Mid-February, Mr. Johnston welcomed family and caregivers to the Grade 2 classroom for some fun - exploring math concepts – during a Math Mania extravaganza. Parent/Teacher interviews occurred that same afternoon following completion of the school day, which made it a bit more convenient for those participating in the Math Mania to be already on-site for interviews.
Amidst some classic family favourite games like chess, snakes & ladders, and UNO, family members sat with their student and joined in on the learning fun. Mr. Johnston handed out an addition/subtraction worksheet as a bit of a ‘mental warm-up' to aid students in gaining number sense.He announced to the class that once it was determined that the students were comfortable and confident with these concepts, the class will advance to multiplication/division. Mr. Johnston encouraged families to help their student with counting by singles, doubles, fives, tens, fifties, etc., and shared that using fingers is welcome. “That’s why Creator gave them to us,” he smiled. He also added that counting out loud is a proven, effective way to develop strong math skills, because it improves retention and number sense. He encourages families to build on practicing these concepts together at home and expressed that by doing so, children will develop an interest and love for math in during everyday occurrences. At one point, Mr. Johnston and the students switched to counting out loud in Anishinaabemowin to showcase their language skills too!
The children were giggling infectiously, visibly excited to have a special family member in class with them and sharing in their learning. They would excitedly count their way up the ladder and slide down the snake’s back (in Snakes & Ladders), getting ever closer to the goal of counting to 100! Once they reached 100, students received a prize awarded by Mr. Johnston. If there was a tie on who reached 100 first, a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors ensued to see who would claim the prize. When the game switched over to UNO, students practiced counting while dealing out the cards to their circle, following the suit, colour, number and special rules on the card such as WILD, pick up 2 or 4, reverse, etc. The games are a very math-friendly tools for students to learn patterning, number identification, and counting.
Mr. Johnston summed up that his goal is to demonstrate ‘inadvertently’ to students and family members how a simple thing like playing cards can be great family entertainment but also great learning, without it feeling like homework! Miigwech to Mr. Johnston for planning this fun, interactive Math unit, that enabled parents to attend a learning session with their child, and to learn about some tools and ideas for incorporating math concepts into everyday life.
