My Mathematicians

I am a HUGE fan of Math Investigations! Several years ago I began searching for new approaches to math instruction after I was disappointed in my students Iowa math scores. (That is when first grade took the Iowa tests.) I began teaching math with the same philosophy of Investigations several years ago after taking a Marilyn Burns class. It was eye opening and helped me develop a passion for Math. I became even more excited when I saw results. So when they asked for teachers to pilot Investigations two years ago, I jumped at the chance and haven't looked back.

Students dived right into our Math tools. The exploration days are some of my favorites. I get to observe what students already know and what they discover during this time. Many of you saw the photos at Parent Info Night. Students were exploring symmetry. They discovered that you can put certain shapes together to create a new shape, and had much fun with patterns.

We have now moved onto number sense. We learned Collect 20 and then focused on counting and ordering quantities.

As we began Collect 20, I did not tell students how to organize their counters. This student chose to do rows of 5. I challenged him to figure out how many rows of 5 make 20. He was so excited to share what he learned with his classmates!

These students chose to make a pattern while playing Collect 20! 

These girls are working together to create staircases.

So proud of his finished product!!

This week we will continue to work on ordering numbers, but also comparing numbers.