Doubles and D.A.R.E.

 Students had their first of four D.A.R.E. lessons in 1st grade today. Officer Fontaine of the Colchester Police Department is teaching these lessons. D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Today's lesson was about the importance of rules and why we have rules and laws all around us. Students had lots of great and relevant points to add to this conversation. For more information, please visit the D.A.R.E. website: http://www.dare.com/home/about_dare.asp. 

In math, we are doing many activities to help students build their "Fact Power!" (Ask your child how to say that--we say it in a super-hero type of way!). This week, I taught students how to use their knowledge of the doubles math facts (1+1=2, 5+5=10, etc.) to help them figure out "doubles plus one" facts (1+2=3, 5+6=11). For example, if you know that 5+5=10, then you just add one more to figure out that 5+6=11. In order for this strategy to be really useful, however, students have to know those doubles facts! In the photos below, students are playing a doubles facts game, we've watched a BrainPop Jr. video about adding doubles, we have a fun chant about the doubles facts, and we sing-along to some great doubles songs...just to name a few things we do to develop fact power! (And of course we practice all types of math facts, not just the doubles math facts). We are working towards the goal of having all first grade students secure in their knowledge of +0, +1, complements of 10 (math facts with a sum of 10), and doubles facts by the end of first grade. We will do lots of fact practice at school, and any extra practice through games and activities at home is always helpful too.

The Fishy Doubles Game

Another fun doubles game...same idea.

And here are some fun songs we like to watch and sing to practice the doubles math facts.