Some facts about math facts...

One of the biggest stumbling blocks for many of the students that I see is learning their math facts. There are two things that we talk about when it comes to math facts. Speed (how quickly they know the fact) and Accuracy (how accurate they are). Did you know that a student is considered to have mastered a fact if they can give the correct response within 3 seconds? This is ideal and what we strive for…but I am particularly concerned about a student's accuracy. I would rather the student take more time, but get the fact correct then to blurt out an incorrect fact quickly. As you know, each year students are expected to build upon their fact knowledge. The following is the expectation at the end of each grade level:

Kindergarten: addition/subtraction of all 0-5 facts

1st grade: addition/subtraction of all 0-10 facts

2nd grade: addition/subtraction of all 0-20 facts

3rd grade: multiplication/division of all 0-10 facts

4th grade: multiplication/division of all 0-12 facts

During our group time, we typically spend the majority of our time working on a math concept and then end the session working on facts. I try to give them different strategies for figuring out their facts and to help them internalize the facts. We also play games like "I have..who has…" or "Around the world".  These are fun ways for the students to work on facts that are troubling them. It is key that your child practice at home. Every student that I work with has been set up on xtramath.org either by their classroom teacher or by myself. This is a great way to practice at home using the computer and working at their level. It is also an alternative way to practice than the traditional flash card way. Whether your child is in the primary grades working on addition and subtraction facts or an intermediate student working on multiplication and division, it is best for students to learn and associate the fact as it fits within its fact family or number bond. For example: 

7+6=13      6+7=13
13-7=6     13-6=7

It is best not to overload your child with too many facts at one time. It is better to have them focus and work on 1-2 facts that are giving them difficulty and then to move on to a new fact once they seem to have grasped the first ones.

Even though it can be frustrating for everyone, staying positive and celebrating your child's success are so important!!!

This week I will be progress monitoring the students. You will be receiving progress reports from me regarding how your child has been doing at the end of January. 

Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday season and thank you for all you do at home!!!

Welcome to my Math page!!

The students have settled into their school routines, all of the necessary benchmark testing has been completed and it is now time for me to start meeting with students in small groups. This is my 3rd year teaching math in small groups and I love what I do! It is very rewarding for me to work with your children  - many will be new to me this year and some friends I have had the pleasure of working with before. 

I will be working closely with your child's teacher while I am working with them. Parents are often concerned about what their child will miss when they come out for the small group. Your child's teacher is prepared for this and makes sure they are brought up to speed on what was missed. In addition, we make sure that the student is never pulled during their math time, as we want them to have a "double dose" of math instruction.

My goal, as always, is to help your child think of themselves as a good math student and to be more successful in math! The home piece is very important, especially when it comes to math. I encourage you to work with your child on their facts on a regular (preferably daily) basis. I have listed many websites on this blog to go to and to use for practice at home. Please take a look and try to find one or two that might be of benefit to your child. I look forward to meeting you in the coming weeks but in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me via my school email if you have any questions/concerns. 

Winding down the year......Summer is almost here!

Even though it's summer, math skills can be kept up in lots of fun ways. Here are some of the fun ways you can keep practicing your math skills throughout the summer.

One of the favorite games we played this year was called 101 and Out! This game, which only requires 1 dice and some paper and pencil is a great way to practice using addition, mental math and place value. The object of the game is to get closest to 100 without going over (hence 101 - and you are out!) You have 5 dice rolls to do this. If you roll a 3, you have the option of taking 3, 30 or 3x3 (younger children can play without multiplication option). Each time you add on to your score, use mental math! The paper and pencil are for keeping score only! The person who is closest to 100 at the end of 5 rolls without going over 100 wins!

Another favorite game is I have...Who has... You can go on-line and print off cards to make your own game, depending on what skill you are working on.

If it's a rainy day or you looking for your child to get in some fact practice, go to any of the sites listed here on my blog. If there are particular facts that you are working on with your child to help them master, you can go on APlusMath and go to flashcard creator and create your own flashcards (this might be fun for your child to do!). There are worksheets you could print off and you could go to the game room and click on addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. 

And who doesn't love food...especially in the summer. The following are all ideas that center around food and math. Have fun trying some of these out!

• Identifying Geometry shapes using spherical oranges, circles of salami, squares of cheese and cubes of cheese.
• Counting: jellybeans, carrots, peas, etc
• Sorting/counting large bag of M&M's. How many browns? Oranges? Red? Greens? Create a bar graph with the information. Ask questions such as "How many more browns than greens are there?"
• Grouping candy or other food items and practice counting by 2's, 5's, 10's.
• Buying snacks at the pool. If you have $5, what can you afford to buy? How much change will you get back?
• Telling your child what time dinner will be and then asking them how much time will pass before dinner? 
• Baking your favorite recipes. Using measuring cups and spoons. How many 1/2 cups in a cup? How many 1/4 cups?
• Discuss and show weight of food items. 1 lb of butter or cheese. 5 lbs of flour. 6 ounces of cheese.
• Setting table for dinner. Two extra people joining the family tonight - how many place settings will you need?
• Survey family on their favorite vegetables. Chart and graph your results.
• If there are approximately 10 chocolate chips in each cookie, how many will be in a whole batch of cookies?
• Pizza/fraction math. If 4 people eat 1 slice of pizza that is cut into eighths, how much will be left?
• Determining how many pizzas you should order for a party, depending on how many people you are expecting.
• Estimating numbers of items in jars.
• Divide total amount of cherries among number of kids present. How many will you have remaining?
• Looking at muffin/cupcake pan. How many muffins will we be able to make?

JUST A FEW IDEAS!!! THE IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER IS MATH IS ALL AROUND US!!!

Happy New Year!!!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and that you are ready for a new year of math learning and fun!

Regardless of what grade your child is in, we have been working hard together to learn basic math facts. Because we have so little time together and we have so many skills/concepts to cover, it is also important that you practice facts with your child at home. There are lots of fun ways, other than the traditional flash card way, that you can use to give your child additional practice. The most important thing is to make it fun and positive! Focus on progress and celebrate every success! Here are some ideas you can try at home:

• Play Fact Wars by splitting cards into 2 piles. Each player flips over 2 cards and the says the sum or product (depending on what skill/grade level they are in). The player with the greatest sum or product gets to keep the cards. In this game repetition and correct answers are emphasized rather than speed.
• For difficult to remember facts, have your child create a "model" using cereal or some other food to help them internalize the fact. 
• Draw pictures to show a fact.
• Have your child make up a word problem to go with two numbers.
• Tape flash cards (you can buy these at dollar store or make them using index cards) on different doors and drawers in the house. Have your child give the answer before they can open the door/drawer.
• Create two piles (1. facts they know and 2. facts they don't know). Focus primarily on the facts they don't know and celebrate each time a card can be placed in the facts they know pile. Your child will love seeing that pile grow!

It was a pleasure getting to meet so many of during the conference days in November and December! If we did not get to speak and you would like to contact me, or having any questions regarding your child's progress report, please do not hesitate to email or call. 

One of the things I get asked about often are ways to practice word problems. Making up your own "Math stories" using the people and events in your child's life is one great way. For example, if your child plays a sport, a math story could be as follows: Bobby's hockey team had 17 players, Lindsey's team had 3 fewer players. How many players did Lindsey's team have?

A good website for word problems is math playground (listed here on my blog). You can also type in kidzone word problems in your search engine and then click on the appropriate grade level for your child. 

We will be working on word problem strategies and skills as well during our group time! Thank you for all that you do at home!!