NO CLASS 10/21

Tuesday, October 21st is an early release day so there will be NO Math Club meetings next week.

WEEK FIVE: 10/14

We continued learning our second game or learning about the attributes that make up our second game.

DIV I: Learned the game rules for HEX-A-GON where students use pattern block shapes to cover the board.

DIV II: Spent more time learning and comparing the attributes of the game pieces used in PAR 55: Color, Shape, Size, and Thickness.

DIV III: Learned the game rules for FAB-A-DIFFY -- a game about making fraction equivalents.

WEEK FOUR: 10/7

We've moved on to a new game and for most of us, we spent today preparing to learn our second game next week by becoming familiar with new game pieces and their characteristics.

DIV I: We learned the colors and nomenclature of the shapes of the different blocks used in HEX-A-GON. We have a yellow hexagon, blue rhombus, brown rhombus, green triangle, orange square, and red trapezoid. We talked about the block characteristics, their proper placement when played (must share one common edge with other shapes), and how to create one type of block using smaller blocks together (for instance, two green triangles placed back-to-back will build a blue rhombus). We created our own designs and had our friends copy them and we also tried to cover a pre-printed designs using the blocks to get familiar with how to fill a space.

DIV II: We learned about attributes and specifically the ones used in our game PAR 55: COLOR, SHAPE, SIZE, and THICKNESS (CSST). We practiced describing the game pieces using CSST and then we made one-way, two-way, and three-way trains with our BANK of pieces. For example: if our train engine was a yellow triangle, large and thin we tried to find a yellow triangle that was large and thick to add to our one-way train; a yellow triangle, small and thick to add to our 2-way train, and then finally a yellow square that was small and thick to add onto our three-way train. This is fun math!

DIV III: Getting ready to play FAB-A-DIFFY next week, we reviewed lots of fractions, how to make fraction equations, and how to determine fraction equivalents. We also played a few fun games like fraction concentration!

RED WINS

We had the students in Math Club vote for their favorite T-Shirt design and the RED T-Shirt with the Math Pentathlon Shooting Stars won the popular vote by a landslide! One section of students actually tied 10-10 between the two finalists, but in most classes the vote for this design was overwhelming and it won both the electoral college vote and the popular vote! As part of the Math Club all students will get a T-Shirt but if you want one too and haven't ordered one, be sure to contact us right away!

WEEK THREE: 9/30

We continued playing our first games this week and reviewed a few game worksheets to help us think about strategy and imagine some what if scenarios. This was our last week for learning CALLA, FIAR, & CONTIG 60 but not our last week playing it! After each learning section, we'll have an Earthquake Game Day where the kids will have fun playing the games we have learned to date while having to be on the move from game to game and continuously changing their thinking.

The best part of this program is cooperative learning! We play in groups of four with two students on each team, who sit across the table diagonally from each other. The number one goal for our kids at this point is to say, "Partner, I'm going to make this move, because . . . What do you think?" We are trying to help our friends with learning the game and understanding strategic moves that help us to play better. We know that we are supposed to help each other now, so we can all play well at tournament when we are playing against students from other schools. The kids are really cognizant of including their partners in their decision making. This translates to better sharing and math skills for everyone.

Need Game?

The Math Pentathlon Institute is having a Back-T0-School Special on their games. If you are interested in purchasing a set for home use, be sure to visit their website soon! Offer expires October 5th.

http://www.innovativeecom.com/b2c/browse.pl?owner=90

T-Shirt Finalists

Here are our two T-Shirt Design Finalists! We had 17 entries and the decision to narrow the field was so difficult we had two rounds of voting. These designs will be sent to the students next Tuesday when they will vote for our club T-Shirt.

CONGRATULATIONS to FBE Mom & Artist Betsy Melton for both of these designs!

A special honorable mention for all of the artists who shared their time and talents in creating fantastic artwork for our club T-shirts: Stephen Dudley, Lauren Mack, Chanta Sheidow, Nikki Muirhead, and Lisa Mack.