Making Math Healthy and Fun!

Our healthy math project has provided students not only with a variety of fun hands-on experiences that create incredible and fun memories, but has also proven to dramatically aid in their knowledge of fractions, graphing, and measurement. On a pre-test given at the start of the project students scored an average of 42%. At the conclusion of the project on their post-test, student scores were up to 78%- a jump of 36%!

Three groups were tested. Group A scored 23.25% on the pre-test and 74% on the post-test. Group B scored 39% on the pre-test to 74% on the post-test. Group C scored 65.5% on the pre-test to 86.75% on the post-test.

But don't take my word for it...let's here from some of our students...

It’s Almost Summertime!

I realize that summer is a time for rest and relaxation, so that should be your number one priority. I also realize that some of us are rather industrious and would like a few suggestions for making sure math skills do not diminish significantly over the break, so I am offering up some tips and pointers that will only take a few minutes a day. These are activities you can do with your child on those lengthy vacation car trips or even in the moments before they run outside to play. Be creative and they won’t even realize they are learning!

· One of the key skills in math is a familiarity with the number line. Quiz your student on saying the numbers from a certain point. Ask them to start at 6 and count to 21. Or to start at 16 and count backwards to 8. These little quizzes will get their brain thinking from a more mathematical standpoint.

· Skip Count- Ask them to count by 5’s or 10’s (more advanced students can count 2’s, 3’s, or 25’s). Ask them to start from 30 and count by 5’s to 65.

· Counting Cars- Easy one to do in the car. Ask them count all the blue cars or all the cars with Texas license plates. Have them make a mark on a piece of paper for each car they see and count them up at the end of the ride. Making it into a game will make this much more fun! Counting can be applied to anything. Ask them how many M+M’s they think are in a package and then help them count. More advanced students can make a small table of how many reds, greens, etc.

· High-Five or High-Eight- I am a big proponent of high-fives. Try this game next time you are giving high-fives. Ask them to give you a high-three and have them hold up three fingers. Try this for numbers 1-10, anything higher than that is probably too complicated.

· Play Boardgames- Boardgames are great for counting and one-to-one correspondence. Have them count the number on the die and move that number of spaces. Make sure they are counting out loud if they are having difficulties.

· Flashcards- The old staple. Have fun making flashcards for addition, subtraction, and multiplication. Use them at bedtime, during breaks, or as something that needs to be done before going on Facebook. These can eventually be an independent activity.

· Allowance- Give your child a small allowance for doing chores around the house. It can be as little as a nickel for washing the dishes or a dime for taking out the trash. Have them count this money and save it for something they really want. Remind them that different coins are worth different amounts and have them tell you before you pay them.

· Change Bank- Start a change bank at your house. Have them sort and count the coins, remembering the different amounts that each coin is worth. More advanced students can make a table of the different types of coins.

· Go Shopping- Have them purchase items at the store with cash and then count the change received. This can be done at any store or even restaurants. Let them tell you if they have enough money or if they need more.

· Calendar- During the summer it can be confusing what day it is without school. Discuss the day with them. Talk about what holidays and major events are coming up. Have them count how many days until those events. You can have them mark off the days on the calendar counting down until school starts.

· Time- Talk about what time it is as much as possible or have them wear a watch and ask them for the time. Keep a set bedtime, lunchtime, etc. and have them tell you what time those events occur. Make sure they understand the difference between AM (morning) and PM (night). Ask them what happens at 8 AM and 8 PM.

· Fractions- Cooking is a great way to introduce fractions. Talk about ½ cup being less than 1 cup. Show them the difference. Fractions can be used when eating as well. How many pieces of pizza are there? What fraction of the pizza did you eat? How many cars are yellow? What fraction of the cars in this parking lot is it? Remind them that a fraction is a part of something.

· Worksheets- Another oldie, but goodie. I’ve provided several varieties of work, but there’s no reason these can’t be tailored to your needs or others made using a word processing program.

· Websites- There are a lot of great (and free) Internet games for your child to enjoy. Try these sites:

Funbrain Games http://www.funbrain.com/brain/MathBrain/MathBrain.html

Fraction Game http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/fractions/index.htm

Multiplication Quiz

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/numbers/wholenumbers/multiplication/timestables/game.shtml

Addition with carrying http://www.netrover.com/~kingskid/mathjav.html

Adding Single Digits http://www.netrover.com/~jjrose/random/container.htm

Lowest to Highest Numbers http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/ofm.cgi?A1=s&A3=0&A2=0

MathCar Racing http://www.funbrain.com/osa/index.html

Tic Tac Toe Squares http://www.funbrain.com/tictactoe/index.html

Measure It! http://www.funbrain.com/measure/index.html

Number Words http://www.funbrain.com/numwords/index.html

Math Baseball http://www.funbrain.com/math/index.html

Math Football http://www.funbrain.com/football/index.html

Guess the number http://www.funbrain.com/guess/index.html

Add the Digits http://www.scugog-net.com/room108/add/addcard.htm

IPad Applications- With the advent of the I-Pad, learning math can be even more fun with these cool applications: List Provided and created by Ms. Nancy

Group 1 (also Group 2 with *)

Number Monster by learning monster – number sequence

Teach Me-Toddler – letters, numbers, colors, phonics, shapes and counting

Teach Me –Kindergarten – simple addition, subtraction, spelling and sight words

* Teach Me-1^st Grade – 1^st grade addition, subtraction, spelling and sight words (this app does have 2^nd and 3^rd grade that has all of the above)

* Kids Math – addition

Junior Bingo by ABCys.com - colors, shape, letters, letter sounds and number

KG Math HD by Mintmomeg – lots of activites

All four Groups

Jungle Coin – all groups

Jungle Time – all groups

Telling Time by My Turn Mobile