Happy Spring!
Spring is an exciting time at school - field trips, projects, and field day! Please encourage you child to make the most of her time at school - some of our best learning can take place in May! It's that time of year...State Testing is Upon Us!
Students tend to feel about state testing the way the adults around them feel...so I try very hard to be positive and optimistic with my students. This is the chance for them to SHOW THE WORLD what they know! :-) A good night's sleep and plenty of water are a great idea before testing. Happy Spring!!! We are continuing our slow roll of Dreambox!
Good news! If your child has an account (about 100 of our students do), he or she can log on at home, too! You will probably need to help them log on the first time and then save it to your favorites. From a browser: https://play.dreambox.com/login/bhws/wn7p Username is first.last Ask your child for his/her password or check Thursday folders! HAVE FUN! PCA celebrated pi day on March 14 - do you know why that date was chosen?
Check out our awesome 7th grade teacher, Mrs. Wood, and her Pi Day "Necklace". Students who meet with me (and Mrs. English!) have been trying an online math program to see if they like it - and if it helps them break down the math to make it easier for them.
Early indications are that it is a HIT! We'll let you know if we like it...in the meantime, visit: www.dreambox.com to see what you think and to give it a preview! The student in the photo above is using manipulates, equations, and number bonds to show how addition and subtraction are inverse operations. MATH IS EVERYWHERE!
Sometimes things just feel difficult.
Long division can be one of those things. But when we break apart the idea of long division, we see that sometimes it's just making equal groups and setting aside the leftovers. In the photo above, a student was given the number 173 and asked to divide it by 4. She made an array with four columns of 43. The "leftover" is off to the side. HEY! 173 divided by 4 is 43, remainder 1! Even seemingly difficult concepts can feel easier when we break them down and think about them. Turns out, it is all connected. Math is just that cool. Little people love to count things. Let them! Ask them to count the ornaments on the tree, the stockings hanging in the hallway, the number of presents that they need to wrap - EVERYTHING can be counted!
In the picture below, a young friend is using manipulatives, number bonds, and equations to internalize the big ideas of part-part-whole. Over the holidays, keep those conversations going with your young one! As you head into this holiday season, consider asking your child to help out. Depending on the age, a child can use real world math in the following ways:
Have a wonderful Holiday! Before students can work with fractions (find common denominators, add fractions with unlike denominators, etc.) they need a firm understanding of what a fraction is. Games like the one above are a low-pressure way to help students conceptualize abstract ideas like fractions.
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Mrs. SilcoxWelcome! I am the Math Specialist at Providence Creek Academy Archives
May 2018
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