"Imagine being a third grader who has all the resources you need at your finger tips to complete your hands-on, minds-on math homework. Research shows that students who are engaged in their learning retain what they have learned much better. Providing a math toolbox for each third grader would mean ...
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"Imagine being a third grader who has all the resources you need at your finger tips to complete your hands-on, minds-on math homework. Research shows that students who are engaged in their learning retain what they have learned much better. Providing a math toolbox for each third grader would mean they could participate in math activities for homework instead of a math worksheet. This would also encourage family involvement rather than boring individual math sheets.
Providing a math toolbox means providing the students with math tools to complete the hands-on activities the third grade teachers at our school would like to provide. The students would need rulers and dice to engage in math games that will help them practice math skills such as place value, multiplication, rounding, and measurement. Teachers would simply need cardstock to copy the games for the students to play at home with siblings and parents. Third grade math scores at our school have not been increasing at the rate we would like to see, especially among our low-socio economic and minority populations. We feel if students have more changes to be engaged in their learning through games and activities for homework, they will make stronger gains.
Providing each child with an actual toolbox is costly considering we have 300 third graders. The resources needed include a die and a ruler for each child. Ideally we would like to have a calculator for each child too. In addition each child will need a shoebox (which a local shoe store has agreed to donate). We will also need resource books to help the teacher develop games instead of running off worksheets for home work. These materials will promote family involvement and more engaging homework. Students will benefit from this toolbox all year long. The teachers will help the student build upon their toolbox as we build upon math skills. For example when we begin teaching multiplication, the students will receive active games for retaining those skills. Games and activities will be added to the toolbox and instead of practicing their 6 times tables through a worksheet, they will have the option of playing a game using a die and a printed game board on cardstock and then adding it to their toolbox for safe keeping and future play.
This toolbox will be referenced throughout the year so that students continue to receive spiral reviews of math skills. Think about it- if you where an 8 or 9 year old, wouldn't you rather play a math game then complete a math sheet for homework?
My math students need hands-on resources, including cardstock, rulers, dot dice, a hamburger hut menu math set and a hands-on math set.
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