We have been focusing on our math brains and what the latest research says about math learning. This is all to get us ready for a great year of math learning where every student feels challenged and successful in the math we do. Yesterday we watched this video:
And today we worked on a paper folding challenge. As much as the challenge was about finding the answer, it was also about digging deep to justify it. Students took turns being the "skeptic"- asking questions forcing the "convincer" the answer was correct. All students should have brought home the sheet in their math journal, but it's attached below if they forgot it. Questions like, "How do you know that's a triangle?" or "what proof do you have it's 1/4 of the original area?"- and then playing really hard to convince- will help deepen thinking. We worked on 1-3 as a class and shared ideas, so I asked all students to work on 4 and 5. These are challenging! If students are not finding success, I asked them to come ready to share what they tried and how they knew it didn't work. If you have a chance to try some with your child tonight, these are a lot of fun-- if maddening!
Finally, the All About Me paper is due Friday. Many students have already turned it in or shared it with me on google drive. If they are struggling to finish, just encourage them to write a little about themselves, even if it doesn't follow the exact format of the packet. These are some of my favorite papers to read all year!