Math

Numbers...addition-subtraction, multiplication-division,place value, base 10 units, area models...ooh the list could go on. I have only been at the Northwest Mathematics Conference for one day and my head is already swimming, but what great ideas I have for Monday.

Be expecting lots of wonderful tips on how to help your child with math concepts at home to be coming soon.

Thinking of math all day reminded me of something I wanted to discuss after a parent asked me about "extended notation" during our conference.

The students and I have talked about the fact that math has 3 languages-words, symbols, and models. For example- numbers and mathematical operation signs [+, -, x, division(my computer won't let me do the division sign)] are all symbols. Have you ever thought of numbers that way? Think about it what does a 3 really represent. It represents a number of items. You can't really "touch" 3 (abstract), but you could touch the items (concrete). There are a lot more ma thematic symbols, but these will do for now.

We can write numbers as words, twenty-nine, and we can also write mathematics word problems. If Megan had 5 books and her friend Veronica had 5 books, how many books would they have altogether.

We can draw models of our mathematical thinking, which really helps us find answers to math problems. If my computer would let me, I would draw a group of 5 books and then a second group of five books to show 2 x 5=10. I could also draw an area model with 2 x 5 dimensions (I can't draw it on the computer, but your child should be able to draw it for you because we have been working on area models a lot lately).

The students have played a game called Circle and Stars that helps them to make the connection between math languages.

Here are some other ways numbers can be represented and you may have seen homework that asks for one of the following math language for numbers:
Numbers in word form: three thousand four hundred ninety-two
Numbers in standard form: 3,492
Numbers in expanded form: 3,000+400+90+2

Hopefully this information will help you and your child on future math homework.