Establishing Routines, Exploring Materials

The Kindergarten Mathematicians met this week and learned about the routine of our time together. We arrive in the classroom, take attendance, and then move on to a workshop time, then it's back to the rug for wrap up and a story or number game. We talked about our dreams for learning this year, and I've posted them here. Typically I introduce this topic by talking about math and what it means, and then we move on to talking about our own ambitions. The group is quite diverse in it's interests, as you'll see!  Each week I will chronicle our learning in this blog. Enjoy!

 Until Next Time,
Michele

Weaving Preview

We spent this week weaving in anticipation for the time that we will spend with the first graders weaving in the classroom. The children quickly learned the "over under" pattern, how to keep track of which side to insert the thread into, and how to focus on their work.

Absorbing work!
Until Next Time,
Michele

Playing the Game!

We finished the games that we were making this week and tried them out with our friends. There were some last minute changes (dice instead of cards, bigger spaces to jump to) but the children were very happy with the success of their games. Creating a game requires thinking ahead, having a start and a finish, some logic to the placement of the pieces, and following through.

Until Next Time,
Michele

What makes a game a game?

The kindergarten mathematicians have played games and made games this week. We talked about what we needed to have our "game" be a game-some thoughts that were shared included a spinner, a board, tiles or money, something to move along, and a story. We started to make our own games and will be practicing with them to see if they work! If not, it's "back to the drawing board!"

Until Next Time,
Michele

Surveys

We continued to collect data this week, and talked about our lunches and favorite foods, and learned how to take yes/no surveys. The k mathematicians learned quickly how to keep track of a large number of responses as we moved out into the halls to ask others questions. The K's were surprised by some of the responses (who doesn't like dragons?!) but overall were very enthusiastic about collecting and collating their data.We asked everyone in the school that we could find!

Until Next Time,
Michele