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Chapter 1
Introduction
- Why Should Our School Have Family Math Night?
- How Is the Book Organized?
- How Are the Activities Connected to the Common Core State Standards?
- Why Should We Use Manipulatives in Mathematics?
- Why Are Questions Included?
- Why Is There a Challenge for Each Activity?
- What Are Some Additional Tips?
- What Is the Teacherās Role During Family Math Night?
Why Should Our School Have Family Math Night?
The goal of Family Math Night is to strengthen the mathematical aptitudes of students through the power of family interaction. By sponsoring Family Math Night, educators are encouraging parents and students to appreciate the energy and pleasure of mathematics. Each activity is designed to promote mathematical thinking and communication. The hands-on approach presented in this book helps make learning mathematics a meaningful and productive process for all involved.
Parents play an important role in the academic lives of students. By participating in Family Math Night, parents can serve as models of motivation, persistence, and competency to their children. The directions for each activity are presented in a clear, concise manner, allowing parents to guide students to more complete understandings of various mathematics concepts. At the same time, parents may be learning new knowledge and solidifying or revising previous knowledge about mathematics. You may hear parents saying, āI never really understood that concept until I tried this activity with my child,ā or āI never knew math could be so fun!ā In many ways, the Family Math Night activities enlighten parents as they begin to understand and value mathematics in new ways.
The concepts presented in each Family Math Night activity will help students learn essential new skills and/or reinforce skills already learned in mathematics. While working through math problems in a textbook is one way for some students to learn mathematics, there are other more interactive means of gaining knowledge of mathematics, such as the math stations presented in this book. To help realize a vision of increased math proficiency for all, we need to encourage students to think about and apply mathematics in the real world. Family Math Night can help students become mathematically fulfilled and empowered!
How Is the Book Organized?
Family Math Night contains four chapters. The first chapter addresses the goals and intentions of this book. The second chapter presents 20 math stations for primary students (prekindergarten through second grade). The third chapter offers 20 math stations for intermediate students (third through fifth grades). The final chapter provides additional tools for the successful implementation of Family Math Night.
There are two pages for each math station. The first page offers a list of the materials needed for the station, helpful hints, and math standards in action. The second page offers the directions, questions to get students talking about math, and a challenge. The first page is for educators to review and use to prepare each station. The second page can be photocopied and displayed at the Family Math Night station. The directions page can be laminated and mounted. Some educators find it helpful to attach each direction sheet to a file folder. The opened folder can be placed vertically at each station. Other educators prefer to place the direction sheets into display stands or onto display boards. The point is to have the directions clearly displayed at each station.
How Are the Activities Connected to the Common Core State Standards?
The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (2010) require deeper understanding of mathematics. These standards are based on rigorous content, application of knowledge, and alignment with college and career expectations.
The Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Content (2010) define what students should understand. Each Family Math Night station highlights a specific mathematical content domain.
Sometimes more than one domain is highlighted because mathematics concepts are related.
| | Counting and Cardinality (Kindergarten) |
| | Operations and Algebraic Thinking (KindergartenāGrade 5) |
| | Number and Operations in Base Ten (KindergartenāGrade 5) |
| | Number and OperationsāFractions (Grades 3ā5) |
| | Measurement and Data (KindergartenāGrade 5) |
| | Geometry (KindergartenāGrade 5) |
The Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice (2010) describe what students should be doing while engaged in mathematics. Each Family Math Night station highlights two mathematical practices. This is not to imply that these are the only mathematical practices that are connected to the activity. The two mathematical practices listed for each activity were specifically considered during the design of the task and related questions.
- MP 1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
- MP 2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
- MP 3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
- MP 4 Model with mathematics.
- MP 5 Use appropriate tools strategically.
- MP 6 Attend to precision.
- MP 7 Look for and make use of structure.
- MP 8 Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
Why Should We Use Manipulatives in Mathematics?
Using manipulatives in mathematics allows students to experience abstract concepts in a concrete manner. Building models to represent math ideas and concepts strengthens the conceptual frameworks students construct as they apply math to everyday life. Manipulatives provide the means by which many students need to express the reasoning and evidence associated with the math thinking. Using manipulatives to show how one derives an answer helps solidify understanding. Manipulatives offer students the tools to solve mathematical situations. Additionally, manipulatives often serve as the springboard for math communication as students explain and justify how they solve a problem and/or approach a solution.
To encourage the successful use of math manipulatives, educators should think about how the manipulatives are organized and how they are made available to students. For example, sets of manipulatives can be prepared and stored in plastic bags, baskets, or other containers. The listed manipulatives need to be made available to students and parents at each Family Math Night station.
Why Are Questions Included?
Asking questions invites students to engage in mathematical communication. Questions promote mathematical thinking and encourage āmath talk.ā We do not want the Family Math Night room to be a āquiet zone.ā Instead, we want to strive for a room full of active mathematics participants who are engaged in productive mathematics discourse. By promoting āmath talkā at Family Math Night, we will better prepare our students for the mathematical challenges ahead. Our role is to provide students with opportunities to hear, use, and come to know the richness of āmath talk.ā
Why Is There a Challenge for Each Activity?
Purposeful challenge serves to inspire and enlighten many students. Each Family Math Night activity includes a challenge that provides a possible extension of the activity. Sometimes students are so engaged in the activity that they want to investigate it further. Other times students go directly to the challenge as a way to increase the level of difficulty. Essentially, the challenges offer a way to differentiate the learning opportunities for children and their families.
What Are Some Additional Tips?
If you want high attendance at your Family Math Night, you need to advertise to students and the parents. Send home notices about the event (a sample notice to parents is found on page 95). Include the event in newsletters and on the school calendar. Offer incentives for students and parents, such as pizza or snacks. Some schools offer recognition to the class with the highest attendance. Other schools encourage students to attend by allowing participation in Family Math Night to serve as the nightās homework. The possibilities are nearly endless!
To accommodate many families, you will need a large room or several large rooms. Position the tables in a manner that allows for maximum movement and comfort. Posting multiple copies of the directions and providing several sets of the materials allow you to have more than one family at each Family Math Night station. Also, color-coding the directions pages can be very helpful. For example, all of the primary activities can be photocopied on yellow paper and all of the intermediate stations can be photocopied on blue paper. This coding system helps parents direct their children toward grade-level appropriate activities. If you decide to color-code the activities, provide parents with a key indicating the coding system upon entry.
Providing a check-in table is a good idea. Parents...
