Today we began simple addition with dice and manipulatives. We began by speaking about the patterns for the various numbers on the dice, and recognizing them. Each of us had a square piece of paper and six small wood squares, and as we threw the dice we created the pattern and number with our own wooden squares on the piece of paper. We drew the dice as a key or a map to help us remember. Then we threw combinations of dice and drew them in on our worksheets and added them together. We used the principle of “counting up.” This entails recognizing the die with the most dots, knowing how many are on that face, and then beginning with the next number in the sequence of counting. For example, if a child threw a five and a two, she would point to the five, name it as a five, and then begin counting the other die with the number “six” and then, finally “seven.” After that process we name what we did. “Five plus two equals seven.” Practicing this skill begins the process of remembering simple sums that will become the building blocks for mathematics.
We are reviewing our Peace Travelers Alphabet Book with the ASL finger alphabet and phonics that goes with them. Today we worked on the letter “G” and talked about the soft and hard sound of “G.” We also began working with a “Leapster”—a small computer that has letters that fit into it. When the letter is pushed down, a song begins that makes it easy for friends to remember the sounds (phonics) associated with each of the letters.
We finish our day, after We have begun the chapter book Gwinna by Helen Berger, a Celtic tale about a girl from the grandmother of the owls. The illustrations are imaginative and thought-provoking, and the friends are able to make predictions on what happens next from peeking ahead in the illustrations. Each day we read two to three chapters, but we review the story thus far.
