Mathematics

In Term Four, with our welcomed return to face-to-face learning, students will be extending their Mathematical understanding across the three curriculum content areas of Number and Algebra, Measurement and Geometry, and Statistics and Probability. As always, SURF (Problem Solving, Understanding, Reasoning and Fluency), our Glen Waverley Whole School Approach to Mathematics, will continue to frame all the learning that occurs. Through this proficiency-based framework, students will continue to set personalised learning goals, while examining and applying a range of strategies or problem-solving approaches. 

Students have begun the term with a Division Unit and an emphasis on the mathematics “Big Idea” of Multiplicative Thinking. They will develop a rigorous understanding of division, by investigating a range of concrete, pictorial and abstract strategies as the unit progresses. Students will utilise physical manipulatives and visual tools to represent the process of sharing, and explore “repeated subtraction” with the aim of creating a connection between Division and Subtraction. 

Moving forward, we have a major focus on Measurement and Geometry and Using Units of Measurement. As a broad unit of learning, students will explore the concepts of  Length, Mass and Capacity. We aim for students to develop an understanding of informal and formal units of measurement, and the ability to transfer their measurement skills across the three concepts. 

Finally, Level One will finish the school year through the lens of Transformation. Students will be exploring flips, slides and turns, by manipulating concrete resources and objects in their environment. Furthermore, they will be utilising digital technologies, to create transformations. 

To support your child at home, we suggest:

• Developing both their Fluency, by practising division facts, and a rigorous Understanding, by challenging them to use a range of concrete, pictorial and abstract strategies to represent division.
• Explore food labels, scales and containers within your home, while encouraging them to help you cook and perform measurements. 
• Find opportunities to incidentally identify and describe transformations within your child’s surroundings, e.g. “The clock hand’s movement is a clockwise turn” or “Slide the box a few centimetres to the left.”