Thank you to our Teachers and Mathematicians for a wonderful Summer SPARK program!

Daily Updates

Ms. Rubino’s Class
Date	A Message from SPARK Kindergarten Mathematicians
June 09	Hello SPARK Families, Today was en exciting first day of our summer program! We began our day by getting to know the students in our class, our fellow mathematicians. We also opened a package sent from outer space! It seems there are some Frogonauts that need our help solving shape problems. We continued our learning by exploring the math materials sent in our package at small group space stations. We are VERY excited to see what tasks Freeda and Farley (the Frogonauts) have for us. Thanks for checking in, SPARK Kindergarten Mathematicians
July 10	Today we completed our first Exploring Spaces in Space math journal page! Our task was to find shapes around our classroom that looked like the wood block shapes the Frogonauts sent us. We also read a great shape book called Jack the Builder. Please check student folders each night, for important information as well as completed great math work!
July 11	Today we began our day with three new Space Exploration Stations: 1. Feely Bag 2. Shape Create with 2D foam pattern blocks and 3. Photos, Shape and Picture journal page. After recess we learned about the Writers Scroll which guides us as math writers. We used this framework to complete a Think Deeply question centered around which 3D shapes are best to build with, and why.
July 12	Today we got an email response back from Farley! He was happy to see that we completed a math journal page about building with shapes. Although he still wanted more information about faces and bases of 3D shapes. We spent the first part of our day exploring rectangular prisms, cylinders, and triangular prisms-determining how many faces and bases each had. After recess we completed 3 Space Stations: 1. Faces & Bases-we stamped the faces and bases of wooden shapes into play doh to make a net 2. All about Cylinders 3. Photo, Build, Draw-as we really enjoyed this activity yesterday we made it more challenging today!
July 13	Happy Friday! Today we finished up Chapter 1 Building in Space. We began the day with an activity “What Block Is It?” where Farley needed help uncovering the mystery 3D shape from clues. After recess we completed 3 Space Stations 1. Sphere Center Report 2. Build It! Draw It! 3. Play-Doh Shape Stamp. Have a great weekend, see you all on Monday!
July 16	Happy Monday! Today we started a new Chapter-Navigating the Lily Pad Space Station. During our learning we had a visitor, we FINALLY met Farley. Farley helped us add many new directional words to our word wall. These words helped us in our after recess Space Stations: 1. What Is It?-Cylinder & Rectangular Prism 2. My Shape-Triangular Prism 3. Lily Pad Space Station Floor Plan.
July 17	Today we learned a new game called, Where’s Freeda. In this game Freeda the frog is hiding somewhere on the Lily Pad Space Station map. One partner gives positional word clues to the other so that they can locate Freeda. After recess we completed a very tricky Think Deeply question for Farley. The focus of this question was determining correct positional clues and comparing them to the map in our Math Journal.
July 18	Today we received a fax via email from Freeda, she needed out help finding missing shapes around the room. We had to practice giving good directions to locate the missing green cylinders. We danced to the Space Shuffle (Hokey Pokey using direction words). We also practiced Where’s Freeda again! After recess we completed 3 Space Stations 1. Geo Boards 2. Space Center Report -Draw and 3. Make a Floor Plan.
July 19	Today we explored a new game called the Lily Pad Pond. In this game we had be good listeners and speakers. The goal was to help our partner move around the lily pads to find or get to a predetermined space. After recess we played a life size Lily Pad Pond game on the floor. We also used the SMART board to play an online coding game from code.org; after all what we were practicing with the frogs was in fact a form of code!
July 20	Happy Friday! Today we continued to work on our direction giving and good listening skills during our game Lily Pad Pond. We worked as a class to completed a difficult Think Deeply question to help Farley navigate around the Lily Pad Pond. After recess we completed 3 Space Stations 1. Lily Pad Pond floor game 2. Code.org 3. Get to the King-focusing on left and right.
July 23	Today we began a new chapter titled Visual Puzzles. In this chapter we have been challenged by Freeda to use our knowledge of 2D shapes to recreate tangram puzzles from outer space. Before recess we discussed the 7 tangram pieces that were sent to us, and went on a shape hunt around our classroom to find all 7 shapes. After recess we completed 3 Space Stations 1. Copy Cat Puzzle 1 2. Flip It, Turn It, and Draw It 3. Memory.
July 24	Today we reviewed all 7 Tangram shapes paying special attention to the triangles and their different sizes. We then completed 3 challenging puzzles from Farley which required us to persevere through our task! After recess we worked through 3 Space Stations: 1. Copy Cat Puzzle 2 2. Tangram Animal Creation 3. SET game. In student folders please find Tangram pieces to cut out and practice with at home!
July 25	Today we finished a book that we started on Tuesday called ‘Grandfather Tang’s Story’ . This book helped us think of unique ways to orient our Tangram shapes. We also completed a Think Deeply question from Farley, who was curious about the strategies we had been using to solve his tricky Tangram puzzles. After recess we practiced the 3 games that we will share with you tomorrow at Parents Day! We are excited to show you some of our learning at 10:15-11:00, see you tomorrow!
July 26	Today we were tasked with fixing the control panel of the Lily Pad Space Station, which had got broken to pieces upon delivery to us. It was our job to find the Tangram pieces that fit perfectly, and it was a challenge! After recess it was time for the much awaited Parent’s Day! The students had a wonderful time sharing their learning with their parents, and siblings as well.  Thank you to all the families that took the time to be here for your student; I know it meant a lot to them, and me as well.

Ms. Kantrow/Ms. Kolek’s Class
Date	Today We Learned…
July 09	It was an awesome first day of SPARK! Today we met our bird friends from the Amazon, Imi and Zani, and they taught us all about how SPARK students will be good listeners and speakers. We did a number hunt, talked about place value, and played a number line game. We can’t wait to learn and have fun with math this summer! All the best, Ms. Kantrow and Mrs. Kolek
July 10	Today was another great day at SPARK! We learned that numbers can be represented in many different ways. We got another letter from our friends Imi and Zani who invited us to play a fun game called “Make a Trio!” See you tomorrow, SPARK friends!
July 11	Today in SPARK we talked about numbers that are important in our lives. We learned that mathematicians are also writers and work hard to explain our math thinking with words and pictures. We got another letter from Imi and Zani who asked us to practice skip counting by 5’s and 10’s to get ready to play a new game.
July 12	Today we started our day by creating math windows with numbers that are important in our lives. We learned how to skip count by 10’s from any number. After recess we learned the terms greater than and less than as well as the symbols for those terms. Tomorrow we will play mystery number puzzles!
July 13	Today we had a blast playing mystery number puzzles. We got 3 clues using the terms greater than and less than and used those clues to determine the mystery number. We reviewed the term sum and got another letter from Imi and Zani who invited us to play two new games that we will play on Monday. Have a great weekend SPARK friends!
July 16	We hope you all had a great weekend! Today we worked with partners to play a game called Make 50! In this game, we roll 3 number cubes and decide if each number should be placed in the tens or ones place. The goal is to make a sum as close to 50 as possible. After recess, we played this game again in teams of 3 to see which team could get closest to our sum of 50!
July 17	Today in SPARK we learned what it means to estimate numbers to the nearest ten. We practiced adding 2 two-digit numbers by estimating each addend to the closest ten. For example, 23+39 is about 20+40. We started learning how to play a game called The Target Game. Tomorrow we will play this fun, new game with a partner!
July 18	Today we started our day by playing the Target game. In this game, partner pairs choose a target number, then select four one-digit numbers to build an equation with a sum closest to the target number. We used our knowledge of estimating as well as what we know about the value of digits in our tens and ones places to get as close to the target number as possible. See you tomorrow, mathematicians!
July 19	Today in SPARK, we began learning about even and odd numbers. We played a game called “How Many Leftovers?” to deepen our understanding of even and odd numbers. We introduced Carroll diagrams and even tried one!
July 20	Today in SPARK we practiced sorting numbers by attribute. We learned what a Carroll diagram is and sorted numbers into the appropriate column and row. For example, the number 46 might go in the row “even” and column “numbers greater than 30”. We also learned a new game called “Where, Oh Where?” and will play this game on Monday. Have a great weekend SPARK friends!
July 23	Today we played Where, oh Where? with partners. We sorted numbers in Carroll diagrams, then hid our labels and had friends guess the row and column labels based on the numbers in each box. We will play this game again during our family day on Thursday! After indoor recess, we got another letter from our bird friends, Imi and Zani, who invited us to play a one loop game. Have a great afternoon!
July 24	We started our day by using a hundreds chart to color all even numbers one color and all odd numbers another color. We used this to notice and share patterns. We also played some one loop games with a partner, sorting numbers by attribute. Then we learned what Venn diagrams are and sorted numbers into Venn diagrams. Thanks for another great day, SPARK friends!
July 25	Today was a wonderful Wednesday at SPARK! We challenged ourselves to a 3 loop game, which was an extension of our two loop Venn diagrams. We practiced playing the 5 games we will play tomorrow at our family day! We hope to see all SPARK families at 10:15 tomorrow!
July 26	Today in SPARK we played some 3 loop games. We had a blast during our family day playing Make a Trio, Make 50, Target Game, Mystery Number Puzzles, and Carroll diagrams. Thank you so much to any family members that were able to make it! See you tomorrow for our last day!
Ms. Litrico’s Class
Date	Today We Learned…
July 09	Today we learned that numbers are all around us! We went on a number hunt in our room to see how many numbers we could find and what these numbers represented. We also read number clues and figured out how to place two digit numbers on a number line when numbers were missing! We learned that number lines have numbers in order from least to greatest even when the numbers are not consecutive.
July 10	Today we learned that numbers can be represented in different ways. We learned how to show numbers using tens and ones, written in words, hidden in pictures or on signs, and drawn out in a model or picture. We created our own Memory Twist game with representations of numbers instead of the actual numbers. Students can make their own game at home with index cards!
July 11	Today we played the game Make a Trio! In this game, we had to find 3 cards with the same number represented on them. Some cards showed us tens and ones, money, or even gave us a clue about where the number was located on a hundreds chart or number line. This was a very challenging game! We played the game face up and then challenged ourselves to try the game face down if we had extra time. We also then tried to find 4 cards that matched!
July 12	Today we learned to find patterns in numbers on a hundreds chart. We skip counted by 5s and 10s and noticed that with 5s the ones changed. However, with counting by 10s, the tens place only changed. We also reviewed that numbers can be represented in many different ways and practiced our number games for open house during the last week!
July 13	Today we learned to compare numbers with the greater than and less than symbols. We solved clues to figure out the missing numbers from 1-200. We then created our own clues to make up our own Mystery Number game.
July 16	Today we reviewed number patterns on a one hundreds and two hundred chart. We also learned what the word “digits” and “sum” mean. This helped us to play the game Make 50! where we rolled a number cube and had to decide the value of the digit we rolled.
July 17	Today we played the game Make 100! Then we played the challenge version of Make 200! We also learned how to estimate to find the sum of an equation. We talked about how to use a number line to determine which 10 a number was closer to. For example, we used a number line to see that 23 was closer to 20 and further from 30.
July 18	Today we practiced using our estimation skills to play the game Target Number. We chose a target number from the deck of cards and then digit cards to make two digit numbers that could be added together to make the target number, or get as close to the target number as possible. We played this game two different ways: first by estimating the sum and then by finding the actual sum to see how close we could get to the target number.
July 19	Today we reviewed all of the games we have learned during SPARK so far to get ready for Open House next Thursday! We also started talking about even and odd numbers. We learned that even numbers are numbers made up of two groups and odd numbers are numbers made of two groups with a leftover.
July 20	Today we learned what a Carroll Diagram is and how to use the diagram to sort numbers into groups. We looked at numbers in the chart based on the categories for each column and rows.
July 23	Today we played the game Where? Oh Where? which had us filling in our own labels for a Carroll Diagram and figuring out which numbers matched our labels.  We sorted numbers into the boxes on the diagram and then explained why each number belonged in the box we placed it into.
July 24	Today we learned about Venn Diagrams.  We played the One Loop game where we put numbers in the circle that went with the label we were thinking of.  Numbers that did not match the label went outside of the circle.  We then learned how to play the Two Loop game where the numbers could go into two different categories, or be in both categories in the middle, or neither category on the outside of the two circles!  It was very tricky!
July 25	Today we learned our last came called Two Loops and we played it with mystery headings.  Our partners had to guess what headings we were using to sort the numbers by.  Then we created our own mystery puzzles and switched with a partner to see if they could solve it!
July 26	Today we had Open House!  We reviewed all the games we learned in our SPARK program this summer and taught our families how to play the games!  We had a lot of fun!
Ms. Johnson/Ms. Milton’s Class
Date	Today We Learned…
July 09	Our first day, we got to know each other during circle time. We explored the contents of a box we received from Botswana and were introduced to the problems Dru and Teller (Meerkats) are faced with. We also spent some of the morning learning about our roles as speakers and listeners in and outside of the classroom. We wrapped up the day with a pre-assessment of the students knowledge of the content being introduced over the next 3 weeks.
July 10	Today our SPARK students learned about balancing marbles using a scale. Students constructed balances using rulers, bags, and marbles. Students were able to observe how different combinations of marbles can be balanced on each side. Our second graders did a “think deeply” activity where they discussed the different ways that Dru and Teller can make belts to sell at the Botswana Bazaar.
July 11	Today, we helped the meerkats design a 2-strand belt using the agate designs multiple ways. We applied what we learned, by creating math expressions and equations. We learned that the colors did not matter but that each side should have the same amount. We will continue to learn about what makes an equation equal(both sides).
July 12	Today the students continued to compare an equation to an expression. They were also able to identify whether an equation was true or false in their journals.  The students will continue to learn the properties of addition. We completed the day applying what we’ve learned to a game called “Izit” to deepen their understanding of equality.
July 16	Week 2 presents more challenges for our SPARK scholars. Today, we reviewed previous learned vocabulary and learned new words for our lesson. We learned how to break up two digit numbers to make it easier to add. These strategies will eventually help them to add bigger numbers.
July 17	Today our SPARK students worked on balancing equations using the ‘BREAK IT’ apart strategy we taught them yesterday. We also worked on finding the missing variable in an equation by using the same strategy of mental math. We reviewed the difference between equations and expressions, as well as talked more about addends. We will continue working on balancing equations and finding variables tomorrow.
July 18	Today, we explained how we solved our equations for the missing variable. We also played a game called “Make It Equal” where we competed to see who would get the answer correctly and quickly. We ended the day writing about the strategies we used to come up with the missing variable.
July 19	Today our SPARK students learned new vocabulary. Last week we focused a great deal on addends, sums, and addition equations. This week will shift our focus to subtraction. New vocabulary words we discussed were minuend, subtrahend, and difference. We did some work on balancing equations today and discussed how to use mental math strategies to solve. We will continue this work tomorrow.
July 20	Happy Friday! Today our SPARK students continued working on subtraction. When subtracting, students are looking to create numbers that are easier to subtract mentally by adding the same amount to the subtrahend and the minuend. Our young scholars were able to see that it does not matter what you add, as long as you add the same amount to both numbers. 44-29=45-30 (add one to both the subtrahend/minuend). They were able to see that it was the same answer on both sides, therefore balancing the equations. Students played a game called “EQUAL EXPRESSIONS” in which they used mental math skills for both addition and subtraction. They used the skill we taught them last week (break it up) and this week (adding to the subtrahend/minuend) to solve. It was a great math day!
July 23	Today, we learned how to design some belts from the “Twice As Nice” belt shop.  The students were applying what they’ve learned from making equal expressions and equations to their designs.  It required them to make designs with the same amount using different colors using the directions in the word problem.
July 24	Today our SPARK students learned how to use a bar model. Students read word problems and created bar models based on the information in the word problem.  Students then began working on writing expressions and equations using a variable.
July 25	Today, we finished writing equations and expressions using variables.  We played a Bingo game to practice the skills from writing and solving equations with variables.  Then we wrote about how we solved our problems using our talk frames.
July 26	Today we showed our families what we’ve learned at SPARK!