September 28

Who gets the bigger half?

fractions

fraction |ˈfrakʃ(ə)n| noun

a numerical quantity that is not a whole number (e.g. 1/2, 0.5).

a small or tiny part, amount, or proportion of something: he hesitated for a fraction of a second | her eyes widened a fraction.

For the past few weeks we have been investigating the mathematical concept of fractions.

We had all heard the words like half and quarters and began to share our understandings of what we thought fractions were. Alex Narcys, our Maths coordinator, wanted to come in and work with us further on this concept.

We began by reminding ourselves of what we valued when doing maths and what we didn’t like as well. You may want to revisit our earlier post on that from term one for our posters.

All photos taken by Ellen

img_0872

Alex began by showing the students a bowl of fruit but we didn’t know how many apples there would be.

screen-shot-2016-09-25-at-9-43-02-pm

img_0873

They all worked out that there were 6 apples. To solve this problem, students discussed their reasoning and the strategies used such as addition, others were using the language of halves and doubling numbers. They agreed on getting the language and concept right.

So what is a half?

Halves are two equal pieces

fractions-halves-5-728

It soon became clear that students knew what made a half two equal pieces ….. or did they?

Alex gave them all squares and challenged them to find as many ways as they could to show half. After folding down the middle some had to think again, does it always have to be in the middle?  What could a different way look like?

What do you think of these samples?

Then we tried the same task with wavy lines… that was challenging but fun.

Fraction Walls

img_1109 img_1110

It was time to get building. We began to build fraction walls. Starting with a whole brick, we laid the foundation stone. Taking another brick we cut that into two equal pieces and laid that above. The third layer was divided into three bricks, the fourth into four bricks and so we went on to build strong walls. Ellen let us find our own ways to make the equal sized bricks.

Getting the bricks to be all equal sizes was a challenge. Children discovered  amazing strategies to get them to work. They realised wholes could be folded into halves and once they knew how to get thirds they could get sixths by folding thirds into halves. They all agreed the hardest was the fifths and then they thought ninths was almost impossible. But with persistence and strategic thinking, they completed their walls.

So what do we know now?

  • that fractions are equal pieces
  • a whole can be divided into many smaller equal pieces – these are called fractions.
  • the more you divide the smaller the size of the fraction
  • fractions have mathematical names -top is the numerator how many fractions and lower is the denominator how many equal pieces

You think you know it? Can you show it?

Mr Narcys wanted to see us put that new learning into practice. Choosing a random fraction he wanted us to show the fraction in different ways as a circle, in a square, as a collection, on a strip of paper and on a number line. We had these fractions  1/2, 1/3, 1/4 or 1/5 to pick from. Some children sighed with relief when they got 1/2 and 1/4. Others groaned when they got 1/3, 1/5. Why do you think that?

The children found themselves using a lot of mathematical problem solving strategies particularly organising equal fifths. However they were collectively challenged by showing fractions on a number line.

We know where we need to put some investigation into for next term…. Numberlines

Stay tuned for more fraction investigations.

What did you enjoy about working with fractions?

What did you find tricky to do?

How would you explain fractions to a year two student?

What else do want us to investigate about fractions next term?

September 28

Lost in Space

maan

Grange has another fundraising activity that was fun to do. Kids Arts Works turns children’s art into various objects such as calendars, diaries, cards, mouse mats or sketch pads.

 

We supply the art, they make the products and for every one sold our school gets a percentage. As we have been learning about objects in space for science, we thought we would use that topic for our theme. Check out their adventurous astronauts…. who got…..

We thought families would like to see before you buy.

I thought they did a great job. What do you think?

September 25

Obstacle-A-Thon 2016

tumblr_nga6ymfsjc1qes46so1_400

This busy tumbler animation shows just how busy our legs had to be today

Friday 23rd of September our school held a fund raising activity where we were challenged to work through various physical activities. There were 10 to get through. Thanks to Jack’s Mum Liz for helping out (imagine coming to school on your birthday!)

Our activities were….

  1. Inflatable Obstacle course
  2. Basketball rings
  3. Mini trampoline
  4. Hurdle run soccer weave
  5. Tennis lacrosse
  6. Lava island
  7. Cup stacking
  8. Swordfish
  9. Water bucket relay
  10. Hoops

Lucky for us the sun decided to shine merrily although it made us little warm as a result our strenuous efforts. After lunch we reflected on our session.

I liked the hula hoops because it was fun.   Mica

 

I really liked all of the activities, but some were a bit boring because I had to wait around. My Favourite one was the inflatable obstacle course.   Lakeisha

Mini Trampoline aim to bounce and the somersault

The first activity was the mini trampoline. Look at them fly.

I really enjoyed the bouncy castle and the soccer thing.   Ryan

 

I enjoyed it all but it were hard.   Tyla

 

I loved all of the obstacles because all of them had running and I love running. Running is awesome.   Zahra

Soccer Weave and Tennis Lacrosse

Co-ordination is trickier than it looks

I really liked the inflatable obstacle course because you could go through the hole.   Kiara

 

I enjoyed the inflatable one but it was sad we only got one turn.   Jack

 

I liked the best mini trampoline because then I got to practice my tricks. It was my favourite because then we got to do freestyle.   Jorja

Swordfish  

Game to tag with sword under knees freeze in place, two people are freeers to release tagged

Swordfish was a challenge, it was hard not to have a duel.

I liked the noodle chasey because I like chasey and there was a reviver. I really wanted to do the running races so badly!   Riley

 

Pria said… It was really fun especially the inflatable course!

 

I think the obstaclathon was really good because all the activities were really fun, by going to all the fun activities.   Max

 

I thought that the obstaclathon was really great and that all the activities were great. I thought it was great because it is very active and fun.   Ruby

Cup Stacking

To stack 9 cups in three pyramids then unstack in three columns as fast as possible.

Unstacking was not as easy as stacking. The wind was a bit cheeky sometimes!

Hamish said….. I enjoyed everything because it was fun.

 

I liked the jumping castle it was fun because the slide was big and it was all squishy, so I fell over.   Ella

 

It was good because we had lots of different activities to do. But it was also warm.   Bella V

 

I liked the jumpy castle because you had to race someone and I didn’t know that I won the race.   Harry

Water Relay

We worked out to run slower with a full cup.

I loved it because we got to run and some got to compete in.   Nelson

 

I really enjoyed everything about the obstacleathon that I can not choose what one was the best.   Bella Z

 

I really enjoyed all the activities but sadly we didn’t do basketball rings because I’m really good at basketball.   James

Hoops

Holding hands with team members and pass a hoop through without breaking hands.

We tried hopes in a small team, then two teams, then as a whole class.

I really enjoyed the bouncy castle but I was really sad when we were only allowed one round.   Finlay

 

Maggie said.   I liked everything because it was lots of fun. I liked it more than sports day.

Bouncy Obstacle Course

In twos challenge to be first through the course.

What fun, but it was the end we ran out of time and shared our session with Ms Georgie’s class, so sadly we had one shot, and we missed basketball shoot entirely.

I thought they were all the best and I can not decide which one was best of all. Ty

 

Wil thinks all of the activities were fun but he really liked the noodles and jumpy castle because I was versing my best friend and the other one I liked because it was running.

 

Thanks to Laura who took some photos and managed the class while I was at a 3/4teachers meeting for part of the event.

What did you think of the day?

What would you do differently?

If you could organise an “-a-thon” what theme would you like to see? What would your activities be?

 

September 13

Who were these strange people in our class while I was away?

Hey, did you all have to come to school at night?

You were not working that slow were you!

You are all in you’re pyjamas. Did you all sleep in extra long?

What’s the story?

img_0817-1

Of course, it was the onesy fund raiser, silly me, I forgot. I think you all look like you need a hot cup of cocoa. Don’t you look cute. Looks like our class donated well, thanks team.

Wait a minute you were back out of dress code again. I think this is becoming a habit, was it dress up term?

Book Week 2016

img-php

img_0839

Which characters can you recognise?

How wonderful you all look in your Book Week Parade Costumes. I thought you all did well designing your characters. I was sorry to miss it, so I am glad Ms Belle took these pictures. Almost didn’t recognise some of you.

What fun you must have had.

What did you get up to?

How did you feel as your new character?

What do you like about dressing up?

Which character did you choose and why?

Who will you plan to come as next year?