Math Bag

Learning Activity:

Students will participate in a ‘math bag’  activity to be taken and completed in their home environment. It is intended to build on the skills taught in the classroom, as well as having the parents play an active role in the education of their children.

The exercise will consist of reading a short story dealing with time and time sequencing, followed by a re-reading of the story. Upon completion of this, the student (child) and parent will discuss the activities that took place in the story, and the parent will have their child show the ‘time’ activities occurred by using the sample clock provided in the ‘math bag.’

The following night, the child and parent can discuss what the child would do on ‘a snowy day.’ It is important that the activities are done in sequence. The child can then write 1-2 sentences about each activity and record the time on the work sheet provided.
 

The following night, the child can draw illustrations for the activities, and the next night, the child can cut the work sheet, and make it into a small book. The child can then read his/her ‘published work,’ and return it to the school to be displayed in the ‘published authors’ section of the classroom.

Contents

• Letter to family
• List of materials
• Title, Author, ISBN and Synopsis of book(s)
• Instructions and print materials for activity 1
• Special instructions and/or materials for special needs
• Curriculum outcomes for each activity
• Assessment

Letter to family

Included in this package is an activity that you and your child can work on together. As you are well aware, learning is a process that takes place all of the time. It is becoming increasingly important for parents to play an active role in their children’s education.

With that said, it would be greatly appreciated if you and your child could take the time to work on this activity together. It is an activity to further develop skills on ‘learning how to tell, and display time.’ Included in this package is a set of instructions for completing this activity. It is not intended to be completed in one night, but over the course of four.

Upon completion of this activity, your child should be able to
 

• Read time in hours and half-hours on an analog (sample clock).
• Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the minute and the hour hand on the analog clock.
• Be able to show on an analog clock, the times (to the nearest half-hour) at which s/he does various activities.

Once again, thank you for your participation in your child’s education. Please make sure that this activity is returned by Monday, as other children are eager to ‘have their turn.’ Have fun!
 

Sincerely,
                    the teacher

List of materials

• Book - The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• Sample clock
• Letter to parents
• Instructions
• Activity sheet

Title, Author, ISBN and Synopsis of book(s)

Author: Ezra Jack Keats

ISBN: JE / FIC / Kea 0-670-86733-0

Synopsis: The Snowy Day - This story is about a young boy named Peter who wakes up on a snowy day.  The book
                follows his adventures throughout the day.  These include walking in the snow, watching some older children
                throw snowballs, making snow angels, telling his mom about his day, and dreaming.  At no time in the book is
                there any mention of time which gives students the freedom to practice sequencing of a day.

Instructions and print materials for activity 1

    1- Read the story included in this bag to your child.
    2- Have your child read the story to you.
    3- Discuss the little boy’s activities as they occur in the story. Your child can use the analog (sample) clock to show
        what time the activities occurred.
        Sample questions: What time did he eat breakfast? What time did he have a snowball fight?
        Continue with your own questions.
    4- Ask your child what s/he would do on a snowy day. Remember to follow the sequence found in the story.
    5- Have your child write 1-2 sentences about each activity and record the time on the clock. Your child can then draw
         pictures of the activities.
 
 
 

The Snowy Day  by Ezra Jack Keats	child's image                           (with picture of clock)
	narration
child's image                         (with picture of clock)	child's image                         (with picture of clock)
narration	narration

 

    6. After completing the activity sheet, the sheet can be cut up and reassembled into a miniature book (see sample
        provided).
    7. Have your child read his/her new book!

    Note:
    Please send completed work back with Math Bag. The books will be displayed and used in the classroom.
 

Special instructions and/or materials for special needs

• Large print book for children with visual impairments
• Accompanying audio cassette for children whose parents are unable to aid in the exercise for one reason or another
• Instructions that contain images to help understanding
• Audio instructions
• Larger analog clock for easier manipulation
• Math bag activity should also be available on computer and include a copy of The Snowy Day, instructions and a worksheet. The images could be cut and pasted from various imagery programs and printed to develop a personal book as other students will be producing.

• The math bag can include an activity sheet on which times are actually allocated for each activity that occurs in The Snowy Day. The activity would be more concrete and children would still gain experience working with an analog clock and develop an understanding of time sequencing. Rather than a parent / caregiver simply asking questions about the activities that occur in the story, parents / caregivers could refer to a sheet which contained statements i.e. ate breakfast at 7:30. The child would then demonstrate an understanding of time by using the analog clock.
• The math bag activity could also be adapted so that students record the sequence of events from the story onto the activity sheet and indicate the time these events occurred on the sheet. For some students, the sequencing of a personal day may be difficult.
• Another activity that could be included for students that have more advanced skills in using an analog clock is to record the events that occur within an hour. This allows children to be more specific in their use of time (more manipulation of the analog clock). Children completing this activity could produce a storyboard for the observed hour.

Curriculum outcomes for each activity

• 2-B12 Use technology to solve problems involving sums or differences of larger numbers
• 2-D9 Estimate and measure time using non-standard units
• 2-D10 Read hours and half-hours on a clock
• 3-D7 Read digital and analog clocks to the nearest five minutes

• Checklist completed by parent / caregiver (see attached copy).
• Completion of activity sheet (Rubric)

A. Proper sequence of activities                   1                2              3

B. Applied corresponding time                    1                 2              3

C. Sentence completion                                1                2              3

D. Illustrations completed                            1                2              3

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Developed for Education 4173 Elementary Mathematics Methods
at the School of Education, Acadia University.
2000 Copyright remains with the authors.
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