Mastering Math Facts

Thanks to the positive feedback we received from both parents and teachers... "Math Fact Power Hours"are back!

Many parents asked us to launch a math initiative for first and second graders again this winter.  They found it motivated their children to spend more time at home practicing addition & subtraction facts.  This is so important, because research clearly indicates repeated practice with flash cards increases 'automaticity'- the ability to quickly and accurately recall answers.  Sweetsir and Donaghue teachers have noticed the students who spent time using the fact triangles last winter, developed greater automaticity.  As a result, they are more secure in their math skills and, even a year later, are demonstrating greater success.

On Thursday, January 24th, there will be a school-wide assembly for all first and second graders to kick-off this year's initiative. The six week incentive program was design to encourage children to practice with fact cards at home.  Each child will be given a math mat, set of triangle cards, and log.  For every 5 minutes spent practicing, they will record their time by coloring in a shape on the log.  After 60 minutes, the log is complete and should be brought back to school and exchange for a new log.   

Like last year, we will tally up all the power hours and graph each classrooms' results on our cafeteria wall.  Each week, the class with the most hours documented will be honored with a certificate and will have a group picture taken for our "Power Hour Wall of Fame."  This year, students who turn in logs will have an opportunity to enter a raffle and win games.  The more logs they complete, the better chance they have of winning!  Several names will be drawn each Monday for the next six weeks.   Highly motivated students could win more than once.

On the right is a picture of our prize table.  We selected games as a reminder to families that most board games are an excellent way to practice math skills (counting, sorting, 1:1 correspondence, etc.).  Funding for the prizes and triangle cards came from the company that takes our school pictures.  As a thank you, they give us a percentage of their profits each year.  That money goes into our activity fund, which is used for field trips and other fun events.  The prizes and fact cards are a gift for students to keep (first graders are encouraged to hold on to them for next year).

Parents of 1st and 2nd graders are encouraged to watch this video!

Last year, some of our students helped create the above video to give parents an overview of how to use the fact triangles and mat. Family members are encouraged to help their children practice.  To view blog postings with additional information, click on the 'math' label in the right hand column.  You will find another math video, photos of last year's gigantic graph on the cafeteria wall, and snapshots of students and teachers wearing crazy costumes. 

I hope to capture more special moments during this year's event, so be sure to check this blog again soon.

Writers' Workshop

Teachers at the Sweetsir School participated in professional development with a coach, Kate Donelin, from the Teaching & Learning Alliance. These coaching and training sessions, which took place over a span of two years, focused on developing writing skills using the "Writers' Workshop Model."

At the kindergarten level, Writers' Workshop begins with oral story telling, and then drawing.  Horn & Giacobbe's book, Talking, Drawing, Writing  Lessons for Our Youngest Writers, served as a good resource for teachers. Throughout the year, teachers provide mini-lessons and model elements of writing.  Focusing on oral story telling first, helps young writers learn the skills to provide information in an organized manner, in order (beginning, middle, end), with enough details for an audience to understand.  Talking about their stories develops 'thinking strategies' which are an essential precursor for putting ideas on paper.  Kindergartners then begin to draw stories in their own special drawing pad. The mini-lessons expand to include adding words and sentences to tell the story.  

 As you can see from these photos, students are fully engaged during the writing block. Many describe 'Writers Workshop' as their favorite part of the day because they love the creative process.  Teachers' have found the lessons are easily differentiated, enabling students to move at their own individual pace.  As you can see from these pages, taken from three students' drawing pads, there can be quite a range of skills among kindergartners.

Kindergartners Visit Pumpkin Patch

Enjoying a hayride and view of the farm.

Learning what animals eat.

Finding pumpkins in the patch.

Mrs. Richard and Ms. Ruest brought their kindergarten students for a field trip to Spring Hill Farm. Students enjoyed walking through a real pumpkin patch.  As you can see in these pictures, they each selected a sugar pumpkin to bring home. The farm visit brought to life information they had studied about plants as part of a science unit.  The tractor trailer hayride and chance to see animals close up added to the experience.

Selecting the perfect pumpkin to take home.

Preschool Mathematicians

Mrs. Patty DiStefano with a preschool

Preschoolers in Ms. Patty DiStefano's class have been graphing all types of data.  They then use "math vocabulary" to discuss their observations.

In this picture, a preschooler is placing acorn symbols on a graph; his classmates also had a turn to show their data on the graph.  After reading the book Busy Squirrel, students broke into small groups and 'hunted' for acorns hidden around the room. The students then counted the acorns, and graphed how many they had collected.  Ms. Patty facilitated a discussion comparing the amounts.  (This is an example of how teachers effectively use time by combining literacy, social studies, and math all in one lesson).

Preschoolers create a 'Snack Graph' everyday by placing their picture next to the food item they have chosen for snack.  Some days there are more choices, and the graph is larger.  After the data is displayed, Ms. Patty facilitates a discussion encouraging students to talk about what they see using math vocabulary.  "Are there more teddy grahams or goldfish?"  "Which snack has the least?"  "Are there fewer pretzels or goldfish?"  "Which snacks are equal?"  "Which snack did two people pick?"  Exposing students to math terms at this young age, builds a foundation for success in later years.  

Each session made a graph showing 
the number of  people in their family.  
Students are able to compare graphs and
see how each class is different.

The weather is recorded during each class session.
Students track and compare cloudy, sunny, rainy and
snowy days throughout the year.

Reading Tips from the 'Experts'

Research indicates math and reading skills can regress over the summer if children are not encouraged to read and practice math facts.  To provide Sweetsir parents with helpful information, our Title One teachers hosted a presentation at the Merrimac Public Library on  June 5th.  Ms. Toni Sabella and Ms. Emily Marsh gave an overview of the strategies we use in the classroom to help students learn to read.  Ms. Grimes showed parents the Every Day Math site they can access from home and provided tips on helping children master their math facts.  

Below are videos the Title One Teachers created for the presentation.  They feature the real 'experts'- some of our grade one and two super stars.  (To view videos of students explaining how to master math facts, follow the math label listed on the right).   

Reading Strategies 

First graders share tips with animal helpers.

Non-Fiction Text Features

Second graders share posters they created with text conventions.

Vertical Articulation

Sweetsir teachers spent the April 11th Early Release Day working together to review our writing curriculum.  Each grade level listed on chart paper the major teaching points and lessons they cover throughout the year (such as poetry, personal narrative, nonfiction and writing about small moments). They then presented the overview to the whole group so we could examined the flow across grade levels. This type of "vertical articulation" helps ensure all areas of the core curriculum are being covered adequately without unnecessary overlap.

Teachers left the meeting with a solid k-2 trajectory for our writing curriculum.  This time was also an effective way to acknowledge and celebrate the work teachers have accomplished this year with Kate Donelin, a consultant from Teaching and Learning Alliance. Our focus for the past four years has been on implementing a balanced literacy program that includes Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop.

Some of the teaching resources we utilize include:  Units of Study for Primary Writing by Calkins & Colleagues; Talking, Drawing, Writing: Lessons for Our Youngest Writers by Horn & Giacobbe; and the Wilson's Fundations Program.

Pajama Day Celebration

Students loved wearing pajamas to school to celebrate their amazing efforts to learn math facts. Here are some of the moments I captured on Pajama Day...  

Pointing to their class on the 'Math Fact Power Hour' graph.

Thinking & collaborating in small groups.

Vision & hearing screenings with Nurse Lozier.

Playing "Guess the Verb".



Check out the PJs on these two Lucky Charms.



Dr. Mulqueen shaking hands with second graders.

Dr. Mulqueen, our future Superintendent, stopped by Sweetsir for a visit.  Although he does not officially begin working for Pentucket until July, he spent two days meeting with staff members across the district.  It was impressive that he took this time out of his busy schedule to ask our input about things that will help facilitate a smooth leadership transition.  

Real Life Science

This week interns from the Massachusetts General Hospital Health Institute will be
at Sweetsir School conducting research on language development.  Selected students will have an opportunity to experience "real life science" by spending about 15 minutes answering questions on a computer. Helping with this research is extremely important since the data collected may be used to help future teachers and health professionals understand more about autism and other communication disorders. This is the third year the Sweetsir School has helped MGH speech and language pathology students with their graduate studies.  To view the article printed in the Daily News about their first visit go to:  http://bit.ly/wTyH32

Participation in this research project is completely voluntary and requires parental permission.  If your child is in one of the selected classrooms (Belmont, Rowley, Hitchcock and Caproni), consent forms need to be returned by this Monday, March 5th. 

Students' Fact Power Off the Chart!!

Sweetsir Students exceeded expectations by logging in so much time practicing math facts, they went off the chart!  As you can see from the graph on display in the cafeteria, each first and second grade class had substantial participation.  The second graders in Ms. Hitchcock's class logged in the most time.  Ms. Rowley's students came in second and showed the most overall class participation.  The picture below was take during the final week of  'Math Fact Power Hours', when Ms. Rowley's class earned a special visit from the 'Fact Triangles'.

To celebrate their efforts to master math facts, there will be several school-wide theme days.  On Dr. Seuss's birthday, March 2nd, all students and staff members may come to school dressed as a favorite book character.  The following week there will be a 'Pajama Day'.

Ms. Rowley's class with Fact Triangles (Ms. Joyce and Ms. Grimes)

Thank you to Margaret Grimes, Title One math teacher, for helping organize this initiative to encourage practice of math facts.  Sweetsir teacher have already noticed an improvement in many students 'fact automaticity.'  The ability to quickly add and subtract numbers is essential for later academic success.  It is important students continue to practice facts at both school and home. As they move on to the Donaghue School, this should also include practice of multiplication and division facts.  Students were given passwords earlier in the year for the Everyday Math website which features games that align with our math curriculum.  It does not matter whether students use fact triangles, traditional flashcards, website games or other methods as long as they feel a sense of achievement.  Children will be more motivated to learn if they find it fun and rewarding.

Creative Math Instruction

Mrs. Grimes, Title One Math Teacher, created this number grid on the floor of her classroom.  

To help students develop number sense, she has them physically move from one number to another as they practice adding and subtracting.  On 'Stuffed Animal Day', students enjoyed having their favorite pals participate in the activity!  

Celebrating Math Fact Power

Parents, thank you for encouraging students in grades 1 & 2 to spend time practicing math facts!! On 2/6/12, we achieved our goal of completing 140 'Math Fact Power Hours' and spun the wheel for a school wide celebration!  "Bring a stuffed animal to school day" was a huge hit!  Penguins, teddy bears, puppy dogs and other favorite friends were seen peeking out of backpacks and sitting on desks. Since the incentive program will continue until February vacation we will have an opportunity to achieve our next goal and spin the wheel again.

The hours logged in by each 1st & 2nd grade classroom are represented on a graph displayed in the cafeteria.  This has promoted many in prompt to discussions about how to interpret data.  At the end of each week, we tally up the logs and recognize the class with the most hours.

Power Hour Graph

Ms. Hitchcock's second graders logged in the most hours two weeks in a row.  Ms. Hitchcock noticed an improvement in her students' ability to master math facts once the triangle flashcards went home.  At the beginning and end of every week she does a quick timed test of math facts.  The students in her class who have been practicing with cards at home saw a noticeable improvement in their score! Proof that practicing math facts helps with mastery!

Math Fact Power

On Wednesday, January 18th, students in grade 1 & 2 attended a school-wide assembly to kick off an exciting math initiative.  Two of our teachers dressed up as fact cards to amuse the audience and build excitement.  To help them master math facts, students received a set of triangle fact cards to take home and keep.  For the next month, they will be encouraged to keep track of time spent practicing with the cards.  We will tally up all the students "Math Power Hours"and tie them in with some fun school-wide celebrations!  Once we hit our first goal, 140 hours, we will spin the spinner and determine the type of celebration.  Then we will start adding up hours for the next goal.  

For tips on how to use the cards, check out these videos featuring some of second graders:

Signing, Singing and Dancing at Recess

We recently purchased new supplies to 

add pizazz to indoor recess!  

Although we try to go outside for recess whenever possible, there are days when rain or freezing temperatures force us indoors.  Along with playing board games and coloring, k-2 students will now have an opportunity to sing and dance along with music/movement Cd's and videos. 

Since our school library books about American Sign Language are very popular, we decided to order a set of 'Signing Times' videos.  These videos feature singer Rachel Coleman who created the series after her daughter, Leah, was born deaf and she had a desire to build a community of children who could communicate with her child.  Each video features Rachel giving explicit instruction for signing several common words and incorporates them into a song.  Clips of children using the signs gives viewers a chance to follow along and practice.  Research indicates sign language is beneficial for children with all types of disabilities, including language delays and autism.  Our hope is that students will enjoy learning sign language and develop a greater appreciation for people with diverse needs.    

      

More snippets of 'Signing Times' videos can be found on You Tube.                                       

Why are webkins on the wall?

Reminders to use 'Lips the Fish', 'Eagle Eye', and 'Chunky Monkey' are often heard as our first and second graders read.  These phrases are associated with common strategies often used by good readers.  Children love the animal associations and find them helpful in remembering things to try whenever they are stuck on a word.

Strategies frequently used by First Graders:

Lips the Fish- Get your mouth ready.  Sound out the first letter of the word.
Eagle Eye- Look at the picture for clues.
Chunky Monkey- Look for chunks you know in the word.
Flippy Dolphin- Try changing the vowel sound; flip long and short sounds.
Stretchy the Snake- Slowly sound out the different letters then blend.
Tryin' Lion- Try a different word.  Try re-reading.
Skippy the Frog- Skip the word and read to the end of the sentence.  Hop back and reread to figure out the word.

Many of our classrooms feature bulletin boards with posters describing the reading strategies and associated animals as visual aides.  Animal strategies are so popular at Sweetsir, our Special Educators and Reading Teachers have found using this same terminology across settings is very beneficial.  Since a few more animals are needed to complete the bulletin board in the Title One Reading room, we would welcome new or used donations of the following animals in webkin sizes:

eagles   dolphin   snakes   spiders   owls   parrots   iguanas

The animal reading strategies can be found on so many school websites and blogs we were unable to determine who initially created them.  This is an example of how teachers across the globe share great ideas to benefit children everywhere.

Leading and Learning Under Construction

Several parents have asked me to blog about the construction as a way to help them stay informed. While I am willing to share my personal observations, please keep in mind that I am not involved in planning or overseeing the renovations.  (I am happy to leave those decisions to the experts!).  My role is as an educational leader; my focus is on ensuring Merrimac children receive a solid educational experience.  

Since the construction projects are under the jurisdiction of the town, it has been reassuring to see the Town Building Inspector and Health Inspector spending significant time on-site to check the progress.  With the nice weather at the start of this week, the roofers were able to tackle areas above both the first and second grade wing.  The heating/ventilation crew also continued to work on installing duct work in the ceiling.  To work around each other, and take advantage of the daylight, the crews have worked both day and evening shifts.  I have never lived in a home while it was being remodeled, but several teachers who have mentioned this has a very similar feeling.  The secret is to stay flexible and keep reminding ourselves that this work is needed to create a safe, warm, dry school for these and future students.

I have been truly impressed with the response from Sweetsir Staff!  Despite the increased activity, teachers and paraprofessionals are doing an amazing job keeping the focus on children and on learning.  Classroom norms and routines have begun to settle in and the students are delving into the curriculum.  They appear happy and their behavior has been stellar.  The beginning of the year math assessments and DIBELS (reading) scores have already been completed and are being reviewed.  On the first early release day, teachers met in small groups, also known as 'Professional Learning Communities', to outline thier goals for the year.  The topics included: co-creating focus lessons for Reader's Workshop, examining students' work to drive instruction in Writer's Workshop, designing social stories and other differentiated activities to meet the needs of all learners, and using smart board technology to enhance math instruction.  All goals have the common element of using collaboration to create powerful learning environments for children.

Prevent Summer Learning Loss

Research indicates the average student looses two months of learning each summer!  Children who do not read throughout the summer can even go down in reading levels.  Summer learning loss is so common, the first six weeks of school teachers must spend time reviewing and reteaching forgotten skills. 

To prevent this and help your child get an edge, read with him/her every day and practice math facts to secure skills and increase speed.