PRIMARY MATHS

This week, you may have seen some rockstars in our school... TIMES TABLE ROCKSTARS!

Our Year 4 to 6 grades dressed up to compete in their classes against other schools around the state for a competition called Melbourne Rocks. This was the launch of this platform for Year 3, who enjoyed their first few sessions this week, and for Years Prep to 2, Numbots, a platform to practice their maths facts.

Times Table Rockstars is an online platform where children can practise their times tables, collect coins for their efforts and compete against each other. This will support the learning the children have done in class over the past term to help secure quick recall of their times table knowledge.

When your child first logs in there is a Gig that they need to play. This will find out which times tables your child already knows really well and which ones they need to learn. The games will then adapt to focus on the ones your child still needs to know. Please contact your child’s teacher if you need support with any of the following:-

- You have username or password issues;

- Something isn’t working or you’re not sure how it works;

Goal

When it comes to times tables, speed AND accuracy are important – the more facts your child remembers, the easier it is for them to do harder calculations. Times Table Rock Stars is a fun and challenging programme designed to help students master the times tables! To be a Times Table Rock Star you need to answer any multiplication fact up to 12×12 in less than 3 seconds!

Log in

1. Type play.ttrockstars.com into your browser’s address bar

2. Click Login! > School > Student

3. Enter the school name.

4. Enter your child’s username and password.

Game modes

Single Player Garage - the questions will only come from the times tables the teacher has set for the week. It will include multiplication and division questions. As pupils start to answer questions, TT Rock Stars works out which facts they take longer on and will give them more of these questions to answer.

The Garage is best for getting quicker at a few facts. Players get 10 coins per question. Studio - the questions in the Studio can be anything from 1×1 up to 12×12.

TT Rock Stars calculates the mean response time from their last 10 games in the Studio and translates that time into a Rock Status.

≤ 1 sec/qu = Rock Hero

≤ 2 secs/qu = Rock Legend

≤ 3 secs/qu = Rock Star

≤ 4 secs = Headliner

≤ 5 secs/qu = Support Act

≤ 6 secs/qu = Breakthrough Artist

≤ 7 secs/qu = Unsigned Act

≤ 8 secs/qu = Gigger

≤ 9 secs/qu = Busker

≤ 10 secs/qu = Garage Rocker

> 10 secs/qu = Wannabe

If you don’t play in the Studio you don’t get a Rock Status.

Players earn 1 coin per question and the Studio is the place for them to set their best time across all the tables. Soundcheck – When you play Soundcheck, you get 20 questions each with a 5-second time limit. The questions are multiplication only and evenly weighted in terms of difficulty each time you play. Players earn 5 coins per correct answer.

Multiplayer Rock Arena - The Arena allows players to compete against all other members of their Band (their Bandmates would need to join the same game in order to compete together). A new Arena game starts every 15 seconds and once the clock starts they race to answer more questions than the others. In the Arena, questions will only come from the times tables the teacher has set for the week, similar to the Garage. They earn 1 coin per correct answer.

Rock Festival - The Rock Festival games are open to players from around the world. Like the Arena, there is no limit to the number of players who can join a game; however, unlike the Arena, questions are selected at random from 1×1 to 12×12. Pupils might choose the Rock Festival if they were playing at home (and therefore couldn't easily synchronise playing against a classmate) or wanted to compete against others not in their Band. They earn 1 coin per correct answer.

Stats

If you click on your avatar icon in the top right of the screen and then click My Stats, a heatmap like the one below will load. It shows how successful your child is at each of the facts.

I’m delighted to inform you about an online learning platform called NumBots that we’re using to support your child’s understanding of number bonds and to help their addition and subtraction skills. These are the essential building blocks for higher-level maths concepts, so we are excited by the impact that NumBots will have on your child’s learning. This program is predominately being used in Prep to 2, however many children in older years are enjoying it too!

Logging In

The children have been shown how to log in and have brought home a username label containing their unique login details. NumBots can be played on a browser (play.numbots.com) or via the app which is free to download on Amazon, Android and Apple devices. They may need help entering the details, but once they’re in they will be able to play the game on their own.

Please ask your child’s teacher if they are struggling to login. Maths Circle (the creators of NumBots) cannot provide username and password information to parents, even during school holidays or out of hours.

Important: Please don’t allow siblings, friends or family to answer for them, as the program progresses at the pace of each child. Do feel free to support your child if they’re stuck and give them encouragement to keep trying even if it takes a number of times to complete a level.

Little and often

In order to get the best out of NumBots, we recommend that children play regularly for short bursts at a time, aiming for 3 minutes, five times a week.

Game Types

1. Story Mode – the emphasis is on learning the ideas and concepts behind addition and subtraction so it features more diagrams, representations and question styles.

2. Challenge Mode – the emphasis is more on speed of recall of key facts, like number bonds to 10, doubling small numbers or adding & taking away in your head.

Please let your child’s teacher know if you have any questions or comments.

Year 6 Business Week

Year 6 would like to thank you all for your tremendous support a few weeks ago regarding our business adventures. From a 'Bomb the Boss' stall to sweet treats galore, there really was something for everyone and we appreciate this was down to our fantastic loved ones at home supporting their business ventures! Whilst it was all great fun, the children got some fantastic learning from the event, which Mrs Grant and Mrs Brock hope to repeat next year!

We would like to give a big shout out to Kate and Mr Falls, who were essential with their support for this, as well as Mrs Gordon, Mr Smith and Riley, who were bravely 'bombed' and were in great spirits whilst doing so.

As a result of the event, Year 6 raised a mind-blowing $2658.15! Over the next few days, Year 6 will be voting on which seating they would like near the Gaga Pit for everyone to enjoy!

Kayleigh Grant 6A

kayleigh.grant@smseymour.catholic.edu.au

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Newsletter No 14 - 5th Sept · 09 Sep 2024

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