Spring Saturday SAVY, Week 1, Secrets of the MoLi Stone (3rd-4th)
What an excellent beginning to our Spring SAVY session! I was amazed by the enthusiasm and excitement displayed by our group of students, particularly their keen interest in MATH! Each student approached the session with a willingness to explore new concepts, and it was delightful to learn about their talents and passions during our introductions.
In the morning, we built connections while delving into archaeology and the Rosetta Stone. The process used to decipher hieroglyphics will be applied to unravel the mysteries of the Moli Stone! Over the next two sessions, students will craft their own “secret rooms,” generating artifacts and hieroglyphics to represent themselves. In the final session, they will unveil these “secrets” to each other as they share their unique rooms.
We also delved deeply into the concept of systems. A system, defined as a group of interconnected parts working together, became a topic of engaging discussions. I was impressed by how adeptly students distinguished between what constitutes a system and what does not. They debated whether something was a system and transformed non-systems into systems and vice versa with remarkable fluidity. Many of them were surprised by the abundance of systems in our surroundings!
Our exploration of the Moli Stone continued as we examined the patterns, groupings, and symbols within our base ten system. The Meneki Neko Task presented an intriguing challenge—students had to determine the various ways to make 47 cents using dimes and pennies. Ask your child about the general rules uncovered during this task and how they apply them to any amount of money between zero and two dollars! Practice this with different amounts at home, as dollar bills provided an additional challenge.
The Meneki Neko cat’s legends fascinated the students, and we continued our analysis of place value patterns by learning a magic trick involving twenty pennies. Your child can demonstrate this magic trick that will leave you astonished!
To cap off the session, students engaged in Card Capers. In this activity, pairs worked together to create the largest two-digit number. Drawing one card at a time and deciding where to place it (ones place, tens place, or discard pile) added a layer of complexity. Teams discussed strategies for creating the largest and smallest numbers, exploring how these strategies changed when dealing with 3-, 4-, or 5-digit numbers following the same rules. This week, challenge your child to determine how many different 3, 4-, or 5-digit numbers are possible without repeating digits or starting with zero!
By the session’s end, students had progressed in deciphering the mysterious symbols on the Moli Stone and gained a deeper understanding of the patterns, groupings, and symbols within our base ten system. I am eagerly anticipating our continued journey next week as we focus on number systems with different bases!