Friday, June 17, 2016

Summer Math and Fun Ways to Avoid Summer Brain Drain!




Fun Ways to Avoid Summer Brain Drain!

During the fun summer months children tend to forget some of the academic skills learned during the school year.  Helping your child avoid the summer “brain drain” can be easy and lots of fun. Math games are a great way not only to occupy your child but also to keep their skills sharp in the summer. Read on for ideas!

Resources for you Going Home with Report Cards: Every student will get a calendar where they color in a sun for every problem that they complete over the summer.  We are asking that students complete at least 15 problems each month (July and August).  The problems cover most of the skills that they learned this year.  We will be collecting the calendars (and reading logs) in September.  
Fluency: You will also receive a fluency letter from me (blue paper) with tips and fun resources on how to support this skill over the summer. Your child's latest results will also be attached to give you a starting point.  Teachers have been working all year to build up fluency and we would like to ask you to help continue this practice to ensure that the kids retain what they learned and practice facts that they are still working through. 

District link to the summer math and reading logs if you need to replace a copy:

Recommended Daily Math Activity Time
Students entering Pre K, K and grade 1 = minimum 5 minutes
Students entering grade 2 = minimum 10 minutes
Students entering grade 3 = minimum 15minutes

Students entering grades 4 and 5= minimum 20 minutes

Summer Blast Math Books
At your local library there are many great picture books that teach various math skills.  Below are some great titles separated by topics:
.
Chance, Probability, Graphs, and Data
Ø  Do You Wanna Be? You Chance to Find Out about Probability by Jean Cushman
Addition
Ø  Addition Annie by David Gisler
Ø  Imogene's Antlers by David Small
Ø  Math Potatoes: Mind-stretching Brain Food by Greg Tang
Ø  The Mission of Addition by Brian Cleary
Division
Ø  Amanda Bean's Amazing Dream by Cindy Neuschwander
Ø  The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood
Ø  The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! By Mo Willems
Money
Ø  The Big Buck Adventure by Shelley Gill and Deborah Tobola
Ø  Once Upon A Dime by Nancy Kelly Allen
Ø  Sold! A Mothematics Adventure by Nathan Zimelman.
Subtraction
Ø  The Action of Subtraction by Brian Cleary
Multiplication
Ø  Anno' Math Games by Mitsumasa Anno
Ø  The Best of Times: Math Strategies That Multiply by Greg Tang

Wishing you a Wonderful Summer!!