Second Semester
Planning Ahead for 2015
Coming Up
I thought once the holidays are over, you might start to wonder what you can do to help students get ready for next semester. We really kick first grade into high gear and a little bit of work over break wouldn't hurt!
These are just a few suggestions and links. Nothing is mandatory. I know my boys need a break and I'm sure your kids do too! If you have some time, great. If no, no worries.
Have a safe and happy holiday season!
Math
What We've Done
- Addition and subtraction within 20
- Counting, writing, identifying, and ordering numbers up to 120
- Word problems with addition and subtraction
- Polygons: triangles, trapezoids, quadrilaterals, rhombus, parallelograms, hexagons, circles
- Identifying rules: Sorting and Classifying according to one or two rules
What We've Discussed, but We Will Keep Reviewing!
Support and help with these at home would be huge!
- Coins and coin values (not necessarily adding values, just a nickel = 5 cents)
- Calendar - knowing months, days in the month, days in a week, finding a week ahead or behind the current date
- Hundreds chart - moving between numbers, knowing jumping rows jumps by 10
- Ones place and tens place
- Time - telling time to the hour and possibly 1/2 hour. Knowing important times on a clock, like 8:30 bedtime, 12:00 lunch, etc.
Coming Up...
- Measurement with non-standard measures (like craft sticks, human feet, or paper clips)
- Comparing lengths
- Knowing "how many more" to get to a number. Example: If I am 53 inches tall and you are 49 inches tall, how much taller am I?
- More addition and subtraction facts up to 20 (knowing the facts quickly at this point)
- More word problems. Word problems with more than one step.
- Making bigger numbers using tens and ones
Math Games Offline
- Checkers
- Chess
- Backgammon
- Mancala
- Mastermind
- Board games (such as Monopoly)
- Card games (e.g. Go Fish, rummy)
- Uno
- Set
- Krypto
- 24
- Tangrams
- Dominoes
- 2-D and 3-D Puzzles
- Sewing, quilting
- Construction toys (such as building blocks, Legos, or Kinex)
- Cooking
- Collections of things (stamps, coins, baseball cards, buttons, etc.)
- Building models
- Oragami and paper folding
- Commercially-available materials (such as connecting cubes, Geoblocks or pattern blocks)
More Math - Printable
- At Home with Math: Ten Math Activities for Parents and Kids. Games and activities that families can do to include math in their everyday routines. Available in English and Spanish.
- Aunty Math: Math Challenges for K-5 Learners. A new math problem every other week. Visitors are encouraged to solve the problem and then share their work with an adult, friend or classmate.
- Early Childhood: Where Learning Begins. Mathematical actvities for parents and their 2- to 5-year old children.
- Figure This!: Math Challenges for Families. 80 sets of 4 paper-and-pencil questions that illustrate challenging middle school mathematics, from The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Hints and answers are provided.
- Helping Your Child Learn Mathematics. A booklet that includes activities adults can use with children in preschool through grade 5, to help strengthen their math skills. Also available in Spanish.
- The Math Forum Student Center. Links to games, resources, math software, mailing lists and other reference materials related to learning and teaching math.
- Mixing in Math. "Quick ways to mix math in to what after-school programs already do: sports, snack time, arts and crafts, playground games." The K-7 activities are "easy to prep ... easy to lead ... free ... and can complement homework in a variety of ways." Also available inSpanish.
- Sample Actvities: Math Everyday. Suggestions for doing meaningful mathematics while engaged in typical everyday activities like shopping in the grocery store, visiting the post office, traveling, cooking, or reading together.
- Summer Home Learning Recipes. Reading, writing, math and science activities families can do at home.