Parent tips for: Addition and Subtraction MATH FACTS

 Homework Practice: Make and practice at home for 5 minutes every day!

Learning addition and subtraction as related facts is powerful! Once your child does the hard work of learning by heart the addition facts, the subtraction will be a piece of cake!

Counting on fingers up to +3 is accurate and convenient. But children have problems with fluency and accuracy if they are trying to use fingers to count on by more than 3!

These strategies are faster and more accurate: make ten, doubles, near doubles. We are using the triangle shaped flash card to practice both addition and subtraction.  The 2 bottom points are the “parts” and the top point is the “total”. The strategy goes in the middle. These are easy to make from construction paper. First make squares, then cut diagonally to make triangles.

 Don’t assume your child knows these: your child should start with Count on 1

            1+1=2                        2+1=3                        3+1=4                        4+1=5                        5+1=6                        6+1=7

            7+1=8                        8+1=9                        9+1=10          10+1=11       11+1=12       12+1=13

Play the game every day for 5 minutes at a time:

Turn all of the cards over, pick up a card and hold so that one of the points is covered. Your child should say the number sentence and solve. For example if the total is covered, “1+2=___” or if one of the points is covered, then it becomes a subtraction problem “3-2=___”.  If your child can solve within 3 seconds, you can retire that card. If not, then return to the pile for more practice.

Other strategies your child needs to know:

2+2=4                        3+2=5                        4+2=6                        5+2=7                        6+2=8

            7+2=9                        8+2=10          9+2=11          10+2=12       11+2=13       12+2=14

   3+3=6                        4+3=7                        5+3=8                        6+3=9

            7+3=10          8+3=11          9+3=12          10+3=13       11+3=14       12+3=15

  1+9=10          2+8=10          3+7=10          4+6=10          5+5=10          11-1=10

12-2=10        13-2=10        14-4=10        15-5=10        16-6=10        17-7=10

18-8=10        19-9=10        20-10=10

1+1=2                        2+2=4                        3+3=6                        4+4=8                        5+5=10            6+6=12

7+7=14          8+8=16          9+9=18          10+10=20     11+11=22     12+12=24

4+5=9                        5+6=11          6+7=13

7+8=15          8+9=17          9+10=19       10+11=21     11+12=23     12+13=25

 4+6=10          5+7=12          6+8=14

7+9=16          8+10=18       9+11=20       10+12=22     11+13=24     12+15=26

4+7=11          5+8=13    6+9=15                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Congratulations to our Principal Pride winners: Chaden, Brian and Josh. Keep up the good work!

Missoula Children’s Theatre was here last week. Our Chaden was chosen to be in the play. Bethann, Nacona, Isabella, Josh, and Zach were able to participate in their drama workshop. What a wonderful opportunity they provide for our children.

Mr. Stripes is back and giving us coaching in chess for the next several weeks. Chess provides great strategy and thinking skills that can strengthen our math thinking. Mrs. Palanio (another math whiz) will be with us this week for number-line math and art. Mrs. Kummer who is retired but back again with our Pursuit program, has been working with a few of our students to learn a regrouping math game. Once they get really good at it, they will be able to come back to class and teach others. Math games are a great way to have fun with math and reduce math blocks caused by anxiety.

P.S. Regrouping/fair-shares used to be called carrying and borrowing.

Parent Volunteers: thank you for your support and interest in helping in the classroom. We have worked hard this month to establish classroom routines and behaviors that make a good learning environment for all. We are now ready to welcome parent help in the classroom. If you have not yet filled out a volunteer form, please contact the office. Here are some ways that you can help:

• Reading: Monday-Thursday between 8:30-10:20 Work one-on-one with a child or small group, listen to them read. You may come in for 30 minutes or stay the whole time, whatever works with your schedule.
• Math games: Monday-Friday afternoons. Come spend a half hour with a couple of kids to practice math skills.
• Monthly Scholastic Book Orders: Sort and staple papers to be handed out each month, order on line, check new books that are delivered.
• Classroom Library: anytime you are available, come use my computer to look up books in the Scholastic Reading Counts data bank, then print labels and attach to our books so that students know which books have quizzes. We have an Awesome Parent from last year that can show you the ropes!
• Party Parent: someone who likes to organize, set up and help serve party food?

Homework @ HOME: homework is to be done at home (mostly). Your child might have some time in class to do part of their homework.

• Reading Don’t forget to make time for your child to read every day for 15 minutes. Record pages in Reading Record. (We check this as well as the planner each day). This builds reading skills like nothing else. It is also good for building vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. It is good to reread favorite books or be read to if the book is too hard for your child. Your child is allowed to check out a book from the classroom and two from the Arcadia Library.
• Spelling: if spelling is done during our DAILY 5, your child must write the date, put it in the binder for you to see, then hand in the next day as their homework. If they don’t have it to show you, please have them do one of the 4 different ways we’ve practiced in class. Your child can mix it up and do a different strategy each day or stick with the method that works best for them. And be sure your child is not practicing a misspelled word!

1. Spelling Grid (both sides): tall letters take 2 spaces by going “up into the attic”, tail letters go down “into the basement” which is the space below and letters like a, c, e…. stay in the “main floor”. Unless a spelling word is a proper noun” (the name of a person or place) it should not be capitalized. There should be no capitals in the middle of a word and look out for reversals. Third graders have got to correct these types of errors. Then your child is to outline the shape (by staying on the lines). The shape helps some students who have a hard time remembering how to spell.
2. Rainbow Spelling is when each spelling word is written first in pencil, then traced by a colored pencil. This is repeated with 3 different colors which will total 4 times the word is practiced. Your child is allowed to bring a regular pencil, 3 colored pencils and a highlighter home from school. These should be kept in the binder and returned to school the next day.
3. Quadrilateral (4 sided) Shapes:  square, rectangle, rhombus, kite, trapezoid. Your child is to draw the shape (not too small) and label it. Then write a spelling word on each side of the shape. This gives them the practice of writing each word 4 times as well as practice with some of our new geometry vocabulary.
4. Write a story: using all of your spelling words. This helps your child use the spelling word in context of a sentence which is especially important for homophones. These are the hardest spelling words because they sound the same but have different meanings and are spelled differently such as: there, they’re and their; too, two and  to, or where and wear.

• Cursive is something we start in class and as students get better, some may finish it in class. Again, this should be dated, put in the binder, for you to see, then handed in the next morning. 
• Monday-Wednesday for 5 minutes practice of  Math triangle flash cards: We are making these in class to go with our math strategies for addition and subtraction (fact families). The strategy is written in the middle of the triangle. The total is circled at the top and the parts at the points. This is played by putting cards face down, pick up a card (covering one of the points) then saying aloud the equation. Example: 10 – 6 = 4 or 6 + 4 = 10.  10 is the total, 6 and 4 are the parts. 5 seconds to say the equation. If it takes longer, the card is put back in the pile.
• Thursday: Math4Today:  we do one row each day in class then take our M4T practice page home (Thursday night) to study for the test on Friday. Study means going over the problems on the practice sheet, cover the answer, describe what each problem wants you to do and explain how to solve it.
• Study Club: if your child does not hand in his/her homework, they will be required to finish it after lunch before going out to recess. This is a school wide procedure. It is not to punish your child but to strengthen his/her work ethic. If your child can get in the habit of completing assignments and handing it in on time, it will greatly benefit him/her for the rest of their school life.

I hope you have an idea of what is expected. Please send a note, call or e-mail us if you have questions.

Call us if you have questions or comments,

Loreen Aguirre, Frank McLaughlin

464-5746  loreen.aguirre@dpsdmail.org

Visit our class web page at http://aguirre.deerparkpages.com/ or go to the DPSD web site and click on teacher pages to find our link. This newsletter is on the web site along with other tips. There is a year long list of spelling words in case your child has not written them in his/her binder on the Monday of that week.

Upcoming EVENTS:  

October 11 – Family Math Night 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

NO SCHOOL ON OCTOBER 14

It’s been a whirlwind start to the new school year. We are lucky to have Mr. McLaughlin working with us this year. He is a master teacher candidate from Whitworth. He has been working with me from setting up the classroom before school started and will continue all the way through May. He is wonderful!

It is my goal to keep this website updated once a month. If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please let me know.

Loreen Aguirre

Room 408 Aguirre/McLaughlin Notes                              September 12, 2011

Relatives: My, oh my, how the relatives came last Friday! Our third graders were all practicing their best assembly behavior. You never have seen such big eyes when the relatives came pouring into the gym bringing snacks, books and blankets to sit on. Our gym was full of relatives and third graders. It was a sight to behold! Each third grader was allowed to choose a free book (from a literacy grant). Thank you for coming, relatives!

Reading: We have gotten off to a great start this year, and have enjoyed getting to know your children. We have been busy creating our classroom learning community, and practicing procedures, routines and school rules. I am sure your children have been telling you about the Daily 5 (go to Reading and Writing for more information). Our class has great stamina for independent reading. We are excited about that because great readers are those who read and read and read!

I PICK: We have been learning how to choose good fit books and why it is important for each child to

choose books that he/she can read. Readingbooks that are too difficult can lead to frustration, inability to understand the story, and is not fun. We want children to enjoy reading. Research shows that children are motivated to read when they can choose their own books. Parents ask me every year, “How can I help my child choose books that he or she can read?” Children are continually changing levels. Another problem is that reading levels or lexile numbers are not usually on books you find at the library, bookstore or garage sale. I-PICK is a simple way to help your child choose good fit books. I-PICK is an acronym that stands for: I choose books to read, Purpose, Interest, Comprehension, and Know most of the words.

1. I: Have your child choose a book. This is the first I in I-PICK which means “I choose books to                                  

        read”.

2. P: Ask your child, “What is your purpose for choosing this book?” “Is it for fun or to learn more                                                                      about something you are interested in?”.

3. I: Ask your child, “Is this a book you are interested in?”

4. C: Have your child read a page of the book. After your child reads the page, ask your child, “Who

did you read about and what did they do?”. This C stands for Comprehension.

5. K: Ask, “Did you know most of the words?” This K stands for knowing most of the words.

If your child misses more than 1 word per page (about 100 words) it greatly hinders his/her                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          comprehension.

Going through the steps of choosing a good fit book should only take a couple minutes. Many children can easily choose good fit books once they have learned  I-PICK. Other children may need more guidance as they choose good fit books. This is an ongoing process that we will continue to practice all year long at school.

If your child chooses a book that is too hard for them, you may choose to read it to them. This is a great way to model fluency and build vocabulary. Both reading independently (good fit) books as well as being read-to are powerful ways to build vocabulary and comprehension. Ideally, your child will be able to have both!

Fluency: We have begun working on fluency in math, reading and writing. Fluency is more than speed. It is also accuracy and smoothness. We use Rocket Math to practice math facts starting with addition. We use Read Naturally to practice repeat readings. Writing fluency is developed through quick writes and daily writing workshop.

Homework: Lots of students are getting their binders signed each night: good job! Some still do not seem to be getting the idea. Please make a homework plan with your child: a time and a place to show you their binder, the homework we did in class and give you important papers. We are continuing to do homework training at school this month. If they don’t get homework done in class, they are to finish it at home. I want your child to be as independent as possible when he/she starts doing all their homework at home in October.

Call us if you have questions or comments.

Loreen Aguirre

Frank McLaughlin

464-5746

loreen.aguirre@dpsdmail.org

A new way to practice homework if you have a computer with internet access.

This site has free games that your child can play to practice their own spelling words each night. 

With games like HangMouse, Word Search, Unscramble, and WhichWord?, spelling practice might go from being your child’s least favorite activity to something he/she might even do for fun!

Remember: your child’s own “Words for Life” are written by your child into their planner every Monday. These are their words for the week. They have been chosen because your child misspelled them on last Friday’s sentence dictatation test or on their weekly “Correct Writing Sequence” test. Or, if he or she got 100%, they are allowed to choose their own challenge words. Spelling words are different for each child: one child may be working on the words “with, was, I’m” and another child may be working on the words “summary, lasagna, multiplication”. If your child was absent and did not get their own special words, see the “Words for the Year” listed in another post.

Suggestions for spelling word practice:

A great way to build visual memory if your child has a hard time remembering how to spell their words. And it’s fun, too!

SPELL-IT-BACKWARDS

Make a flash card for each word (or have your child make them)

1. Show one word at a time to your child. Let them look at it until they think they know it.

2. Cover the card and ask your child to “spell it backwards”, If not, go back to step 1.

3. If they can do it, then ask them to “spell it forwards”. If he/she can do it, they get the card. If not, go back to step 1

4. Do the same with the next spelling word.

SPELLING GRID

This will help your child if he/she struggles with printing their letters correctly (tall letters, tail letters, or main floor letters). Lots of third graders need this at the beginning of the year. They will need you to check their work because they have been practicing it wrong for years by now.

PYRAMID SPELLING

Many kids like this way to practice spelling words. It helps them focus on the order of the letters. If your child mixes up letters or forgets a letter, this might be a good way to practice their spelling.

USE IT IN A SENTENCE

If spelling comes easy to your child, ask them to write a sentence or a story that uses their spelling words. Highlight the spelling words in the story. Using words in context is good for their brains. Or ask them to notice spelling words in their reading. They could copy a sentence and highlight the spelling words. All of their reading time should not be spent focused on spelling words, however. It is important that they spend time reading for fun.

Welcome to a new school year! I know each year in your child’s schooling presents new expectations and routines for you and your child to become familiar with. My goal is to introduce classroom routines and structures in a way that removes all of the guesswork from the children and allows them to concentrate fully on learning. In reading, the classroom structure I use is called “Daily Five”. Soon your child will be talking about “The Daily Five” at home. The purpose of this letter is to explain to you what The Daily Five is and what you should expect to see at home.

The Daily Five is a literacy structure that teaches independence and gives children the skills needed to create a lifetime love of reading and writing. It consists of five tasks that are introduced individually. When introduced to each task, the children discuss what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to engage in the task independently. Then, the children work on building their stamina until they are successful at being independent while doing that task.

1. Read to self

2. Read to someone

3. Listen to reading

4. Work on writing

5. Word work



Thank you for your continued support!

The strategy of working backward applies to only some types of word problems. These state the end results and students must find the total number. In order to solve these word problems, students have to work backward by thinking through the correct sequence of events. The strategy of working backward allows students to use their logical reasoning and sequencing to find the answers.

Example: Sarah has a piece of ribbon. She cuts it into 4 equal parts. Then she cuts each part into 3 smaller pieces. If the length of each small piece is 2 inches long, how long is the piece of ribbon?

3 x 2 = 6                     6 x 4 = 24             The ribbon is 24 inches long.

In problem solving, students often use a drawing to show understanding of the problem. This helps them to see the relationships. Using a bar diagram, number line, list or table, can help to see the problem clearly and organize information that is helpful. Clarifying the question is important. Then they can analyze, look for a pattern, which can be helpful to solve the problem.

A parent had a wonderful suggestion: a glossary of new math terms!

regrouping/fair trades  is a new term we use for the idea of “carrying” or “borrowing”. It helps a child connect the idea that 10 ones can be “regrouped” for 1 ten, 10 tens is a “fair trade” for 1 hundred, etc. In class we use place value blocks. Your child is learning how to draw these place value blocks so you don’t need to have these at home. (If your child struggles with this idea, you may use toothpicks or straws and make bundles of 10.)

Addition strategies are addition concepts of “counting on” by one, two or three. For example, if your give your child a number line, such as a ruler, and ask them 6 + 2, they should be able to easily skip a number  and come up with the answer of 8. We are working on being able to quickly do this in our heads.

Turn Arounds is a term used to show that 2+3 is the same as 3+2. They both equal 5! It is much easier to start with the larger addend and count-on using the smaller. For example 9+2 is much easier than 2+9. Some children will miscount or run out of fingers and be stuck.

Doubles are 1+1,  2+2, 3+3, etc. Dominos are a good way to practice this strategy as they can see the dots and count them if they need to.

Doubles plus 1, plus 2, plus 3 are used for harder equations. If a child knows 3+3=6, then they can easily figure that 3+4=7

Bridge to 10 is a strategy that uses 10 as a mile post. Using their 10 fingers is a great way to bridge to 10. For a number less than 10, ask them to show you (using both hands). For a 3, they will hold up 3 fingers on one hand and a closed fist on the other. It becomes very clear to see how many more make 10. Your child may also use a number line (such as a ruler) to figure “how many more make 10″.

Ten frame is another way to make “bridge to 10″ visible. 9 + 6 is made with counters (such as beans). 9 is made as a row of 5 with  a row of 4 just below (this makes it easy for your child to see that it only needs 1 more to be 10). The 6 is displayed in another ten frame as a row of 5 with 1 below it. The child takes one away from the 6, adds to the 9. It is clear to see that 9+6 is the same as 10 + 5. Some kids catch on quick and begin to do this in their heads. Some kids need the materials to touch and move in order to master this concept.