Our Math-Magic "Gig"

Our Mathemagicians had two very successful performances this morning - they amazed and awed their audiences with our math card trick. We entertained two groups - Grace's math group and Val's kindergarteners. This mini-project contained a lot of math skills (which is magical in itself - pretty tricky how math teachers get their students to practice math concepts, eh?) 

All year we have been working on mental math techniques, and being able to quickly make 10 is a big part. Children who know immediately that 9 + 1, 8 + 2, 7 + 3, 6 + 4, and 5 + 5 equal 10 have a much easier time to mentally do harder problems, like 16 + 7 (perhaps thinking, "I know 7 and 3 make 10, so I'll take 3 from 16 to do so. Then 10 plus 13 is 23.") This type of flexible thinking is crucial for fluent mathematicians, and is part of what is known as number sense. The magic trick we did today is called "The Make 10," and because of our weeks of practice, each child is much, much quicker at this important skill.

Another skill inherent in this project is planning and measurement. The hats the children made took both (plus a fair amount of patience). We loved the way they turned out.

Here are a few sweet pictures of our sweet gig - enjoy!