It's called "Building Number Sense in the Classroom". Hopefully that's an appropriate title?! Number sense is ALWAYS something my kids come to me knowing little about. They can do the algorithms, but when it comes to reading long numbers, solving world problems, or applying what they learned in a different context, I find some gaps. Number sense and fact recall are SO important. I spend a lot of time teaching my kids that these two things (among many things) are the FOUNDATION of math. Without them, it will be an uphill battle.
Before I jump into THAT freebie, I wanted to also offer you THIS freebie found below!
Do you ever have parents that come to you so frustrated with their child's math homework, or parents that say they don't know how to help their kids? I always give this letter to my parents, and in the letter I include some easy and fun games that families can play at home to help reinforce math skills and number sense. I left the document in word format (so it isn't very pretty! EEK!!). I did this so that you can edit it yourself in case you want to send it home with your families this year!
This is just a snapshot, click the link HERE below to grab the whole letter!
Do you ever have parents that come to you so frustrated with their child's math homework, or parents that say they don't know how to help their kids? I always give this letter to my parents, and in the letter I include some easy and fun games that families can play at home to help reinforce math skills and number sense. I left the document in word format (so it isn't very pretty! EEK!!). I did this so that you can edit it yourself in case you want to send it home with your families this year!
In the free packet found in my TpT store, I have included a bunch of things. First, is the math-fact log. It has the same idea as a reading log. I'll usually go to the dollar store and pick up a few packs of flash cards for my students to practice. Or I may send them home with a list of games and websites to play or even a packet of practice problems. The math-fact log isn't given to all of my students, only my students who really need the extra practice at home. I send a letter home explaining the math-fact log and keep track of who has a log on a spread sheet. It's great because not only does it hold my kids accountable, but then I can stay organized with that small group of kids. If I know who has a math-fact log, I can track their monthly math-fact tests to make sure there is growth. I found that in the past, if I just said, "Study for 10 minutes tonight!", they didn't really know HOW to study. Below is a snapshot of my math facts log which is included in the freebie!
I also included some notebook pages that we glue into our math binders.
Some of my kids struggled last year with reading long numbers, and since decimals are a HUGE thing in 5th grade, I included how to read decimals as well. This helped my kids a TON last year. The visual was super helpful, and if ever a student forgot or was struggling, they could flip back to this page in their notebook to help guide them. I also included a few sheets to practice writing long numbers and decimals. I simply laminate these, and use them when I pull small groups to practice place value, writing long numbers, etc. You could even print them out and use them as a printable, at a center, or in a game.
**Thanks to a super sweet blogger for leaving me a comment that the original idea came from an older post from the lovely Janaye over at: Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes!
Another part of this packet is an operation key word sort. Last year I didn't realize that my kids needed help with this until we got to our algebra unit. For the most part, my kids could look at a word problem and pull the operation out, so it seemed as though they had a handle on it.
This year, I want to use this sorting game RIGHT away. I am going to use this the first week, and many weeks after that to reinforce the concepts!
*This comes in black and white too!
Go ahead and grab your freebie HERE!!