First Grade Math Facts
What Numbers Make Ten?
by Mrs. Jo Koos
February 25, 2008
First graders have been studying facts of 10 recently in math class. These are the facts that have a sum of ten. Students have been working to learn which combinations of numbers make ten. They have done this through a variety of classroom activities. They began by putting pennies on the top half of a work mat. Then they had to put the remainder of the ten pennies on the bottom of the work mat to make ten. Those combinations were noted on the board. Next they played a game with a partner, which had them putting pennies in both hands which together equaled ten. Their partner would then need to tell them how many pennies were in one hand when shown the number of pennies in the other hand. That proved challenging for students. The next step will be the introduction of wrap-ups, a manipulative that aids students in becoming familiar with the new facts. Finally, the sums of ten facts will appear on fact sheets for the students to solve.
February has been the month to talk about a variety of things in Social Studies and Science. Students learned about customs the Chinese culture has to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Students learned that the color red and lanterns are both a big part of the celebration. The class made lanterns and hung them in the classroom. The month continued with the commemoration of the Presidents’ Day. Students have learned many facts about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and our current President, George W. Bush. Students were interested to find out that Washington had false teeth and Lincoln wore his tall hat to help keep him organized! Next up in February was Dental Health Care. It was interesting to discover that humans have different kinds of teeth in their mouths that are used for different things. Students talked about why animals have certain kinds of teeth depending on what their food requirements are. To conclude their study, students made “Happy Teeth” and showed that they knew about good dental practices by writing a helpful tip for having healthy teeth.
