Math Help
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Activities_at_home.
Shopping
Traveling
Books
Web_sites
Games_and_activities
Activities at Home
Incorporate math activities and language into daily routines. This shows how math is relevant in everyday life and provides a safe environment in which to try new things.
Using math vocabulary is IMPORTANT!!
Counting rhymes and songs – such as 5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Fence; Five Little Monkeys; the Twelve Days of Christmas; One, Two, Buckle My Shoe; Roll Over (Ten in a Bed)
Count constantly – treasure hunts, eggs in a recipe, buttons on your shirt, clean plates in the dishwasher, etc… Count by 1s , 2s, 5s, 10s, etc…
Look for examples of even and odd numbers.
Silly activities – take a walk and give each other silly directions. For example, take 2 big steps and 3 little steps. Jump over 5 puddles, hop 4 times and then turn around 1 time.
Estimate– How many steps will it take you to walk to that chair? Then walk, count, and compare the 2 numbers. Which is larger? Which is smaller?
Point out numbers that you see – on food packaging, in books, on the oven, zip codes on mail you receive, on the bathroom scale, etc…
Sorting activities – sort the laundry before you fold it, separate candy by color or shape, sort a container of items and explain the classification system. Then find another classification system for the same items, sort the groceries as you put them away, etc…
Geometry – find examples of perpendicular lines, parallel lines, geometric shapes in snack crackers or tile floors; make pancakes or cookies in different shapes; build with blocks; play with spatial toys such as Legos or Magnetix.
Weight – estimate the weights of objects. Then actually weigh them on a kitchen scale or bathroom scale. Put the objects in ascending or descending order. How much do you weigh? How much do you weigh if you hold an item? How much does the item weigh? Which weighs more, a small bag of sugar or a larger bag of popped popcorn?
Word problems – You have 3 grapes on your plate. If I give you 10 more, how many will you have? You have 6 buttons on your shirt. If 2 fell off, how many would you have? This is the second radio station we’ve listened to. How many more will we have to listen to if we listen to 5? You have 8 apple slices on your plate. If you group them in 2’s, how many groups will you have? How many minutes is it until this tv show is over? How many minutes is it until bed time?!
“Turn to page ½ of 64.”
Measurement – Point out more and less, cook with measuring cups, measure distances and heights. Estimate.
Time – tell time, use digital AND analog clocks, keep a chart of times spent in various activities, use a stop watch, talk about and calculate elapsed time.
Fractions – Let your child play with measuring cups and beans or rice. Ask questions such as
How many ½ cups equal 1 cup? How many ¼ cups equal ¾? Would you like a ½ sandwich that is a rectangle or a triangle? If you have 5 grapes and eat 1 of them, what fraction of your grapes have you eaten?
Symmetry – make paper airplanes, make paper hearts, glue half of a symmetrical magazine picture on a paper and ask your child to draw the missing half, look for symmetric shapes around the house, analyze the letters of the alphabet to find the ones that are symmetric.
Money – count it. Pose questions such as, “I have 3 coins in my hand. They are worth 76 cents. What coins do I have?”
Money – play restaurant
Calculators – Play with them!
Patterns - Look at the clothing in your child’s closet. Which items have patterns and which do not? Your child may want to sort his or her clothes into two groups: those with patterns and those without.
Make patterns together. Lots of household items are fun to make patterns with: buttons, caps and bottle tops, coins, and keys. Take turns adding on to each other’s patterns.
Try physical pattern routines with motions, such as clapping your hands and tapping your knees in a repeating pattern. Start a pattern and see if your child can predict what might come next. Reverse the game. Can your child make a pattern for you to extend?
“Shop” using newspaper inserts or catalogs.
Shopping
Grocery stores are an ideal place to use measurement and estimation. You can count money, make change, look at prices, look for geometric shapes, and learn about volume and quantity.
Make a grocery list with numbers – We need 4 cans of soup. How many items are on our list? How many other items do you think that we will buy? How many of the items on our list are vegetables?
Compare prices – talk about why you buy what you do.
Compare sizes and shapes of packages.
Ask questions such as, “Which is larger?” or “Which is more expensive?”
“If these groceries cost $16 and we pay with a $20 bill, how much change should we get?"
Look at nutrition labels. Talk about the percents, calories, number of servings in a container, etc..
Talk about coupons. If this item costs $1.00, and we use a coupon for 20 cents off, how much will this cost? Bring a calculator.
How much money can we save if we use three 20 cent coupons?
Weigh produce.
Talk about pounds and ounces and that there are 16 ounces in a pound. Which has more potatoes, a 1 pound bag of little potatoes or a 1 pound bag of big potatoes?
-Have your child watch the process at checkout.
-Have your child count the change to make sure that it is correct.
Traveling
In cars, on buses, trains, or planes – across the world or within your neighborhood.
Talk as you plan. “It will take me 10 minutes to drive you to school and then 10 minutes more for me to drive to work, so I should be at work in 20 minutes.”
“It’s 3:15 now, and it takes us 30 minutes to get to the orthodontist’s office. Will we be there in time for your 4:00 appointment?”
“It is 5 miles to the gym and then 3 miles from there to the grocery store, so we are going to drive 8 miles altogether.”
Read airplane or public transportation schedules. Figure out elapsed times.
Talk about how long you have already traveled (in miles or minutes) and figure out how many more miles or minutes it should be before you reach your destination.
Look for numbers on signs and billboards.
Use the numbers on a license plate to make the largest or smallest possible number.
Use the digits on a license plate to find answers. 663M218
-add 2 numbers to get 5
-use 6 numbers to get 5
(6+6) + (3x1) – (8+2) = 5
Read license plates as numbers – 663,218.
Read the odometer.
Calculate mileage and miles per gallon.
“The speed limit is 65 miles per hour. How far will we go in 2 hours? In 3 ½ hours?”
"If gas costs $2.49 per gallon, how much will 10 gallons cost? 20 gallons?” Estimate and round, too.
Look for patterns in the environment. Where do you see patterns? How are patterns made? How do they use shape, color, size, position, or quantity? Can you find patterns in the music you hear or in the stories you read or tell?
Make a budget for your trip.
At any museum, amusement park, etc… give your child a fixed amount of money to spend as he chooses.
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Books
A sampling, from the U.S. Department of Education
Preschool-Grade 2
Adler, David A. Fun With Fractions. Holiday House.
Anno, Mitsumasa. Anno's Math Games. Philomel Books.
Axelrod, Amy. Pigs at Odds: Fun With Math and Games. Simon and Schuster.
Brown, Marc. One Two Three: An Animal Counting Book. Little Brown.
Burns, Marilyn. The Greedy Triangle (Brainy Day Books). Scholastic.
Carle, Eric. 1,2,3 to the Zoo. Philomel Books.
Dee, Ruby. Two Ways to Count to Ten. Holt.
Demi. Demi's Count the Animals 1 2 3. Grosset and Dunlap.
Feelings, Muriel. Moja Means One: Swahili Counting Book. Dial.
Fox, Mem. The Straight Line Wonder. Mondo.
Greene, Rhonda G. When a Line Bends, a Shape Begins. Houghton Mifflin.
Hoban, Tana. So Many Circles, So Many Squares. Greenwillow.
Hopkins, Lee Bennett. Marvelous Math: A Book of Poems. Turtleback Books.
Hudson, Cheryl Willis. Afro-Bets 1 2 3 Book. Just Us Productions.
Hutchins, Pat. The Doorbell Rang. Greenwillow Books.
Jones, Carol. This Old Man. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Lionni, Leo. Numbers to Talk About. Pantheon Books.
Miller, Jane. Farm Counting Book. Aladdin Library.
Pinczes, Elinor J. A Remainder of One. Houghton Mifflin.
Pluckrose, Henry. Numbers and Counting: Let's Explore. Gareth Stevens.
Schwartz, David M. How Much Is a Million? Scholastic.
Scieszka, Jon. Math Curse. Viking.
Tafuri, Nancy. Who's Counting? Mulberry Books.
Ziefert, Harriet. A Dozen Ducklings Lost and Found: A Counting Story. Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books.
Grades 3-5
Adler, David A. Shape Up! Fun With Triangles and Other Polygons. Holiday House.
Burns, Marilyn. I Hate Mathematics! (A Brown Paper School Book). Little, Brown.
Clement, Rod. Counting on Frank. Gareth Stevens.
Garland, Trudi H. Fibonacci Fun: Fascinating Activities With Intriguing Numbers. Dale Seymour Publications.
Holub, Joan. Riddle-Iculous Math. Albert Whitman.
Julius, Edward K. Arithmatricks: 50 Easy Ways to Add, Subtract, Multiply and Divide Without a Calculator. John Wiley & Sons.
Lopresti, Angeline Sparagna. A Place for Zero: A Math Adventure. Charlesbridge Publishing.
Murphy, Stuart J. Sluggers' Car Wash. HarperCollins.
Neuschwander, Cindy. Sir Cumference and the First Round Table: A Math Adventure. Charlesbridge Publishing.
Pappas, Theoni. Fractals, Googols and Other Mathematical Tales. Wide World Publishing.
Peterson, Ivars and Henderson, Nancy. Math Trek: Adventures in the Math Zone. John Wiley & Sons.
Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. The History of Counting. HarperCollins.
Swartz, David M. G Is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book. Triangle Press.
Tang, Greg. The Grapes of Math: Mind Stretching Math Riddles. Scholastic.
Viorst, Judith. Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday. Atheneum.
Wise, Bill. Whodunit Math Puzzles. Sterling.
Zaslavsky, Claudia. Math Games & Activities From Around the World. Chicago Review Press.
Web sites
Pre-K through 6th Grade Math Practice is a comprehensive, award-winning site that makes math practice a joy!
www.ixl.com
ToonUniversity.com is an elementary education portal for K-6 students.
-10 day free trials are available.
www.toonuniversity.com/aol/aol_math_k2.asp
This site contains 1st grade math games for enrichment including addition and a basic addition game - count bugs and worms to add; addition facts and a memory game.
http://teach.fcps.net/trt2/links/1stmath.htm
MANY math web resources are available at Michigan State’s
http://www.promse.msu.edu/MCSM/mcsm_wresources.asp
Great site for many different math skills
http://resources.oswego.org/games/
Juvenile literature linked to math, categorized by topic:
http://www.coastal.edu/library/media/mathlit.html
Family Education Network:
http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZ2Fa
Figure This! Math Challenges
http://www.figurethis.org/index.html
Newton’s Window – for parents and educators
http://www.suzannesutton.com/
Games and activities
Race to 100 - Penny, nickel, dime, dollar, and a die - Make trades to $1.00.
Guess My Rule – sorting anything
Number search – like Bingo or with a grid, while traveling
24 Game – Roll 4 dice and create an equation that equals 24.
Make a Number game – Deal each player 4 cards with the numbers showing. Using all 4 cards and any combination or operations, each player makes as many different equations as possible in 2 minutes. Players get one point for each correct answer.
Oh No, 99
Crazy Eights
Uno
War – regular, or with operations
Coin toss game – Flip 2 coins. If they match, I get a point. If they do not, you get a point. Is this a fair game? Why or why not?
Guess the Mystery Number – Players ask questions that can be answered either “yes” or “no” in order to guess the mystery number.
Subtraction Munchies - Provide spoons and cereal to play. A player scoops a spoonful of cereal and counts the total on the workspace, recording the minuend. The player determines how many to eat (take away), recording the subtrahend. The player finds the difference and records it, writing a complete subtraction equation. Repeat.
Write a number in each space of an egg carton (0- 5 or 0-11). Place 3 small beans in the carton and close it. Shake the carton and open it to reveal where the three beans landed. Write a number sentence with the three addends and solve.
Spoonful of Money - Provide the student with a bag of assorted real coins and different sized measuring spoons. (The larger the size of the spoon, the more challenging the activity becomes.) The student selects a spoon and scoops a spoonful of money from the bag. The student sorts the coins from greatest to least value, records how many of each type of coin he has, and counts to find the total value. Record the answer and repeat.
Guess-Digit-Place Sudoku puzzles
www.mindware.com KenKen puzzles, Kakuro puzzles
