Ms. Bearse's Site

Grade 9s started off by collecting data on their multiplication skills. We are multiplying daily, and discussing strategies to multiply more easily. Eventually we will graph our progress.

After that, we looked at the pythagorean theorem, and how to use it to calculate one of the perpendicular sides, when the hypotenuse is known.

This video really helps us visualize the pythagorean theorem, and why sometimes we add the squares together, and why sometimes we subtract.

We then applied our knowledge to solve a rather complex problem.

We are working at the boards so that everyone can see our work, and we can get help from others easily.

we are working on clear communication of our solutions.We are showing our steps, and writing out our formulae clearly. We have shown good skills with BEDMAS too.

Excellent work today grade 9s!

Today in 1L we worked on understanding place value, and rounding numbers to the nearest ten or hundred.

We used a concept circle to show our understanding. The center of the circle defines “one”, and then we used that to build larger numbers out of the base 10 blocks. Sometimes the base 10 blocks were given, and we needed to write the number.

Because of popular requests we did worksheets today with a focus on place value and money. After considerable practice, we learned a new game: tug of war. Each player takes their turn to roll 2 dice and move that number of spaces towards their end of the game board. The winner is the one who gets the game piece to exit the game board on their side.

With the few people that braved the weather on our snow day, we worked on money math in 1L.

We are representing values using different combinations of coins. We’re looking at how to write money as a number of dollars, or also a number of cents. These ideas of place value, will be a theme for a while in our class.

Grade 9s did their first 3 act math task today. For 3 act tasks we watch a video, or see a picture, and then we notice and wonder things about the initial situation. We think about information that we’d want to know, or we make connections to other concepts we’ve learned or questions we’ve solved.

Taco cart act 1 video

After watching the video and doing some initial thinking, we look at what more information would be needed to solve the problems we want to solve.

Act 2 of the problems start with more released information, in this case, 2 distances, and 2 speeds.

And students set about calculating the missing information, and determining who would get to the taco cart first.

We work standing up because it encourages collaboration. The vertical surface can be seen around the room, so we can all learn strategies from each other.

We consolidate the learning (today’s learning was about the pythagorean theorem, and how to communicate math solutions) in a discussion using student work as the starting point.

The 3rd act is a concluding video/image which shows the answer to the problem, so we all can know the answer.

Grade 9s worked today on a task of circling all the numbers from 1 to 100 in order. The task was first done independently.

And then later done as a team to see if it could get done faster that way.

What is interesting about this task is that after a little while, a pattern emerges, if everyone is taking turns and using their own marker.

Every number is in a quadrant. Once we recognize that, we can plan effectively, and improve our strategy!

Groups began to get up, and cluster close together

People helped others find their next number

And we found great success in our teamwork.

What had originally taken over 10 minutes to do independently could be accomplished in under 2 minutes in a well organized team.

We brainstormed what it looks like/sounds like/feels like to be in a good team afterwards, and are going to refer back to our list over the course of the term.

In our 1L class, we are working on numeracy concepts, and have looked at adding to start with. We are really good at adding 2 numbers to make 10.

With this game board each player takes turns placing 2 markers on circles that add to make 10. There’s some strategy involved, because each player is trying to build the longest chain of their colour marker.

We played for a bit, and then had a class tournament complete with a competition bracket. We are now really good at adding to 10. We’ll keep practicing this skill over the term.

Grade 9s started today with a problem to solve.

On the cards is a grid, a city plan. Each row and column can have one building of each height (1 floor, 2 floors, 3 floors, 4 floors). On each side of the plan is a number which tells how many buildings are visible from that position.

We developed good strategies to solve the logic problem, and worked on our group collaboration and speaking in French.

Sometimes it seemed really tough to get started. There are many perspectives to consider!

We worked together and found that each of the different puzzle boards could be solved using a similar method. Some perseverance was definitely required!

Grade 10s are writing their exam today. It’s been a good semester! Best of luck to everyone.