Marvelous Math with Mrs. Rose

Parents often ask  how they can help their children practice basic Math facts, from kindergarten through fourth grade.  Here’s a simple, enjoyable game that our students have really enjoyed for working on the concepts of addition and subtraction.  It’s called “Hide the Blocks” . . . or Jellybeans . . . or Cheerios. . . or Raisins. . . or whatever you might like to use at home!

Hide the Blocks!

First-graders might start working with sums of 5.  So, you would start with a total of 5 blocks, and working in pairs, one partner would hide some of the blocks under the cup (or in the cup, or behind his/her back).  By looking at the number of blocks on the table, the other partner needs to say how many blocks are hidden, as quickly as possible.  Then the partner shows the number hidden, to see if the guesser was correct.

Most students like the fast pace of this game, as they take turns hiding blocks from each other.  Once a child has the concept of all the addends that make five, it’s time to move onto larger numbers.  This is a great game for practicing facts of 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.  Facts of ten are so important to retrieve quickly, as we then apply that concept to multiples of ten.  Older students will want to use larger numbers, or number cards to represent that two addends.

Students may choose to add on to make a sum of ten, for instance, or to count back, which helps make the connection between the inverse operations of addition and subtraction.  When students have a chance to manipulate numbers in hands-on activities such as this, they are better prepared for pencil and paper tasks like timed Fact Fluency Assessments.

On another note, our students now have 1-1/2 minutes (90 seconds) to complete Fact Fluency Assessments of 30 Math Facts (in addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, as appropriate for each grade level), as current research shows that students may need up to 3 seconds to retrieve a Math fact.

For more ideas on how to help your child become more fluent and confident in Math facts of all kinds, click on the  Fact Fluency Strategies page on the banner of this website.

What strategies, games, and websites does your child enjoy most?

If you haven’t played the online mathematical game, KENKEN ,yet, you should try it out.  Click here to take you to the site.

KENKEN is a mathematical puzzle, similar to SUDOKU, but much more challenging, as it involves lots of mathematical operations as well, not just arrangements of digits.  There are KENKEN puzzles for every ability level. 

A student and his family turned me onto KENKEN and told me how much they’re enjoying solving these puzzles as a family.  If you give them a try at your house, please post a comment to let me know what YOU think!

Thanks so much to all the parents who recently attended Ryerson’s PTO Meeting and who were so interested in hearing the details of our Math program and our students’ accomplishments!

I hope that you find this blog a source of helpful information as you guide your child in learning.  Please don’t forget to check out the following pages and links on this site:

• Wonderful Websites
• Fact Fluency Strategies
• Problem Solving Strategies
• Math Riddles
• Math News
• Hot Topics

Thanks so much for all you do in supporting your child’s education!

I’ve been using a great site with students to solve word problems and I’d like to spread the word.   It’s an effective way to use technology to identify the “parts” and “whole” or “total” amounts in story problems and our students have found great success with it; plus it’s fun!

 Click here to try it out.  The part/part/whole strategy uses “thinking blocks” which students can manipulate to solve word problems.  They identify the various parts of the problem and then decide which operation will help solve it.  A Math “tutor” on the site gives hints and lets students know when they have solved the problem correctly.

This site from Math Playground is also listed on my “Wonderful Websites” page.  Please share your comments to let me know how it works for you!

Due to the snow day and late opening (March 2-3) the State and our District have revised the CMT Schedule for our elementary schools.

The updated schedule is as follows:

March 4     Direct Assessment of Writing

March 5     Editing & Revising

March 6     Reading Comprehension I

March 9     Reading Comprehension II

March 10   Degrees of Reading Power

March 11   Mathematics I

March 12   Mathematics II

March 13   Supplemental Tests

March 16-19  Make-up Testing

Please be sure to come to school well-rested and fueled with a healthy breakfast, prepared to do your best, as always!

Thanks to the 3rd and 4th grade teachers who attended our  after-school E-Workshop yesterday on Mathematical Problem Solving!

Here’s what the research on Problem Solving tell us, according to National Council of Teachers Of Mathematics (NCTM):

1. Students must solve many problems in order to improve their problem solving ability.
2. Problem solving ability develops slowly over a prolonged period of time.
3. In order to benefit from instruction, students believe their teacher thinks that problem solving is important.
4. Most students benefit greatly from systematically planned problem-solving instruction.

Problem solving is a major emphasis in our mathematics program in Madison elementary schools and we value the opportunity and the ability to problem solve.  We problem solve not just for math, but for life!!!

To get your younger students thinking, pose the following problem:

I have quarters, dimes, and nickels in my pocket.  If I take three coins out of my pocket, how much could the three coins be worth?

The really nice aspect of this problem is that there are multiple answers.  To challenge students, ask them to find all possible combinations.  For older students, ask them how they know when they have found all combinations!

Have fun problem solving and please feel free to share your thoughts . . .

Students in our Madison schools witnessed history as they viewed selected portions of the inauguration ceremonies for our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, on January 20th.  Excitement filled the air as many of our younger students witnessed a presidential inauguration for the first time.  Social studies lessons in the classrooms supported this historic moment as teachers took advantage of this “teachable moment.”

Today (January 20), our students will witness an historic day as the 44th U.S. President, Barack Obama, takes his oath of office.  Many of our students in elementary school have only known one U.S. President so far and probably weren’t old enough to remember much about previous inauguration days.  Today, as they witness history in the making, it will be interesting to see their reactions.  Stay tuned . . .

While students were out of school on Election Day, teachers were in school–busy working on various forms of professional development.  Technology was the focus of PD for elementary school teachers and I had the privilege of sharing my enthusiasm for blogging (as a way of providing up-to-date information for students, parents, families, and our educational community) with my colleagues.

Mike Ginsburg, fourth grade teacher at Island Avenue School, and I ran two workshops on the elements of blogging.  We were delighted that we had highly-motivated teachers who joined us who are also interested in adding blogs to their current school websites.  Be on the lookout for more blogging teachers joining the ranks soon!

Dear Parents, Students, and Teachers,

We’re always looking for more interactive, fun, and efficient ways to build FACT FLUENCY in our students–whether it’s addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division.  Please try out this website that I’ve recently discovered (recommended by a colleague—thank you Mrs. Amber Bishop!), which is incredible.  Not only does it give students a motivating way to learn math facts and develop fluency, it tracks their learning, offering them what’s most developmentally appropriate to work on next!

Please give it a try and let me know what you think!

Click on:

www.brainormous.com

Have fun!

Mrs. Rose