 |
Here are some useful tips to help your child develop smart back to school habits:
How can I help my students develop an understanding and appreciation of how numbers are used?
How can I help my students understand the importance of estimation and develop good estimations skills?
How can I help my students recognize and understand patterns?
How can I help support my students and their families in making homework a useful and productive time?
How can I help my students develop an understanding and appreciation of how numbers are used?
Students live in a world filled with numbers, but sometimes they look right past them. Becoming more aware of the numbers around them helps kids see what an important part math plays in their everyday lives. Developing this awareness can also help students better understand mathematical ideas they learn in class while becoming more motivated about learning math.
Here are some things you can do to build number awareness:
- Collect Numbers
Ask children to collect numbers in the classroom or at home. In the classroom, examples might include clocks, rulers, calculators, and attendance charts. In the kitchen, examples might include oven temperatures, telephones, measuring cups, and food packaging. Ask students to write down three examples of numbers they found and talk about how they were used.
- Check the Newspaper
Give each of your students a few pages of a newspaper. Ask them to highlight or underline all the numbers they can find. Then have them show the class five of these numbers and tell about how they were used. This helps build student awareness of how numeracy is important when trying to stay informed.
- Take Number Pictures
Use a digital camera to take photos of numbers out in the community (i.e.; gas pump prices, speed limit signs, supermarket price signs, billboards with phone numbers). Display these photos and how the numbers shown are being used. This makes a great math bulletin board.
- Have a Scavenger Hunt
Organize a scavenger hunt for specific kinds of numbers. For example you might ask the class to find the biggest three-digit number in the room or the smallest fraction or a decimal that is less than ½. This can be an individual or group activity and the hunting area can be as small as a student desk or as large as the school. It's fun to gather in all the numbers and compare what was found.
- Use a Cyberchase Episode
Help your class learn more about using numbers by viewing a related Cyberchase episode together. Try visiting the Cyberchase web site (pbskids.org/Cyberchase) and searching with the keywords "Using Numbers" to find out more. The episodes are listed by math topics under "For Parents & Teachers/Episode Descriptions."
How can I help my students understand the importance of estimation and develop good estimations skills?
In our day-to-day lives we rely as much on estimation as we do on computation to solve the math problems we encounter. When shopping for food, figuring out how much paint to buy, or how long something will take, we most often use estimation. It's important for students to see the usefulness of estimation from the very beginning of the school year so it becomes part of their everyday mathematical thinking.
Here are some things you can do to build estimation skills:
- Develop a Definition
Work on developing a definition of "estimation" together. Focus on the idea that estimation is a "reasonable guess." Model this by estimating how many pretzels might be in a snack size bag of pretzels. You could say, "100" but that is not a reasonable guess. You could say "2" but that is not reasonable either. We use what we know, what we have experienced, and what we see to help us think about what a reasonable guess or estimate would be.
- Give Examples
Emphasize the idea that an estimate is not an exact answer and that we want to get as close as we can with an estimate, but that if it is not exact that does not mean an estimate is wrong or not useful. If I am buying ice cream for three people that the three orders are for items costing $1.99, $2.25, and $1.95, I can safely estimate that my cost will be about $6 by figuring that each item costs about $2. I don't need an exact answer. A reasonable estimate will do the job.
- Interview Adults
Have students come up with examples in real life where estimation is useful (as in the ice cream situation above). A good way to do this is have them interview family members or other adults, asking them how they use estimation. Students can then report back to the class on one of these interviews.
- Think Estimation First
When posing any kind of math question or problem, ask students to always first estimate an answer. This helps them think about ways the problem might be solved and encourages the development of number sense. It also serves as a useful check-point when they have worked out an exact answer to the question. Is it close to the estimate? Does it seem reasonable when compared to the estimate? This is a great strategy students can use to help when they "check" their work.
- Make an Estimation Station
Provide students with opportunities to estimate quantities. Create an "estimation station" that changes each week. You might use different size containers and fill them with items like erasers, jelly beans, marbles, or pennies. Ask students to estimate how many of that item are in the container. Compare answers and discuss strategies as to how to estimate quantities. Have students take turns creating the estimation station.
- Use a Cyberchase Episode
Help your class learn more about estimation by viewing a related Cyberchase episode together. Try visiting the Cyberchase web site (pbskids.org/Cyberchase) and searching with the keyword "Estimation" to find out more. The episodes are listed by math topics under "For Parents & Teachers/Episode Descriptions."
How can I help my students recognize and understand patterns?
There are many different kinds of patterns that children will recognize, which is great because lots of mathematics is based on patterns. Recognizing and understanding patterns helps students with many kinds of math ideas. Sometimes however, students are not experienced in recognizing patterns and need some help developing this ability.
Here are some things you can do to help students develop skills with patterns:
- Am I Wearing a Pattern?
Help students start to build an awareness of patterns simply by looking at the clothes they are wearing. Partner children up and have them examine the patterns in their clothes. Have each partner record in a drawing, a pattern that they see on the other partner's clothes. Share these with the rest of the class and discuss the types of patterns that were found.
- Listen for the Pattern
Using a can and a pencil, have children close their eyes and listen as you beat out a repeated rhythm on the can. Have students record this pattern with paper and pencil any way they can think of. Ask a volunteer to use the can and pencil to repeat the pattern that was heard. Then invite them to create a new one of their own. Discuss how a pattern has elements that repeat again and again like we often hear in music.
- Complete the Pattern
Place a series of objects in a row. For example, put out a line of keys. Create a repeating pattern by changing the direction of some of the keys in the row (two facing up, two facing down, two facing up, two facing down). The same thing can be done with other simple objects like pennies turned heads or tails. Have some extra keys or pennies and ask children to take turns completing the pattern by adding more keys or pennies. Ask them to explain the pattern and how they knew to place their objects. Then invite them to create a new pattern for the rest of the group to figure out and complete.
- Patterns with Numbers
Help students use numbers to create patterns. A simple counting pattern like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 is a pattern because each number increases by two. The counting up by 2 is the part that repeats. A set of index cards with the numbers 1 to 100 is a good tool for students to use to create number patterns. Ask students to use the cards to create number patterns and invite other students to guess what the pattern is and try to use the remaining cards to extend the pattern.
- Use a Cyberchase Episode
Help your class learn more about patterns by viewing a related Cyberchase episode together. Try visiting the Cyberchase web site (pbskids.org/Cyberchase) and searching with the keyword "Patterns" to find out more. The episodes are listed by math topics under "For Parents & Teachers/Episode Descriptions."
How can I help support my students and their families in making homework a useful and productive time?
Families often ask teachers for advice about how they can help their children have a positive and productive homework time. You may want to consider sharing these tips with families early in the year to get the process off to a good start.
Here are some ideas about homework you can share to help support families:
- A Good Homework Environment
To help children have a positive and productive homework time, suggest that families provide a quiet area free of distractions. These days that means they will have to remind children to turn off cell phones, instant messaging, and e-mail. Good lighting and a work area free of clutter also help students concentrate and sustain a good working effort.
- Take a Break
Encourage children not to try to plow through homework non-stop, but to take a break every so often to stretch, get a snack or drink, take a few deep breaths, maybe even exercise a little to help refresh and revitalize. These simple strategies can make homework time more comfortable and efforts more effective.
- Talk About Homework
Suggest that older members of the family periodically review homework answers with children. They might ask how an answer was arrived at and encourage students to explain their thinking and show their methods and strategies. Explain that they need not feel intimidated by homework they might not understand. They can simply ask the child to explain. They will learn even more by explaining it and the caregiver will learn more about their school experience.
- Check Homework Effectively
We often tell students to "check their work," but we rarely tell them how. One good way to check a math problem is to invite students to estimate first what a reasonable answer would be. Then when the actual answer is computed it can be compared to the estimate to help decide whether the answer is "in the ballpark." Another good strategy is to have students solve a problem a different way and then compare results. For example, a problem might be solved by multiplication. The same problem could also be solved by repeated addition. Try both ways. If the answers match, it is a good bet that it is correct.
|
