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THE UNIVERSITY OF

C H I C A G OSCHOOL MATHEMATICS PROJECTEveryday Mathematics

Advice From Colleagues: Working With Parents

What can I do for parents to support them working with their children on homework?

• MakesureparentsknowabouttheEverydayMathematicswebpageforhomeworkhelpfortheirgradelevel.(Youcanfindthepageforyourgradelevelbygoingtothe“Parents”tabandtotheap-propriategradelevelforHomeLinkorStudyLinkhelp.)

• Copysectionsofthelessoninstructionswithexplicitdirectionsandstepsforhowtodoproblemsandsendthesehomewithhomework.Anotherresourceisthereferencebookforyourgradelevel.Ifyoudon’tsendthebookshome,youmightwanttocopytherelevantinformationpageonthebackofthehomework.

• Suggestthatfamiliesplaytheonlinegames.(Yourschoolmusthaveasubscription.Familiesneedaloginandpasswordfromtheschool.)

• Makeupapacketforfamilieswithtoolslikeanumbergrid,facttriangles,paperdominoes.

• SendhometheunitFamilyLetters.Alwaysreadthembeforesendingthemtobesuretheywillmakesensetoyourstudents’parents/families.Weaddourownthoughtstoourclasslettersasneeded.

• Ifyourdistrictdoesn’thaveanonlineguidesforfamilymembers,severaldistrictsdo.IfyouGoogleEverydayMathematicsparents,itisprettyeasytofindonlineresources.

• Includeaworkedexamplewiththehomeworksofamilymemberscanfigureoutwhattodoiftheirchildisconfused.

• IalwayscreatedaHomeworkFolderthatwasaregularpocketfolder.Itcouldholdthefacttrian-glesorHomeLink(StudyLink)paperandhadaplaceforparentstowritenotestomeiftheyhadspecificquestions.

• IprovideafeedbackformonthebackofthehomeworksoIcantellhowstudentsaredoingandiftheyarehavingspecificproblems.

• Isendhomeworkhomeasaunit,because1)itsavespaper,2)studentsareabletogoalessonaheadiftheyknowthattheywillbetoobusythefollowingnight.

What can we do at our school to support students who do not have someone to help with homework?

• Ihaveabout25minutesinthemorningwhenastudentwhodoesnothavehelpathomecansitwithmetodothehomework.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF

C H I C A G OSCHOOL MATHEMATICS PROJECTEveryday Mathematics

Advice From Colleagues: Working With Parents

• Allowtimeforthemtocompleteitinclassduringrecess,activities,orearlymorning.

• Inourtown,highschoolstudentsmeetchildrenatthelibrarytohelpthem.

• WeusedaMentorprogramtosupportourstudentswhodidnothavehelpfromhome.Teach-erscouldidentifystudentswhoneededthisassistanceandwematchedstudentstoMentorswhowerevolunteers(manytimes,Grandparents).Wehavealsocreatedamorning“studyhall”thatmonitoredbyclassroomteacherswhovolunteertheirmorningtimeonceaweek.

• Partnerkidsinthemorningwithotherchildrenwhiletheyaresettlingin.Haveparentvolunteerscomeintoworkwithstudents.

• Wehaveahomeworkclubaspartofourafterschoolprogramandwestronglyencouragestu-dentstojoin.Wealsodon’tcounthomeworkagainstthestudentsiftheydon’tdoit.(Wedon’ttellthemthisthough.)

• Makesuretoreadthedirectionstothemandaskforquestionsbeforetheytakehometheiras-signments.

How can I support parents in understanding a variety of computation algorithms?

• HostaparentnightandassignsmallgroupsofparentsanalgorithmfromtheappropriateStu-dentReferenceBookorMyReferenceBook.Theparentsshouldbecome“experts”ontheas-signedalgorithm(withsomehelpfromtheteacher).Thesmallgroupscanthenteachthelargergroupthestrategies.

• Iplacedlinkstothealgorithmvideosonmywebpage.(ThesecanbefoundinthealgorithmssectionoftheEMwebsite.)Also,IteachthealgorithmstomyparentsatOpenHouse.Youcouldplantoteachparentsthemostimportantalgorithmsatparentconferences.

• Sendapackethomewitheachstudentthatexplainseachalgorithm.Goodresourcesforalgo-rithmexplanationsarethestudentreferencebooksortheOperationsHandbookthatyoucangetfromthepublisher.

What are some ideas for informing parents or possible topics/ activities for a Family Math Night?

• ChecktheHomeConnectionHandbookforsomeideasaboutrunningFamilyMathNights.

• 1.Talkaboutprogram.2.Describeobjectives.3.Demonstrateactuallesson.4.Discussexpecta-tionsofteachersforstudents.5.Demohomework.

3

THE UNIVERSITY OF

C H I C A G OSCHOOL MATHEMATICS PROJECTEveryday Mathematics

Advice From Colleagues: Working With Parents

• Werotatedamong5firstgradeclassroomsfor1hour.Eachclassroomhadamathgameavailablewithdirections.Thestudentsknowhowtoplaysotheyjustgotrighttoit.Wereallywerenotneeded![Youmightalsoincludesomeoftheproblemtypesatstations—forexample,What’sMyRule?orFrames-and-ArrowsDiagramsorname-collectionboxes.

• WemadeaPowerPointpresentationofinformationaboutEverydayMathandinsertedpicturesofstudentsatdifferentgradelevelsdoingmath.Thisplayedinacornerofourcafeteriathrough-outourFamilyGameNight.ParentsandchildrenwereabletoplayEMgamesattables.Wedisplayedbooksaboutmathandgamesthatusemaththatcanbeboughtinstores.

• Have1-3gamesforeachgradelevel.Familiescangoaroundandmakeandtakethingshome.Havestationssoparentsaremoving.Ordistributethegamesthroughoutclassroomsthatpar-entscanvisit.Havethechildrencomesotheycanplaythegamestogether.Haveestimationjarsthroughouttheschoolwithprizesforfamiliestowin.TheprizescanbemathematicsmaterialsfordoingEMactivities.

• Lastyearourthemewas“MathFair.”Itwasforanhourintheevening.Teachersorgradelevelshadboothswithavarietyofgames-mostofthemcomingfromEM.Someboothshadprizes.WealsohadourcomputerlabopenforstudentstouseEMGamesOnline,forwhichwehaveasubscription.Aspeopleenteredthebuildingeachpersonaddedaparttoahorizontalbargraphshowinggradelevels.Thishelpeduskeepattendance.Wehaddoorprizestoo.Oh,andcook-iesandjuice.Peoplemadetheirwaythroughthedifferentareasattheirownpace.Therewasnoagenda.Thisyearourthemewas“BeeallyoucanbeeatMathNight!”Everystationhadatitlewith“Bee”init.Wehad“Beeameasurer,”“Beeanestimator,”“Beeaplayer,”etc.Ithinkthethingthatmakesournightsosuccessfulismostteacherscometotheeventandthestudentslovetoseetheirteachersinthisnewenvironment.Nextyearwe’rethinkingofdoing“Howdoyoumeasureup?”Itshouldbefun!

• Walktheparentsthroughamodellessonforthefirstnight.Provideagamenightforanothernight.ShowthemthatEverydayMathematicsisfunandthatstudentsdolearn.

• IhadmyparentshelpmeorganizeandfillmyToolKits.Theyspentaboutthirtyminuteslabel-ingspecificcomponentsofthekitwiththestudentnumbers(1001,1002,etc.)andthenwepassedthetoolkitboxesaroundtheroomandeachparentloadedinthetooltheyhadlabeled.Then,wespenttheremaining30minutesplayinghighlightedgamesfromourgradelevel.

• PostadisplayboardofstudentworksamplesfromaspecificstrandofmathematicsasagoodwaytokeepparentsinformedaboutEM.Putthebulletinboardinaplacenearthefrontofficeandhavedifferentgradelevelsberesponsibleforcollectinganddisplayingtheinformation.Changeiteachmonth.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF

C H I C A G OSCHOOL MATHEMATICS PROJECTEveryday Mathematics

Advice From Colleagues: Working With Parents

What can I provide for parents or students that will support continuing exploration of mathematics concepts or practice of mathematics skills over the summer?

• Whentravellingorvisitingmuseums,parentscanaskchildrenmathematicalquestionsrelatedtotheirtravels.

• Sendhomegamesandamathpacketwithpracticeproblems.

• Allowparentstocheckoutthereferencebooksandapacketofmaterialssothatparentscanplaymathgamesthatstudentslearnedduringtheyear.

• LastsummerwehadourEMOnlinesubscriptionoverthesummer(foronlinegamesandthereferencebooks).

• Itypicallysendhomealistofthoseunitgoalsstillneedingworkinordertobecomeproficientorstayproficientformystudentstoworkonoverthesummer.

• Directparentstowebsitethatprovideworthwhileactivitysuggestionsandresources.