Grade 2
    Tips for Helping at Home
    •
    Questions to ask:
    What is it that you don’t understand (have
    the student be specific)?
    What information do you need?
    What strategies are you going to use?
    Can you guess and check?
    Does this make sense?
    What can you do to explain your answer to
    show others what you are thinking?
    Does your answer seem reasonable?
    •
    Your child will bring home two card games, Tens Go
    Fish and Turn Over 10. Have your child teach the fam-
    ily members how to play the games. Playing the
    games frequently will help your child learn addition
    combinations of 10. Please help your child find a safe
    place to store these materials and directions since
    some of them will be used repeatedly throughout the
    unit.
    •
    As your child works on problems at home, encourage
    him or her to record strategies for solving problems or
    keeping track in ways that will make sense to your
    child. Some children will use numbers, some will use
    pictures or charts, others will use words, and many will
    use a combination of these methods.
    •
    Often children will work out number problems by using
    real objects. If you can, provide objects for counting,
    such as beans, pennies, or buttons.
    Mathematical Emphasis
    Investigation 1—Exploring Materials
    •
    Describing and sorting materials on the basis of their
    attributes
    •
    Identifying categories
    •
    Writing number expressions
    Investigation 2—Looking at Numbers
    •
    Keeping track of the number of school days
    •
    Writing equations that equal the number of days in
    school
    •
    Making combinations of 10
    Investigation 3: Geometric Counts
    •
    Exploring and describing two-dimensional geometric
    shapes
    •
    Exploring, sorting and describing three-dimensional
    shapes
    Investigation 4: Counting
    •
    Counting 15 - 20 objects
    •
    Counting by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s and other ways
    •
    Comparing two sets by identifying how many more are
    needed or how many are extra
    •
    Identifying coins and their values
    •
    Combining coins to make 25¢ and 50¢
    Investigation 5: Collecting Data About Ourselves
    •
    Sorting and classifying information
    •
    Collecting, recording and representing data
    •
    Counting and comparing amounts
    •
    Counting one group of objects in more than one way
    •
    Talking and writing about problem-solving strategies
    Website
    http://www.everett.k12.wa.us/math/Second%20Grade
    Introduction
    About the Mathematics In This Unit
    The emphasis of this unit is counting and sort-
    ing. Your child will investigate everyday uses of
    numbers, count groups of objects in more than
    one way, and compare amounts. Students will
    play games involving money and finding differ-
    ent coins that show the same amount. They will
    explore, sort, compare and describe different
    shapes. The class also will collect and organize
    data about themselves as a group.
    Throughout this unit, your child will be using ma-
    terials like interlocking cubes, pattern blocks,
    Geo-blocks, and money. Students will be work-
    ing with peers, writing and drawing about their
    work, and talking about how they do the prob-
    lems. Each of these processes is an important
    emphasis in our mathematics program this year.
    In addition, your child will have a math folder for
    keeping track of the work he or she does in
    class.
    Economopoulos, K. Investigations in Number, Data and Space:
    Mathematical Thinking at Grade 2. Dale Seymour Publications,
    1998.
    Vocabulary
    attribute - a characteristic like shape,
    color or size
    hexagon -
    trapezoid -
    rhombus -
    triangle -
    square -
    Glossary
    http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/
    Game
    Turn Over 10
    Materials: One deck of Numeral Cards 0-10 (four of
    each) plus four wild cards
    Players: 2 to 3
    How to play: The object of the game is to turn over
    and collect combinations of cards that total 10.
    1. Arrange the cards face down in four rows of five
    cards. Place the rest of the deck face down in a
    pile.
    2. Take turns. On a turn, turn over one card then
    another. A wild card can be made into any num-
    ber.
    If the total is less than 10, turn over another card.
    If the total is more than 10, your turn is over and the
    cards are turned face down in the same place.
    If the total is 10, take the cards and replace them
    with cards from the deck. You get another turn.
    3. Place each of your card combinations of 10 in
    separate piles so they don’t get mixed up.
    4. The game is over when no more 10’s can be
    made.
    5. At the end of the game, make a list of the num-
    ber combinations for 10 that you made.

    Back to top