Ten Monsters

Lately we've been learning about different ways to show numbers, and one of those ways we learned was adding! To show what we know, we made Ten Monsters, and all of their body parts added to the number 10! Here are a few of our creative ten combinations:

2 legs + 2 arms + 1 mouth + 2 eyes + 2 antennae +1 body=  One 10 Monster! 

2 arms + 2 legs + 1 body + 1 nose + 1 mouth + 1 antenna + 2 eyes = One 10 Monster!

6 legs+ 2 eyes + 1 mouth + 1 body = ONE 10 Monster!

2 legs + 1 antenna + 1 body + 5 eyes + 1 mouth = One 10 Monster! 

Math Madness

For the last several weeks in math, we have been learning lots of strategies for adding and subtracting numbers. Fact families have played a huge part in our learning, so we created some fact family turkeys to decorate our classroom! 

In addition to using fact families to help us solve various adding and subtracting problems, we've also learned about and used these strategies to help our math brains:

• Tens Helper facts (if I know 8+2=10, I know 8+3=11)
• Doubles Helper Facts (If I know 6+6=12, 6+7=13)
• Counting up on a Number Grid
• Counting Back on a Number Grid
• Using a Number Line
• Using Base-10 Blocks

To practice these skills at home, students can play all the quizzes and games under the G and H sections of Second Grade IXL. For a challenge, students can also try out the games under the I and J sections! 

We've also learned how to play some great math games, which can also be played at home using the numbered cards in a card deck!

• The Penny Difference Game
• Salute!
• The Number Grid Difference Game
• Addition and Subtraction Top-It

All of these games involve a lot of luck to win, but they build awesome math skills while having fun!

Solving Number Stories

In math this week, we've been working on all sorts of methods for solving equations and number stories involving double digits! While we can always rely on our number grid to help us, here are a few of the methods we've been practicing this week:

Open Number Line

This strategy can be used with any equation or number story! Even when we have a chart to help us organize our numbers, we can always use an open number line to solve problems with more than one place value. 

Start Change End 

The Start Change End Chart is very helpful when dealing with number stories that involve discovering the difference between 2 numbers. This chart is a great tool to use with problems involving changes in temperature or figuring out change with money. 

Part Part Whole (or Total)

The Part Part Whole (or Total) Chart is helpful when trying to find the sum of two objects or when one is trying to find the missing part of a sum. It is helpful with number stories that ask you to find the missing sum or to find the total cost of two objects. 

We will continue to use these tools and strategies to help us solve double digit equations and number stories as we move forward! 

Addition Strategies

This week in math, we've been reviewing some of our strategies (or tools) we can use to solve addition problems.



We talked about using objects to count on, drawing pictures, making tally marks, using a number grid or number line, and using tally marks. Next week, we are going to talk about using the doubles and tens facts we learned about in first grade and have reviewed in second grade as "helper facts" to help us solve addition problems.

If you are looking for more opportunities to practice addition, you can log into IXL and work on any of the problems under Addition-one digit (section E) under Second Grade Math. If you are wanting to challenge your brain, you can also try Addition with two or three digits (sections G and I)! 

Boo Bump!

This week, even our Math games got into the Halloween Spirit! We played Roll-A-Pumpkin and Boo Bump!

If you want to play these games at home, click on the pictures below and you can print out the game boards!