Odd or Even

For second grade math, we are starting by developing number sense and exploring place value concepts.  This week we focused on determining if a number is odd or even.  We read a delightful story called Even Steven and Odd Todd.  From the story, we realized even numbers can be paired.  We found a pattern that even numbers end in 2, 4, 6, 8 or 0.  Odd numbers have 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9 in the ones place.





    We played a couple of different dice and domino games where students found sums and sorted the sums by odd or even.  We also made an anchor chart to help us remember the rules we were discovering.
     Further, we have started to explore the last part of this objective "can write an equation to express an even number as a sum of two equal addends."  For instance, 6 (an even number) can be expressed as 3+3.  I gave the students a hand full of plastic circles.  They had to see if they could evenly divide the manipulatives into two equal piles.  Then they had to write the equation with dry erase marker on the desk.  They thought writing on their desks was pretty cool.  This activity proved to be a little more difficult and we will need to continue to practice this concept in the upcoming week. One of the students suggested we use M&Ms next time.  Smart kid!  What a tasty way to practice some more.