Place Value thinking

In Maths yesterday we were representing numbers by using place value materials, (blocks and abacus). We then worked out how may thousands, hundreds, tens, ones and tenths were in each number that we made. It was great mathematical thinking!

The Maths Curse!

Today in our numeracy group we read "The Maths Curse" by John Schieska. In the story we read about lots of Maths problems. One of the problems in the story was:
Mrs. Fibbonaci had 24 children in her class. They are in 4 rows. How many children are in each row?
We all had to solve the problem and show our strategies. Then we talked about and explained our strategies to a buddy and then the group. We put our thinking onto a SOLO thinking rubric. We listed all of our stratgies (Multistructural outcome). Then we explained our strategies (Relational outcome). Lastly we created different problems, like 24 children in 3 rows, 6 rows and 8 rows... (Extended abstract outcome). It was pretty cool Maths thinking! 

Using compatible numbers to add

Today in Maths we were using compatible numbers to add a series of two digit numbers. Compatible numbers are ones that add to a tidy sum (10, 100): like 8 and 2, 7 and 3, 6 and 4, 1 and 9 and 5 and 5. 

We were given a series of numbers to add, and then had to find the ones digits that added to 10. For example:
24 + 36 + 12 + 38 + 15 = So, (4 and 6), (2 and 8) + 5 = 25
Then we added the tens digits, by rearranging them into groups, 
So,  3 tens and 3 tens + 1 ten + 1 ten + 2 ten = 10 tens
Then we added our tens and ones together. 
So, 10 tens (100) + 25 ones = 125. Here are photos of us solving these tricky addition problems using compatible numbers.