A few years ago I created a fun sign-in where students wrote their name on a post-it note and added it to a large ten frame. I decided to re-visit the idea of signing in on a ten frame but this time with more of a focus on the math. Sign-In Table As families entered the event, students wrote their name on a colored pumpkin of their choice. (PDFs included below) Note: The pumpkins can be printed using Avery 4″ x 3.33″…
Objective One of our goals at Math Unity has always been to engage families in fun hands-on math activities that are linked to learning. We know that when schools and families partner together around the common goal of educating students, learning improves and students make greater academic gains. The objective for this study was two-fold. The first was to see if our games engaged families in hands-on math in a way that reinforced essential math skills. The second was to see…
I know I’ve said it before, but math combined with art is always a huge hit at our Family Math Night events. It’s the reason why we included at least one crafty math activity in each of our event kits. In addition to those in the event kits, I’ve also created over 20 individual math/art activities that are fun to include at your Family Math Night event. Here’s my latest – designed around my summertime frame of mind: Beach Ball Fractions. This was a super fun…
Kids love it any time they get to share something about themselves. So let’s tap into that while sneaking in a little math thinking. Here’s a fun, easy and creative way to have students sign in at your next Family Math Night event…an Our Pets Venn diagram. A Venn diagram is a graphical organizer that uses circles to compare and contrast two or more sets. The overlapping circles contain common properties. For this Venn diagram, I thought I’d kick it up a notch…
In my August newsletter I mentioned that I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Karen Mapp, renowned for her work on family engagement, speak at this year’s National ESEA Conference. Then over the summer I read her co-authored book Everyone Wins! The Evidence for Family-School Partnerships & Implications for Practice. In her presentation and throughout the book, Dr. Mapp underscored the importance of moving from informing parents and caregivers about their children’s learning to including families as active participants. It begins with building relationships through on-going conversations…