Marvelous Math with Mrs. Rose

Parents~Are you looking for a novel, exciting way for your children to practice Math facts and skills?

Why not use technology, a natural motivator for many students?  Another benefit is that you can zero in on grade-level skills and concepts, which are appropriate for your child.  Try visiting IXL Math, one of the web’s #1 Math Practice Site by clicking here.

You can choose the grade-level of your child, from Pre-K to Sixth-Grade.  There are unlimited Math questions in more than 1,000 topics, which provide immediate feedback to the user.  It’s free for limited use and can help students to improve skills and boost confidence in Math.  You can always extend your student’s thinking by trying the next grade level after mastering the current grade level.

If you try this with your child, please leave me a comment below to let me know how you both liked it!

See what all the fun is about by clicking on “World Maths Day,” which is also available at:  http://www.worldmathsday.com

Students have the opportunity to play online games of  mental arithmetic against other students from all over the world.  They can access the games at home, with a parent’s permission, or at school, with a teacher’s permission.  Each online game lasts 60 seconds and there are 500 games to choose from!

The games at “World Maths Day” website are designed for students from 5-18 years of age and students can select their skill level.  Even parents and teachers can participate!

Students from countries all over the world are working together to beat last year’s world record of 452,681,681 questions that were answered correctly!  Think of it as a “Math Olympics,” and we’re all on the same team!

To try “World Maths Day,” just click on the link above, and please let me know how you like it!

Click HERE to try an interactive geometry exploration online.  Using virtual manipulatives, you can explore how to find the area of rectangles, parallelograms, and triangles!

This site, from NCTM’s Virtual Manipulatives Library, can also be accessed through this URL:

http://illuminations.nctm.org/Activities.aspx?grade=2&srchstr=Geometry

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below!

Mrs. Rose

Math Enrichment, or extending our students’ thinking in mathematics, comes in many forms.  It happens in the classroom; at home; while working on projects in other subject areas; and even on the computer.

One of my favorite sources of Math Enrichment is using technology, especially virtually manipulatives, on the computer.  Parents–please visit some of links I’ve included in “Wonderful Websites” on the banner of my blog.  Worthwhile opportunites to extend our children’s thinking in number sense, algebraic expressions, geometry and measurement, data and probability, etc., are available from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) websites, found at:

 http://illuminations.nctm.org/

I really like this site because you can search by content area, grade level, math standard, etc., etc.  Student can work with virtual manipulatives online and parents can read about standards, problem solving, sample lessons, you name it!

Please check this site out  as well as others listed on my blog banner for some family Math fun!

There were lots of characters at the Pumpkin Fair at Island Avenue School on Saturday.

A fabulous time was had by all!

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?

It’s always so exciting to start a new school year and I look forward to welcoming you all back to school!  We also look forward to welcoming  incoming first-graders and other students who are new to Island Avenue and Ryerson Schools this year!

I can’t wait to hear about your summer activities, and especially how you practiced MATH over the summer.  Don’t forget to return the sheet from the “Summer Math Fun” Packet entitled, “Ten Ways I Practiced Math During Summer 2009.”

If you need another sheet, click here.   (The form is on the last page of this packet.) Please fill this out with your parents and bring it to me at school.  I have a little something special for those students who complete this form and bring it to school!

WELCOME BACK TO  SCHOOL!

Fondly,

Mrs. Rose

I hope so!

I’ve seen many of you around town and at the beach, which has been fun!  I hope all of you are enjoying a wonderful summer with your families!

Here’s a little news from my family.  The newest member of the Rose family joined us on our farm in late June.

A new baby filly was born to our Shire Workhorse, Annabelle.  Here is the baby on her very first day: standing and weighing in at 150 pounds! 

We named Annabelle’s baby Isabelle, or “Belle” for short, which means beautiful!Baby Belle is growing beautifully and she is so much fun!

I hope you’re having fun during these last weeks of summer vacation and I can’t wait to hear about your adventures when you return to school.  Don’t forget to have some fun with Math this summer by playing Math games and exploring Math websites from our Summer Math Fun Packet.  Click HERE to access the Summer Math Fun Packet online.  Don’t forget to fill out the page in the packet telling 10 Ways I Practiced Math This Summer and return it to me at school at the beginning of the school year..  I have a little something special for those students who do that!

See you soon!

Mrs. Rose

I visited all first, second, third, and fourth grade classrooms today at Island Avenue and Ryerson Schools encouraging students to have a “mathematical summer” by taking advantage of our “Summer Math Fun Packet,” posted on all of our elementary school websites.  Click on Summer Math Fun: Put Some Math In Your Summer! to go directly to these fun math activities.

  Here’s the letter to families that accompanies the Summer Math Fun Packet:

                                                                                              June 2009

Dear Parents and Families,

          Summertime is a great time to help children investigate mathematical concepts, as well as to revisit basic math facts, in a variety of exciting ways.  Playing board games, telling math stories, and using technology are just a few fun ways to help our students retain their number sense and to further develop their fact fluency.

          The National Mathematics Advisory Panel released a report stating, “Students should develop immediate recall of arithmetic facts to free the working memory for solving more complex problems.”  In addition to challenging problem solving, emphasis on recall of basic arithmetic facts is also valued in our elementary schools.  To give your child a head start on mastery of fact fluency—or to retain fluency of facts already achieved, you will find many strategies, games, and related websites in this packet.  Learning math facts does not have to be just quizzes and workbook pages.   Playing games is an excellent way to develop fact fluency.

Brain research indicates that ability in mathematics should be looked at as less of a talent and more of as a result of hard work and continued practice.  This research supports the belief that confidence in math, and thus prowess and talent, can be developed through exposure, practice, and effort.

          Please make a commitment to your child’s developing math sense this summer by trying some of these marvelous math activities—and have fun in the process! 

As you do this, please complete the form, “Ten Ways I Practiced Math During the Summer” (contained herein), with your child and return this to the Math Specialist at your elementary school at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year.

          Happy Learning!  Best wishes for a safe, fun-filled, mathematical summer!

        Ruth W. Rose

       Math Specialist

         Island Avenue and Ryerson Schools      

   roser@madison.k12.ct.us                                    

Visit my Educational Blog at: http://blogs.madisonct.org/roser            

                You can also access the Summer Math Fun Packet by clicking on “Summer Math Fun” on the banner of this blog!

Due to popular request (by students), here are some more stories with holes:

1. There are two plastic jugs filled with water.  How could you put all of this water into a barrel, without using the jugs or any dividers, and still tell which water came from which jug?
2. What is black when you buy it, red when you use it, and gray when you throw it away?
3. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?  (or day names in any other language)

If you think you have a solution to any of these, or a question to ask about them, please leave a comment.

AND THIS JUST IN, FROM KEVIN . . .

“A burglar was holding 2 bags of gold from a robbery.  Both bags were so heavy he couldn’t lift them above his waist.  Then, he saw a security camera.  Without dropping either bag, how does he get past the camera?”

HINT:  HE DIDN’T USE A MASK!

AND HERE’S ANOTHER FROM LIZZIE:

“Sally and John were lying on the floor with blood around them.  There was a weapon on the table and a mother was nearby.”