Math Websites

www.mathplayground.com

(games, word problems, logic puzzles math video)

www.funbrain.com

(games related to math concepts)

www.coolmath.com

(math for all ages, includes parent link)

www.floridastudents.org

(tutorials for students)

Hillsborough County Schools

Elementary Math Department

http://www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/departments/78

Hillsborough County School Board

April Griffin, Chair

Cindy Stuart, Vice Chair

Doretha W. Edgecomb

Sally A. Harris

Carol W. Kurdell

Melissa Snively

Susan L. Valdes

This publication was made possible in part by a grant from

Carnegie Corporation of New York.

The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author.

2016

Making Math

Matter at Home:

Third

through

Fifth Grade

A guide for helping your child with

essential math skills at home.

K-12 Standards for Mathematical Practice

In addition to math content standards for every grade level, the 8 Standards for Mathematical Practice describe a variety of skills that proficient math students should use, which teachers actively seek to develop in their students. What these skills “look like” will change as

a child matures, but the principles behind them apply to all learners from kindergarten through 12th grade. Below is a brief explanation of these practices:

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Your child should be able to explain the meaning of a problem and make a plan for solving.

2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. When solving problems, your child should make sense of quantities, choosing appropriate operations and symbols to represent mathematical situations.

3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. Mathematically proficient students can explain their thinking and talk about it with others, using examples and explain why they agree or disagree with someone else’s solution to a problem.

4. Model with mathematics. Your child should be able to take the skills they are learning inside the classroom and apply them to situations in everyday life.

5. Use appropriate tools strategically. This practice refers to knowing when and how to use the right tool to solve a problem. This can range from paper and pencil and coun-ters, to a ruler or calculator.

6. Attend to precision. This practice involves being able to clearly explain what one has learned with precise vocabu-lary terms and units. Your child should work carefully and check his or her work for mistakes.

7. Look for and make use of structure. Your child should use what he or she knows to solve new problems and determine patterns and structures in math that can help them when solving problems.

8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning. As your child works through a math problem, they should look for short cuts or more efficient ways to solve, or a pattern that they can use.

For more information on Florida’s Mathematics Standards (MAFS), visit www.FLStandards.org.

Math Homework Tips

Set a regular time and quiet location for your child to complete homework.

Ask your child if he or she understands the directions and assist them with getting started, but avoid guiding them through each step.

If your child is unable to complete the math homework independently, alert his or her teacher and discuss any concerns.

Look over completed assignments and encourage your child to be precise.

Allow some struggle and grappling with the math, but monitor carefully for frustration. If your child seems stuck or unsure of how to solve a problem, try using the following questions:

What is happening in this problem? Tell me in your own words.

Does this problem remind you of any others that

you have solved?

What are you trying to find out?

What will your answer be (Yes or No, a person’s

name, a number, etc.)?

How will you go about solving this problem? What

is your plan? Did you change your plan? Why?

What do the numbers in the problem represent (7

is number of tables, 21 is the number of chairs,

etc.)?

How could a model or picture help you solve this

problem?

What does each part of your model represent from

the story?

Can you write an expression or equation to help

you solve the problem?

Communicate frequently with your child’s teacher.

How can you help your child to be successful with mathematics?

Be positive about mathematics! You have a lot of influence over your child’s attitude about learning math. If you view math as “hard” or something people are naturally either good or bad at, this may have a negative impact on how your child views their own ability to be successful in mathematics. Some aspects of math may be more or less challenging. Encourage your child to have a positive attitude and enjoy mathematics.

Praise your child’s efforts and perseverance when solving problems. Encourage your child to stick with a problem even when a task seems difficult at first.

Problems can be solved in different ways. Learning math is about more than just finding the correct answer. It is also about learning valuable problem-solving skills. There may be many ways to get to the solution. Encourage your child to find more than one way to solve a problem.

Value mistakes as learning opportunities. Accuracy and precision are always important in math, but you can use wrong answers to have your child reason about how they solved a problem and discover new ideas. View mistakes as opportunities to learn something new, and a natural part of the process of doing mathematics.

Involve your child in the mathematics you use everyday. Make math visible to your child by allowing them to see how you use it for things like shopping, cooking, home improve-ment projects, etc.

Talk to your child about their math learning experience. Use the following conversation starters to open up dialogue about what your child is learning in school:

What was the most important thing you learned in math today?

What was the easiest/hardest part of what you did in math today?

What questions did you ask today?

What is something you are still wondering about from today’s math lesson?

Try these ideas at home to support the math concepts your child is learning in third through fifth grade.

Have your child create story problems that require multiplication and division.

Incorporate math with exercise. Choose an action such as jumping jacks, or hopping. Call out basic multiplication facts for your child to solve, then perform the action that number of times. “Do 3 x 8 jumping jacks.”

Build measurement skills. When crafting or doing home improvement projects, have your child use tools to measure and determine the amount of supplies that are needed. For example, calculate the area of a wall that needs to be painted in square feet to figure out how many gallons of paint are needed. Estimate and measure distances traveled. “If we are traveling at 40 mph, how long will it take us to travel 160 miles?

Work with money. When saving for a purchase, ask your child to determine how much more money is needed to buy the item. Allow your child to pay for purchases and cal-culate the change they should receive. “The

total cost is $12.75. How much change will you receive if you pay with a $20.00 dollar bill? If you save $5.00 per week, how long will it take you to save enough money for the game?”

Math and Shopping! Clip coupons and ask your child to determine the best deals when shopping. “What is the best deal on T-Shirts: 50% off or buy one, get two free?” Use mental math and estimation to determine the total cost of items in your shopping cart.

Calculate elapsed time. Track the length of time everyday tasks take and pose elapsed time problems. “The movie lasts 125 minutes. At what time will it end?”

Explore fractions using everyday situations. Use cooking to reinforce basic fraction concepts. Have your child describe fractions that are equal using measuring cups: “The recipe calls for two and a half cups of flour. How many 1/4 cups will we need to measure the flour?” Pose math problems while you are trav-eling together: “We have traveled about 1/2 of the way to our destination. About how much further do we need to travel?” Measure household objects to the nearest half or quarter inch.