Instructional Tribune
March ILT Newsletter
Testing Time!
- MISA (Maryland Integrated Science Assessment) - All 5th graders take this assessment for science. Testing will take place on March 7th, March 8th, March 14th and March 15th in the morning.
https://www.ccboe.com/academics/elementary-program-of-studies/science
- MCAP (Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program) - All students in grades 3-5 for math and reading. The testing window is between April 11th and May 26th.
- iReady (Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program) - The last iReady assessment for the 2022-2023 school year has a window of May 1st to June 2nd. Be sure your scholar is working in their MyPath on iReady for Reading.
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Reading Corner with Ms. Miller
Welcome to a month of reading! March is full of special events that are reading focused and our theme is ROBOTS! We will have themed reading days, guest readers, challenges, read-a-louds, and self-selected reading!
House of Robots
Students in grades 2 – 5 (Kindergarten and 1st grade optional) are reading House of Robots by James Patterson in school and responding to questions. Ask your child about our book and their readings.
Pete the Cat : Robo Pete
Students in Grades Pre-K – 2nd will be reading Pete the Cat Robo Pete by James Dean starting March 13th. We will have fun reading and working on activities. TBD
Read-A-Thon
It's time for the Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Elementary School Read-a-thon!
Read-a-thon promises to be a fun, exciting journey that starts Wednesday March 1, 2023. We will get your children excited about reading.
We know you have limited time but want the best education for your child. That’s why we hope everyone will activate their reader's account as soon as possible. This is where you can record and view your reader's progress.
We encourage you to activate your reader’s account today by clicking on https://www.read-a-thon.com/readers/r/gMenBm/1 and following the simple instructions.
The read-a-thon ends March 15th so don’t delay! Sign up for a special treat!
CHALLENGE!!!
Calling all books….easy, just right, or challenging….let’s read for FUN!! Grab a book and READ, READ, READ!!!!
Turn in the completed Reading Log for a special prize! Ask your teacher for another copy if you need another one. I can’t wait to see all of the neat books you chose!
SAVE THE DATE! Be on the lookout for information on our super-fun- robotical Reading Night on March 23rd.
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Math Corner With Ms. Ament
Encourage Positive Attitudes
Everyone can support children’s early math development. There are simple things that parents can do to help their children develop positive math attitudes. These practices help children see that math is a fun and powerful way to understand the world. When families enjoy math learning, children’s confidence in their ability to learn math grows.
The Encouraging Positive Math Attitudes video offers ideas for how families can create positive, enjoyable ways to explore math. https://vimeo.com/showcase/7875996/video/487363481
Strategies for Parents/Caregivers
Embrace Mistakes
Parents can help children understand that there is more to math than getting the right answer. Math learning is a process, and mistakes are a natural and important part of that process. The mistakes that children make when exploring math provide opportunities to learn. They can also give parents insight into children’s thinking.
Children practice their math skills by thinking about what steps led to their mistake. When children make a mistake, rather than solving the problem for them, try to pause
and ask questions about their thinking. If children start to lose interest or get frustrated, take a break and return to the activity later.
Ask Questions
By asking questions, parents can encourage their children to think about math problems in different ways, which helps to develop their critical thinking skills. [2] The goal is to have children talk about why they are approaching problems in a particular way. This kind of reflection not only helps children learn, but also helps parents see what math concepts their children understand and where they need more practice.
Parents can use this information to modify their questions and activities.
For example:
How did you figure that out?
What are you doing?
How did you know?
What are some other ways we can try?
Praise Effort
As families explore math together, parents can encourage children by praising their effort (You worked hard!) rather than their skill (You’re so smart!). This keeps the focus on their thinking, which motivates children to keep working on challenging problems.
An effective way to praise effort is to notice specific things children are doing during the math activity.
For example:
Good job counting!
I saw you point to each object. That was a great way to keep track!
I like how you kept trying to solve the problem!
Great work. You had a good idea about how to share the toys fairly!
Stay Positive
Above all, try to keep math exploration positive and encouraging. When children see their parents and caregivers with positive math attitudes, it encourages them to learn and stay motivated.
If a child is excited about a math activity, they may work on it even without encouragement. If a child gets frustrated or does not understand something, show them what they did right. Encourage them to try again using a different strategy or a new approach. It is also OK—and sometimes important—to take a break.
By focusing on children’s thinking, parents can help them build positive attitudes toward math. This will increase children’s interest in math and support their math learning.
Math is everywhere. That’s great news for parents, because we can talk with our kids about math in fun, natural ways. And that kind of math-talk is really important.
Studies show that a child’s math skills at kindergarten entry are a better predictor of future academic success than reading skills, social skills, or the ability to focus. As parents, we can give our kids a head start by helping them get comfortable with math concepts like measuring and counting at home.
Here are five ways to add math to your child’s day.
1. Bake something together
You can’t help but use math when you’re baking. Doubling recipes requires multiplying, halving a recipe requires dividing, and measuring a ½ cup or a ¼ teaspoon gets you working with easy fractions. At a more basic level, kids love counting out chocolate chips. (And so do the parents; we speak from experience!)
Ask your child: How many chocolate chips do you think it will take to fill one cup? How many for 1/2 cup? Count together and see how close you came to the right answer!
2. Measure, count, and record
Most kids love stopwatches, and watching the seconds tick by gives them opportunities to practice counting. Measure distances and heights. Count jumping jacks, push-ups, or consecutive kicks of a soccer ball.
Ask your child: How far can you throw a ball? Take a guess, then throw the ball as far as you can and measure the distance. How many jumping jacks can you do in a minute? Try it! How many times can you jump rope or bounce a ball without missing? Count and see.
3. Build something together
Big or small, any project that involves measuring includes counting, adding, and multiplying. It doesn’t matter whether you’re making a clubhouse out of shoeboxes or building a genuine tree house. Legos and other building toys are wonderful tools for incorporating both numbers and spatial thinking into playtime.
Ask your child: How high can you build that stack of Legos? How many Legos do you need to stack to reach as high as the coffee table? Can you make a square? A rectangle? Other shapes? Talk about the shapes of whatever your child has created.
4. Plan dinner or a party
Whether you’re planning a party or just getting ready for a family dinner, there are plenty of math concepts involved. Have your child help set the table and count out the plates, napkins, and silverware. For a party, have your child help with the shopping. You know you’re going to have to do some math since all of those plates, balloons, and party favors are packaged in different quantities!
Ask your child: How many plates, napkins, and forks do you need for dinner? If you’re inviting 10 guests to a party, and the plates come 8 to a pack, how many packs are you going to need? How many are going to be left over? If you’re not planning a party in the near future, get creative. Why not host a tea party for your child’s favorite stuffed animals?
5. Mix in math to your bedtime reading
Most families read to their children at night. Why not add a math problem to the mix? Here’s one to try.
Melt in Your Mouth No matter how much you love your favorite snack (apples, marshmallows, pound cake), it probably tastes even better dipped in something warm and gooey. That’s what you do when you eat fondue. You fill the fondue pot with cheese or chocolate, put it over a hot flame, and then dip pieces of food into the yummy meltedness using long skinny fondue forks. It all started with cheese fondue in a Swiss recipe in 1699, but since then we’ve added meat fondue (where you carefully cook chunks of steak in hot oil) and, of course, chocolate fondue. But you have to pay attention while dipping: Some say that if you drop your apple slice in the pot, you have to kiss the person to your left.
Ask your 3 or 4-year old: If you dip 2 apple slices and 3 banana slices into your fondue, how many pieces did you dip?
Ask your older child: If there are 2 people sharing cheese fondue and everyone wants 3 apple slices, how many apple slices do you need to serve?
There are plenty of other ways to keep kids thinking about math—board games, stickers, and stargazing, to name a few. The important thing is just to encourage your child to see the numbers all around us and to keep things fun. This is how we’ll raise a next generation that thinks math is cool!
Helpful Websites
INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAM
Stacy Miller, Reading Resource Teacher (Reading) smiller@ccboe.com
Dr. Alesha Blue, Learning Resource Teacher (Testing & Gifted) ablue@ccboe.com