures using and applying mathematics measuring handling data

Maths Grade 3

Mental Maths: Number bonds (up to 20, 50 and 100) Simple multiplication facts Multiply by 10 and 100 Add and subtract mentally pairs of two-digit whole numbers. Problem Solving: Carry out one step and two step calculation involving the four basic operations. Number & Calculation:   Recognise and continue number sequences formed by counting on or back in steps of a constant size. Partition, round and order four digit whole numbers. Use positive and negative numbers in context and position them on a number line. Learn the symbols > and < than Identify doubles and halves

Maths Grade 2

CLASS WORK AND MENTAL MATHS Counting, partitioning and calculating numbers Knowing and using number facts Handling data and estimate, measure and record measurements Understanding shape

Welcome to our Maths blog!

Welcome to a new year at the ABC! This year promises to be an exciting one full of Maths! In this blog you will be able to find different activities and ideas that can help you develop your Maths skills in a fun way! 

Have fun with Maths during summer time!

Studies show kids' math skills will deteriorate over the summer. In fact, children typically lose an estimated 2.5 months of learning over the break. The good news is, it’s easy to help your children avoid backsliding so they can hit the ground running next school year. Learning math under the sun can be a blast for kids. Here are five fun ways to keep math top of mind for your children as they soak up the rays:

1. Ponder the Kiddie Pool. The same kids who probably can’t wait to dip their toes into the kiddie pool also need to cultivate the important and difficult skill of estimation. Before they wade in have them guess the gallons of water it’ll take to fill the pool past their ankles. How close did they come? For additional opportunities to measure consider throwing a graduated cylinder into the mix of water toys. Older kids can join the fun too. Challenge them to calculate the circumference, diameter and radius of the pool. Divide the circumference of the circle by the diameter to find pi. As the water flows this summer so do the opportunities to teach your children math.
2. Grow a Math Garden. Your garden isn’t only teaming with life but opportunities to teach children math. For example, how much water and fertilizer will be needed to nourish the garden? How many pounds of fruit and vegetables the garden will produce? Or, pick one vegetable or flower to measure its growth over the summer and chart its progress. For older kids, you can overlay the garden with a grid to easily measure the square footage. Teach children how to multiply one of the side rows by the bottom row to determine the total number of squares.
3. Keep Score. The next time you take your kids to the ball park encourage them to keep score. For younger children, you can use popcorn as a visual to aid in learning. You can kick it up a notch for the older kids by teaching them how to calculate a batting average.
4. Bike and Boost Math Ability. You can power your children’s math abilities as they pedal their bikes this summer. You can teach kids how to calculate their “revolutions per minute” or RPMs through counting. Each time their right knee comes to the top of a stroke within a 15 second period is a measure of their RPMs. Keep time while they count. Don’t forget to pack in one last lesson as you pump up the tires. What a perfect time to introduce the concept of pressure per square inch or PSI.
5. Feed the Birds and the Brain. Hang up a bird feeder and let the learning begin. How much bird food will it take to fill the feeder? How often will it need to be refilled? Collect data about the types of birds that visit the feeder. Add the number of birds on a given day and calculate the differences day to day. How many more or less visited yesterday versus today? If 10 birds ate from the feeder and two were Finches what percentage of the birds were Finches? 

Math doesn’t have to go out the window as kids play outside this summer. If you make math apart of the fun, it’ll be meaningful and memorable.

Primary Maths Day - 16th of May

Math Up the Olympics! Part 2

Discuss Decimals and Fractions Many Olympic medals are won or lost by tiny increments of time, distance, or points. In the 2004 games, for instance, Dwight Phillips (USA) won the men's long jump with a leap of 8.59m, while second place went to John Moffitt (USA) with a distance of 8.47m. Use figures like these to explain how decimals relate to fractions: 0.59m is the same thing as 59/100m.
Slip in an introduction to precision in measurement while talking to your child. Explain how the Olympic Games have changed throughout their history because of improvements in technology. Just fifty years ago, for example, stopwatches could only measure time up to an accuracy of 0.1 seconds—so if two runners finished a race within 0.1 seconds of each other, it was impossible to determine which athlete had the faster time. Today, computers are used instead of stopwatches—and they can measure time up to an accuracy of 0.001 seconds. That's a hundred times more precise, and it makes it much easier to know who's really won an event.  

Go Over Graphing Choose a sport, athlete, or country to follow over the course of the Olympic Games, and use the data you and your child collect in order to create a graph. For instance, your child can compile a graph demonstrating how many medals are won by any country on each day of the games. Or, create a graph showing the best daily scores that are recorded in a particular event. Talk to your kids about how graphs make it easy to see the overall trend of a person's or a country's achievements. You might also point out how a graph can clearly reflect an upper limit on human abilities. (No one is ever going to be able to swim the 100-meter backstroke in just 20 seconds, for example, and that particular point on the graph would therefore be very far away from the line showing the best times.)