Spring SAVY 2017, Day 1- Awesome Algebra

Posted by hallep on Tuesday, January 31, 2017 in Grade 1, Grade 2, SAVY.

It was an exciting Saturday, meeting and getting to know our new class!

Students worked hard to create concept maps and complete pre-assessments, while getting to know each other and some of our classroom routines. We were able to earn six compliments yesterday for following our three classroom rules: 1) Be Safe 2) Be Responsible and 3) Be Respectful. If we can earn 25, they have been promised a special treat! Be aware that we will be taking a snack break each week in the classroom about halfway through our time together. Please send snacks that are peanut free, to respect the needs of everyone in our class. You can send water bottles and snacks if you like. There is a water fountain right outside our classroom door in the Wyatt Center.

Repeating Patterns are those in which the cycle of elements is repeated over and over, for example, abcabcabcabc or a series of shapes. They are often seen in art, architecture, and nature. Recognizing these patterns allows students to determine the next term in a sequence, and develop concepts related to multiplication and finding unknowns. Unlike recurring patterns, geometric patterns or “growing patterns” usually grow with respect to a rule or function. For example, the growing pattern, 2,4,6,8,10 can be represented by the function 2n. The 37th term in this sequence can be found by using the function, 2 x 37 = 74. Though most of the students are not quite ready for multiplication, we did spend time identifying repeating and growing patterns, and we tried to identify the rule or function to help us predict the next three terms in a pattern. We also learned that even a pattern that is decreasing in value is still considered a “growing pattern,” like 43,39,35,31. Though each term decreases by four, it is still labeled a growing pattern. Mind blowing! Our hundreds charts were able to help us create and solve some of our own patterns as well.

You can reinforce the concept of patterns this week with your child by pointing out patterns in the real world around you. Help your child to recognize whether they are a growing pattern or a repeating pattern, and why that matters. Building mathematical thinkers who can use patterns will be a key element in learning the algebra we will do together. I would like to challenge each child to bring an example of a pattern they’ve seen this week, or create their own, to share with us during our class time next week. Pattern seekers are lifelong learners! Have a great week, and I’ll see you next Saturday!

Jennifer Holt