Arcadia Elementary School: Parent & Family Engagement

in the Educational ProcessMrs. Stephanie Healy, Principal

Mr. Bill Howard, Assistant PrincipalMrs. Patricia Ransford, Consulting Principal

SHARING THE VISION, MISSION, AND CORE VALUES AT HOMEPractice the Arcadia greetings at Home:

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The Arcadia OpeningGood Morning, Arcadia!

I am special.We are special.

We absolutely, positively love Arcadia School.

We do everything to HELP,Nothing to HURT,

As we make good CHOICES.Because we know our job is to LEARN.

As scholars and leaders, we know that our job is to learn and to leadEach and every day all day long.

Perfect choices, we strive to make, however, if a problem should arise, our response:may we help you please.

Very good thoughts, very good feelings, filling those buckets, straight to the top.Smiles on our faces, smiles in our hearts, ready to begin a fabulous day at

Arcadia School.

Best of the best in the whole wide world.

The Arcadia PledgeI pledge today to do my best in reading, math, and all the rest.

I promise to obey the rules in my class and in my school.I’ll respect myself, and others too.

I’ll expect the best in all I do.I am here to learn all I can, to try my best and be all I am.

Parents/Guardians are their child’s most important teacher:

Parents/Guardians can help their student succeed by:

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Talking about what they learned that day Showing them examples of concepts in daily life (how you use mathematics at the

store, a restaurant, a gas station; discussion of the interconnection between global events and how these events impact us; model reading)

Working with them at home on classroom activities and extending the activity Encouraging them to ask questions, solve problems, and explain their answers. Do

not be afraid to say, “I do not know but let’s figure it out!” Be their biggest advocate. Stay aware of progress!

Making MathematiciansThe mathematics classroom experience looks different:

We want all of our students to understand that math is more than just basic computation -adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. We want our students to connect what they learn in math class to their everyday lives.

When you visit your student’s classroom, it may look different from what you remember. The formula for area will always be length width but now you are likely to see your child asked to prove why it works instead of just seeing problems in a book. You may also see your student working in pairs or even groups. This is because working in teams provides time for students to talk about math, which provides more insight into students’ thought processes. Armed with this knowledge, a teacher can alleviate misconceptions, and skill gaps to ensure students have the information necessary to be prepared for high school, college and beyond.

Homework may be different, too. Instead of assigning numerous problems for the purpose of rote memorization of a skill, teachers will assign problems that require more higher-level thinking. That is, activities that allow students to delve deeper into the content and make connections to the real world.

Finally, there may be fewer graded papers. This is a direct result of how the classroom is organized. Of course, paper and pencil exams are a requirement but teachers assess their students through discussions in the classroom, on-line learning opportunities, and classroom activities.

Ways to Help Your Mathematician:

1. Help your student master the basic facts: Mastery of a basic fact means giving an answer in about three seconds. Considerable drill is required for children to give quick responses. Use flashcards to help review the basic facts. USE MENTAL MATH.

2. Help your student learn the vocabulary of mathematics: Check that your student can use words in mathematical and daily conversations. If not, use models and problems to show them how the term is used.

3. Show your student how to handle math homework: Remind your student to begin every assignment by studying examples (either from notes or on-line). Have

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your child review examples before beginning the assignment to make sure the assignment is understood. Explain how to solve word problems by reminding your student to re-read word problems or draw diagrams to describe them. If necessary, encourage your student to complete more than the assigned work to hone skills.

4. Remind your student to show his/her work: Suggest that your student uses scratch paper or graph paper to do his/her work. Have the student turn in the work as part of the assignment.

5. Make mathematics part of daily life: Mathematics becomes meaningful when students see how important it is in so many real world situations. Encourage your student to use math in practical ways—ask them to pay bills in stores, space plants in a garden, etc.

Some Examples of Everyday Math Activities You Can Do with Your Student

Estimation: Have your student estimate using units of measurement like rulers, measuring

cups, and spoons. Help your student measure the perimeter (border) and area (amount of space

something takes up of things around your house like rooms, the yard, the driveway, the windows, etc.) To do this, use a string or rope to measure and then figure out the length using a measuring tape or yardstick.

Traveling Activity: Discuss directions (north, south, east, west) to give your student a sense of

coordinates. Have your student use maps to find travel routes. Estimate how long it will take to get to certain places and compare the estimate with the actual time it takes.

Cooking Activity: Let your student help with the cooking by measuring ingredients and checking

cooking times. Have students increase or decrease recipes.

Practicing Math Facts Mastering Math Facts at HomeFIRST GRADE FAMILIES:

ADDITION FACTSIdeally, children should master the addition facts in first grade or at the beginning of second grade so they are prepared to tackle second-grade math topics like word problems

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and multi-digit addition. But no matter what age your child is, learning the addition facts will make him/her much more confident and successful in math. If your older child has not mastered the addition facts, it is not too late.

What Your Scholar needs to know before Memorizing the Addition FactsYour child should be solid with the following skills before trying to master the addition facts:

• Recognize written numbers up to 20.• Understand the concept of addition.• Have a beginning understanding of place-value (for example, knowing that 15 is the same as 10 + 5).

The Addition FactsThe addition facts are all of the sums from 1+1 up to 9+9. It is essential that children master these 81 sums, because they are the foundation for the rest of elementary arithmetic. Here’s the full addition facts chart:

How fast should kids know the addition facts?Aim for no more than 3 seconds per fact, and less if possible. But, it depends a lot on your child. Children who process information very quickly are quite capable of knowing each fact in less than 1 second, but children who are slower processors may always need a few seconds.

No matter how old your child, try to keep practice time relaxed and positive. Timed tests and drills are not necessary unless your child thrives on time pressure and finds it satisfying to beat the clock.

A Strategy for Teaching Your Child the Addition FactsStep 1: Break it up.First break the facts into smaller groups.There are many ways to do this (Below is one strategy.)

1. +1 and +2 facts (dark blue)

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2. Pairs that make 10 (dark coral)3. Remaining sums less than 10 (teal)4. +9 facts (purple)5. +8 facts (gray)6. Remaining facts (pink)

Breaking up the addition facts in this way makes mastering them feel much more do-able (for kids and parents). Plus, your child will experience a lot of success right away with the easier +1 and +2 facts. This builds confidence and gets her ready to work on the more difficult facts in the teens.Step 2: Visualize and strategize.You have chosen one small group of facts to concentrate on. Now, it is time to teach your child to visualize numbers and use an efficient strategy to find the answers.

The Importance of VisualizationYou might be surprised to hear that visualizing quantities is an essential step. But think about it from a child’s perspective. When most kids think about numbers, they tend to see in their minds’ eye piles of disorganized counters. So, a child trying to add 9 + 4 imagines a pile of 9 counters and a pile of 4 counters. He/she knows that he/she needs to find the total, but the only strategy he/she has for adding them together is to count each counter one-by-one or to count on his/her fingers. When children visualize numbers as organized groups, they can get out of the counting and memorizing rut.

How Visualizing HelpsImagine instead a child who has learned to visualize numbers as organized groups on ten-frames. Here are those same 9 and 4 counters organized on ten-frames.

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Organizing 9 and 4 on the ten-frame makes it easier to visualize the numbers. (A ten-frame is just a simple grid of 10 squares, with a line separating the two groups of 5. The dark line provides a point of reference so that it’s easy to see the numbers greater than 5 as a combination of “5 and some more.”) Now, to add 9 + 4, the child can use a simple, concrete strategy to find the answer. He/she moves one counter from the group of 4 to the group of 9. Now, he can immediately see that 9 + 4 is equivalent to 10 + 3, so 9 + 4 must equal 13. Moving one counter shows that 9 + 4 is the same as 10+3, or 13. With a little practice, he/she will learn how to visualize the numbers and even manipulate them mentally. Because the numbers are organized on the ten-frame, he/she can bring them to mind and imagine moving the counters to find sums. Now, he/she has a reliable, efficient method that will serve as a stepping stone to help in mastery of the +9 addition facts. With just six strategies like this one, he/she can readily master all of the facts.

Step 3: Practice those facts until they are mastered.Once your child has learned one specific addition strategy for one specific group of facts, she/he will still need some practice before he/she able to use the strategy.So, have your child focus on just that specific set of facts for several days. For example, if you have taught him/her the +9 strategy above, have her/him practice just the +9 facts for a few days. Tailor your child’s addition fact practice to whatever works best for you and your child. Many children thrive on a mix of games and worksheets. Games make mastering the addition facts fun and interactive. Plus, they also give you a chance to monitor how well your child is using the strategy (and fix any mistakes before they become ingrained.) Worksheets are a great complement to games, because they give your child the written practice that he/she needs to be able to use the facts fluently in her written schoolwork.Step 4: Mix those facts with other facts.Once your child has mastered one set of facts, it is time to mix them up with the facts he/she’s already mastered. Mixing them together gives her/him practice at choosing the right strategy and provides cumulative review so that the facts are cemented in her long-term memory.

SECOND GRADE FAMILIES: SUBTRACTION FACTS

Ideally, children should master subtraction facts at the beginning of second grade. Once they have the subtraction facts down, they will be ready to work on more complex

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second-grade math topics like multi-digit subtraction. But, if your older child has not mastered the subtraction facts, it is not too late! Learning the subtraction facts will make your student more confident and successful in math.

What Your Scholar Needs to Know Before Memorizing Subtraction FactsYour child should be solid with the following skills before working on mastering the subtraction facts:• Understand that subtraction can mean taking away or finding a difference. For example, 13 – 8 can mean, “How many are left when you take 8 away from 13?” Or, 13 – 8 can be interpreted as, “How much more is 13 than 8?”• Understand that subtraction is the opposite of addition.• Know the addition facts up to 9 + 9. Many subtraction strategies do rely on being ablto use “backwards addition,” so this is crucial. (If your child has not yet mastered the addition facts, work on these first and then tackle subtraction.)

Subtraction FactsThe subtraction facts are all of the differences from 2 – 1 to 18 – 9. Here’s the full subtraction facts chart:

How fast should kids know the subtraction facts?Aim for no more than 3 seconds per fact, and less if possible. But, it depends a lot on your child. Children who process information very quickly are quite capable of knowing each fact in less than 1 second, but children who are slower processors may always need a few seconds.

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No matter how old your child, try to keep practice time relaxed and positive. Timed tests and drills are not necessary unless your child thrives on time pressure and finds it satisfying to beat the clock.

A Strategy for Teaching Subtraction FactsStep 1: Break it up.First break the facts into smaller groups. Below are some examples:• -1 and -2 facts (bright pink)• -3 and -4 facts (bright green)• Neighbor Numbers (close-together numbers) (dark blue)• Subtracting 5, 6, and 7 from numbers up to 10 (light pink)• -9 facts (tan)• -8 facts (light green)• Subtracting 3, 4, and 5 from numbers greater than 10 (light blue)• Subtracting 6 and 7 from numbers greater than 10 (gray)

Step 2: Visualize and strategize.You have chosen one small group of facts to concentrate on. Now, it is time to teach your child to visualize numbers and use an efficient strategy to find the answers.

Step 3: Practice those facts until they are mastered.Once your child has learned one specific strategy for one specific group of subtraction facts, he will or she will still need some practice before he is/she is able to use the strategy fluently. So, have your child focus on just that specific set of facts for several days. For example, if you’ve taught her the strategy above (which works well for subtracting 3, 4, and 5 from the numbers greater than 10), have her/him practice just those facts for a few days: 14 – 5, 13 – 5, 12 – 5, 11 – 5, 13 -4, 12 – 4, 11 – 4, 12 – 3, 11 – 3, and 11 -2.You can tailor your child’s subtraction fact practice to whatever works best for you and your child. Many children thrive on a mix of games and worksheets. Games make mastering the subtraction facts fun and interactive. Plus, they also give you a chance to monitor how well your child is using the strategy (and fix any mistakes before they become ingrained.) Worksheets are a great complement to games, because they give your child the written practice that she needs to be able to use the facts fluently in her written schoolwork.

Step 4: Mix those facts with other facts.Once your child has mastered one set of facts, it’s time to mix them up with the facts she/he is already mastered. Mixing them together gives her practice at choosing the right strategy and provides cumulative review so that the facts are cemented in her long-term memory.

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THIRD & FOURTH GRADE FAMILIESMULTIPLICATION & DIVISION FACTS

Where Fact Strategies Fit In (Adapted from Randall Charles)Fact strategies are considered a crucial second phase in a three-phase program for teaching students basic math facts.

The first phase is concept learning. Here, the goal is for students to understand the meanings of multiplication and division. In this phase, students focus on actions (i.e. “groups of”, “equal parts”, “building arrays”) that relate to multiplication and division concepts.

The second phase, fact strategies is an important instructional bridge. There are two goals in this phase.

o First, students need to recognize there are clusters of multiplication and division facts that relate in certain ways.

o Second, students need to understand those relationships. The third phase is memorization of the basic facts. Here the goal is for students

to master products and quotients so they can recall them efficiently and accurately, and retain them over time.

Steps on the Road to Mastery with Basic Facts (Kim Sutton)1. Teach for Understanding

a. Multiplication (Repeated addition, area)b. Division (Repeated subtraction, Area to length of sides)

2. Teach in a meaningful sequence, then practice!

Enhancing the ELA (English Language Arts) ExperienceWays to help your scholar improve phonemic awareness (manipulate sounds (phonemes) in spoken words; lays the foundation for spelling & word recognition):

1. Listen for sounds: Become sound spotters by quietly listening for and talking about sounds you hear in the world around you.

2. Read Nursery Rhymes and Poems and play rhyming games. 3. Make up Sentences: Think of words with the same sounds and make silly

sentences with words that start with the same sounds, Ways to help your scholar improve phonics or decoding words (applying letter-sound relationships; allows for familiar word recognition)

1. Use magnetic letters: learn the letters and sounds of the alphabet.2. Write notes, letters and e-mails. Talk to your student about irregular words and

rules with words.

Ways to help your scholar improve fluency (accurately reading with expression/pauses, chunk words into phrases; bridge to comprehension):

1. Read Aloud with your student: Read aloud to your student and have your student read to you. Record your student reading and have him/her listen.

Ways to help your scholar improve reading comprehension:

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1. Make Connections: Connecting your student’s prior knowledge to what he/she is reading in class deepens understanding. Model connection making with your student by linking your memories with what is being taught in class.

2. Ask Questions: Asking probing questions will make your student want to look for clues in the text. Have your student determine what is important; creating an organizer may help.

3. Create “mind movies”: Have your student describe what he/she “sees” when reading.

4. Make inferences: Help your student understand the “unspoken” ideas of what was read.

5. Monitor Comprehension: Remind your student to re-read, slow down when reading, look at illustrations, or write down confusing words.

Ways to help your word wizard expand vocabulary:1. Learn the meaning of new words: When the book contains a new or interesting

word, remind your child to pause and ask for a definition of the word. 2. Discuss the meanings of unknown words: This includes both words read and

those heard.3. Study word parts. If your child knows the meaning of a root word, then he/she

knows what the new word means when the prefix (“un”/not) or suffix (“ness”/state of being) is added (for example: unkind or kindness).

4. Talk about the relationships between words. Synonyms are words with the same or similar meanings (“bucket/pail”), and antonyms are opposites (“good/bad”). Your child may need help learning figures of speech, such as: “It’s raining cats and dogs,” in order to understand what he/she is reading.

Reviewing with Your Student at Home: Enhancing the Common Core ONLINE

Practice reading foundational skills & comprehension skills using the Reading Eggs Program, the online program we use at school! The website is: www.readingeggs.com.

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o Reading eggs supports your scholar’s learning by offering individual, one-on-one lessons. The online lessons allow your student to progress at their own rate, gradually building their reading confidence.

Practice math facts using the Math Facts in a Flash Program, the online program we use at school! The quick link is on the Arcadia webpage.

3rd & 4th Grade Families: practice reading and mathematics skills using Exact Path, an online program we use at school.

Reviewing with Your Student at Home:Enhancing the Common Core using Paper & Pencil Every Night

Read with your student for 20 minutes. Practice and review your sight words, spelling words, word wall words, and

vocabulary words. Practice math facts and play math games.