Math Suspense & Number Senses
By Mr. Darryl Lee, Department Head of Math, Junior School
Welcome back to another year filled with engaging activities designed to test our skills and more importantly, our senses, as in number senses. This season our students find themselves captivated in math classes where the theme-of-the-month is suspense, intrigue, and mystery, as in esti-mysteries. That’s right folks, number sense and estimation mysteries have been the highlight in the first chapter of this year’s book of math.
Welcome back to another year filled with engaging activities designed to test our skills and more importantly, our senses, as in number senses. This season our students find themselves captivated in math classes where the theme-of-the-month is suspense, intrigue, and mystery, as in esti-mysteries. That’s right folks, number sense and estimation mysteries have been the highlight in the first chapter of this year’s book of math.
After a lazy summer of fun and relaxation, our intermediate students have been busy working on dusting off their math skills and reviewing concepts to freshen up their number sense and computational fluency. Practice with place value concepts has dominated grades 3, 4 and 5, where students decomposed large numbers into smaller amounts based on the value of each digit. In grades 6 and 7 classes, students reviewed a variety of computational skills, including multiplication, division, rounding, comparing, converting between number forms, and geometric calculations.
Primary students in JK, kindergarten and grade 1 have happily explored math toys such as blocks, stickers, and dice to develop their understanding of patterns, shapes, and numbers. Meanwhile, grade 2 math classes piqued our curiosity with phrases such as estimation stations and esti-mysteries. Ms. Nitta provided the following update about what all grade 2 students have been up to in their math classes:
Our grade 2 students have been strengthening their number sense and estimation skills through hands-on exploration with various manipulatives, such as unifix cubes, pom-poms, and dice. Rotating through stations in small groups, students first estimated the quantity of objects and then discussed whether to group the items in 2s, 5s, or 10s. They then skip-counted to determine the actual totals. This engaging activity not only fostered teamwork but also solidified their understanding of key mathematical concepts in a fun and interactive way.
West Point Grey Academy
4125 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., V6R 4P9
Tel: 604-222-8750
Tel: 604-222-8750
Since 1996, West Point Grey Academy has gratefully resided on the Jericho Lands, the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation and sə̓lílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nation. Honoured to learn and play on these beautiful lands, we endeavour to be a leader in Indigenous education. In creating shared understanding and opportunities, we hope to help foster a more equitable society for all.