Bouquet: Andra & Hui Huang's mummy

Andra's mummy has generously contributed stickers and miscellaneous items for the auction game. Hui Huang's mummy has contributed some stationeries for the game too.

Thank you so much!

Commonly-made mistakes in word problem

I came across some mistakes while marking the children's homework. I hope that we can highlight these errors so that the children can avoid making them repeatedly.

1. Transfer errors (Pupils fill in the wrong answers especially for questions involving filling in the ovals)
2. No labelling of the unknown (?)

I'm glad the children remember my little tip of identifying the "than" in word problems. They usually involve the drawing of comparison models because we need to compare. The children used paper strips to do an activity today. Note that it is a 2-step word problem but it is not explicitly stated in the question.

 

MOE ExCEL Fest 2012 - 31 March

Dear Parents

MOE ExCEL is a yearly event. You can gain ideas and experiences from educators. For more information, please visit: http://www.excelfest.com

Homework on 24 Feb

Today's homework:

• Acknowledge Math topical review 2
• Complete Math Practice 4: Two-step word problems

We went through questions on page 77, 78 and 83(question a) in class.

Teaching Tip: Money

Dear Parents
Are your children telling you that their class teachers are giving out money?

Yes, we're giving out play money for good work and behaviour!

The play money comes in denominations similar to the local currency. Pupils earn the money by displaying good behaviour. It comes to them unannounced so that their true leadership is being recognised. Each child has an individual pouch to collect the play money. The curriculum calls for the topic 'Money' to be taught in the second semester. With practise now, the children can take time to process the concept of Money early.

Most children are able to complete their corrections on a regular basis. Nevertheless, I will allocate a day where they can thoroughly checked their work at home and make sure all corrections are completed. We hope to recognise their effort too. By shifting the learning responsibility to the children, we hope that they can take charge of themseleves.

What do children do with the money earned?

At the end of every term, we will be doing an auction. The money they had earned throughout the term will be enough to bid for the items they favour during the auction. I will be explaining to them again about the rules when the day draws closer.

No food items are included in the auction. These are no-frill new items that families and friends contributed over time. If you have items you have no use for and would like to contribute to the bidding box, please e-mail me at huang_wanyi_hazel@moe.edu.sg 

Feedback on Topical Review 2

Some children from P2 Thinker made a mistake on questions 7 and/ or 8. They are recommended to think in number bonds. Please refer to this post.

You will come across the writing of M1A1 on their papers under the word problem section. 'M' refers to Method and 'A ' refers to Answer. 2 marks are allocated to each question in Q9 and Q10. A child's correct answer is dependable on his/ her method (i.e. working/ number sentence). If the method is wrong (e.g. wrong operation used) then the answer will be marked wrong. However, if the child used the correct operation and made a mistake in the process which results in the wrong answer, he/ she will be awarded M1 (only the method mark).

Hope this helps!

PS: Please acknowledge the review paper and return to me by this Friday - 24 Feb. Monday - 27 Feb.

Math Workshop for Parents on 17 Feb

Dear Parents

It’s a pleasure meeting everyone in school last Friday. Thank you so much for your attendance despite your busy schedule. Really appreciate your participation and feedback. I'm including a summary to recap on the key content discussed at the workshop; you can download the slides for your reference:

Math workshop slides

View more presentations from HazelHuang.

1. George Polya & the 4 steps of problem solving

• Read > Plan > Do > Check. Understanding the word problem is crucial. In Mathematics, children are dealing with two aspects. (1) The Math concepts (2) The English Language. Read the questions properly and do not jump to conclusions too quickly.
• For example, Question 4 of part-whole model, pupils need to know that people includes adults and children. Adults include men and women. Children refers to boys and girls.

2. R-CUB:

• See the slide on "A Good Practice'. Recommended that children spent more time to analyse the questions rather than making assumptions.

3. What P2 children need to know

• Part-whole model & comparison model. For some questions, we can use either one.

4. Good habits

• Number bonds. Please read this post.
• Writing the total value under each place value. Please read this post.

5. Model drawing books

• You can purchase these 2 books at Popular for your own reference

Keep in mind that model drawing is only one of the heuristics taught to children. Let's do a good job by imparting skills to the children necessary for them to be a problem solvers. Do not limit your child to just model drawing for all kinds of word problems. Allow them to explore various options and stick to those that they are most comfortable with.

Thank you for your attention!

What's your style?

Dear Parents

Pardon me if you have heard this many times. Please read this article.


Thank you.

Model Drawing

Dear Parents


The use of models was introduced to the children today. As explained to the children, models are used to represent any number, as long as they are proportionate to the numbers in the question.



Models can be presented like A or B.


Based on what they have learnt from number bonds, they would know that from the number sentence 2 + 7 = 9 , 2 and 7 are parts and 9 is the whole. Similarly, the smaller portions are known as parts, and the entire bar is known as a whole. The parts and whole could be any number, as demonstrated to the children.

This worksheet was given to the children last year. It helps the children to see the abstract concept before I formally introduce to them model drawing in Primary Two.

URGENT: List of children who have yet to return Math files

Dear Parents

The following is the list of children who have yet to return their files:

• Andra (absent)
• Eva (absent)
• Ying Xi
• Brice
• Hui Huang
• Andrew
• Chunyi
• Vernice

I will be doing filing on this Friday.


Thank you for your help.

Miss Huang

Math & carpark coupons

I'm very thankful to have many supportive parents/ guardians in this class. Last year, I was in need of used carpark coupons and many children came forward to donate the carpark coupons. They used these coupons to create number sentences in a Math worksheet. Many children find this fun (the result was reflected in a class survey conducted last month) and I hope to extend this activity to the rest of the P2 classes. If you would like to contribute those used carparks coupons, do pass them to your children.

Thank you in advance!

English Homework

Hi Parents,

                                           English Homework given on Friday, 10/2/12

1. Spelling CPS

2. Learning Sheets (Unit 4: A Butterfly is Born) - pg 6 and 7

Thanks! :) 

FTGP Journal

Finally the FTGP print copies have arrived. All P2 pupils will be given a copy each. I'll be sending home this book next week for you to browse. Subsequently, I will be keeping this book in class for the rest of the year. The stickers in the book is for the purpose of completing some activities. Not for the children's own use.

Homework Help

Refer to the pupils' Math workbook on page 57.

One of the most direct methods of solving such questions is to use number bonds. The children should be familar with number bonds from Primary One.  From number bonds, the children have learnt that the whole is always the greatest number. For example in Question (e), I will draw number bond (what you see in the picture) and fill in the blanks with the given numbers (i.e. 271 and 328). Therefore, what I need to find out is the whole where I need to do addition (271 + 328 = 599). The answer that I should write in the box is the digit '5'. No marks will be given if the child writes 599 in the box in a test.

I'm aware that as working parents, you may not always be available to coach your child at home. For question(s) that the children can't solve themselves, they were taught to draw a triangle that enclose the question number. I will explain to him/ her that question in school. If you find that your child is having difficulties understanding certain concepts, do let me know.

Thank you!

Subtraction with regrouping involving zero

Subtraction story

View more PowerPoint from HazelHuang

IMPORTANT: Do click on slideshare (there's an icon beside it) to download this attachment. You can view the animations on Powerpoint so that the concept of regrouping involving zero is clearer.

Informing the teacher of his/ her whereabouts at all times

Too often we take things for granted and we assumed that the children know. Do not be mistaken that an incident has taken place for me to initiate a post like this. I just hope that the children are safe wherever they go.

We are privileged to have a large school compound. However, that can present teachers a challenge, to ensure that all the children move together as a class. It just takes one child to act on impulse for lessons to be disrupted, as we have to search for the child. Meanwhile, it also means that we can't be there for the child immediately if an accident happens. This applies to learning journeys outside the school compound. To avoid all these complications, please remind your child to keep the teachers informed of his/her whereabouts at all times.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Tattle Turtle

Most children are familar with this tattle turtle last year. I'd just introduced this to the class again today. Lately, the children's tattling has increased. For authentic social learning experiences to occur, the children are encouraged to try to solve "casual" conflicts with peers on their own.

We role play in class to discuss the difference between tattletale and an emergency.

As constant tattling can be a disruption to valuable teaching/learning time, students will have an opportunity to tell the "Tattle Turtle" about his/her problem. Even though it has served as a valuable tool to eliminate distractions, prevented additional arguments from erupting, and allowed students to freely express their issues, in the event that a child feels physically or emotionally threatened, they should come to me IMMEDIATELY.

Please read this article about teaching your children the importance to tell. 
 

Metamorphosis

Dear Parents

Have your children been telling you about the life cycle of butterflies?

They are currently reading the book "A butterfly is born".

We are observing the changes in the caterpillars every day. Hopefully we can witness them emerging from the chrysalis.

Handwriting Workshop by AWWA

Dear Parents

Please click on this google doc link to view the attachment.
To download the attachment, click on File > Download original.

Haiku

Hi Parents,

"Haiku" is a traditional form of Japanese poetry. Haiku poems consist of 3 lines.The first and last lines of a Haiku have 5 syllables and the middle line has 7 syllables. The lines rarely rhyme.

Here's a Haiku to help you remember:

I am first with five
Then seven in the middle --
Five again to end.

Here are some examples of a Haiku,






Butterflies are Cute

by : Charley, 2nd Grade. (USA)

Butterflies are cute

Fluttering their scaly wings

Very very fast

 

Thanks for reading! :)

p/s: The theme for the Haiku Writing Assignment is 'Festivals.'

 

English Homework, 3 Feb 2012.

Hi Parents :)

 English HW given last Friday , 3 Feb 2012.

1) Haiku Assignment

2) Unit 4: A Butterfly is Born, Learning Sheets pg 9,10,11

Thanks!

More on Addition and Subtraction Within 1000

Dear Parents

My bad. I got the children to file in Let's Revise 1b worksheet in the Math file which I intended to let them complete it next Monday. Only the first page was done and marked because I wanted assess the children's comprehension after they were taught the concept. They can leave the other pages alone as I will get them to do it as seatwork next week. No Math homework is given today. Do go through their Math corrections and acknowledge on the topical review paper. They have to return the Math file on Monday, 6 Feb.


Good Practice

This is an exemplary example of a pupil's work. Notice how she writes the total value of each place value at the bottom of the standard working? I will come to that later in this post.

Another good work sample.

When pupils make it a habit to write the total value at the bottom of the standard working, it is a reminder for them that regrouping is suppose to take place. Every 10 ones make 1 ten and every 10 tens make 1 hundred. 

The children learnt about the concept behind the standard working:

Subtraction story

View more presentations from HazelHuang.

Feedback on Topical Review 1

I will be returning the pupils' first review today. I've gone through the corrections with the children. Do look through their mistakes again at home. Something about Math corrections was posted before. It's recommended that the commonly-made mistakes be emphasised at home so that children are less likely to lose marks due to this reason. Quite a number of children made a mistake in Question 2. I've highlighted about this before here.

Some children wrote this in their review paper for Question 1. This is a good habit as they are sorting the cubes in hundreds, tens and ones. So, the answer is 300 + 10 + 6 = 316.

In every review paper, there will be at least one question on non-routine problem such as Question 11. Most children are stumped by such questions. Perhaps you have assessment books in mind now... Drill and practise shouldn't be the only way for children to gain exposure to such questions. We should work towards to have them learn the concepts and make them explain their thoughts in solving the problems. Cultivate the love of solving non-routine questions just like how we do puzzles for leisure.

CCP Schedule



This can be found in the plastic pouch of the pupils' organisers.



Teaching Tip: Time

As parents, you may be doing this at home unknowingly. It's a good practice.

I usually have an analogue clock (it's known as the 'fake clock' to the children) placed in class for the purpose of telling time. Despite the topic 'Time' will be taught only in the second half of the year, I will start feeding them the time concept gradually by doing it every day from the beginning of the year.

Let's say the children were allocated 15 minutes for a task. The real time shows 2.30 p.m. so I will advance the analogue clock to 2.45 p.m. So the childern will know that when the wall clock (the real thing) shows the same time as the 'fake clock', they have to stop work.

By the time I'm scheduled to teach the topic 'Time', most children would have more than enough practice. You can do the same at home to reinforce this concept.

Return of Topical Review 1

Dear parents

I will return the children's first topical review by this week. Please be patient as I can only return the papers after everyone in the class has taken the paper. I have one more pupil who has yet to sit for his review paper due to his absence.

I will be giving feedback about their performance soon.

Thank you for your understanding.