DANIELA U.'s Blog at WyzAnt.com

Why Math is Nothing to Be Afraid of

posted by WyzAnt tutor: DANIELA U.

When I was in my teacher training program, so many of my fellow teachers said they hated math growing up. Many adults still fear math. It feels like something foreign, a different language only teachers and mathematicians can understand.

I personally love math. Why? Math is about finding connections, discerning patterns. When kids tell me they aren't good at math, I tell them they aren't looking at it in the right way, because kids are natural problem solvers, and therefore, mathematicians. Kids do math everyday, in natural, authentic ways. They estimate which donut has more sprinkles and choose that one from the case, keep score in games, count the stars in the night sky.

Why, when attempted in a school context, does math seem so scary? I think it's because many teachers divorce math from its authentic contexts. They are pushed to cover so much material so quickly that they don't have time to teach each child at his or her pace. Many kids need to see math problems in their physical forms before they are ready to move on to equations. This can take a long time. But teachers don't have a lot of time. They need to cover a myriad of material each week. If some - or most - kids get left behind, at least all of them have been exposed to the concepts.

That is why parents should get over their fear of math and help their kids see math everywhere. Estimation in school is an extremely tough concept to grasp, but if you encourage your kids to estimate everything, from the number of steps from one end of your house to the other, to the number of cheerios in a bowl, they will begin to feel comfortable estimating. What about division? Parents are always splitting things up equally between members of the family. When doing so, be explicit - show your kids your thought process. Have your child hold a grapefruit in one hand and an apple in the other to demonstrate relative weights. Make graphs of your family members' ages, heights, and anything else you can think of.

Begin to see the world as a mathematical playground, and your kids will, too.

Questions to Ask Your Kids About Their Reading

posted by WyzAnt tutor: DANIELA U.

1. Can you tell me the main idea of this section?

Finding the main idea in text is a huge focus of testing, and an essential skill for good readers. Every book, every article, every website has a main idea and supporting details. If you practice doing this frequently, your child will be vastly better prepared to do well in school and to understand his or her reading. Your child's response to this question will also help you see if she needs to go back and reread to gain a better understanding.

2. What do you think will happen next?

When a child can make a reasonable prediction about a story, it is a clear indication that he has understood the reading and is also able to extend his thinking. Also, kids love guessing what will happen next in a story, and when they are correct, they get really excited. This is a great way to get your child thinking deeply about the reading and enjoying it more at the same time!

3. What are you wondering about?

Questioning is a huge part of building reading comprehension. When kids are encouraged to wonder about their reading, they begin to see that they can have a relationship with the text. Have them write questions on sticky notes and refer back to them to see if they are answered later in the text. If their questions aren't answered, look them up online. Ideally, this will also lead kids to develop strong interests and increase their motivation to learn and read.

4. What experience/book/idea does this remind you of?

In school, kids are asked to make text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to-world connections with their reading. Do the same at home. We learn by connecting our previous knowledge to new concepts and ideas. By helping kids make explicit connections with their reading, you are actively helping them access their background knowledge. They also become more attached to and interested in their reading when they realize it connects to their lives and experiences.

5. Were there any words in this section you didn't understand?

Reading provides a constant opportunity for vocabulary building. Have your child identify a few words in her reading she doesn't know. First have her attempt to define the words by looking at the surrounding words, or by learning prefixes, suffixes and root words. If this fails, have her find the word in a children's dictionary. Then make an effort to use the new vocabulary on a frequent basis. Write them on note cards, have your child add an illustration, slap on a bit pf magnetic tape, and put them on the fridge. Then, encourage her to spell them and use them in conversation. This will not only help her to understand more complex books, but also give her additional vocabulary to use in her writing as well.

Learning to Write, or Writing to Learn?

posted by WyzAnt tutor: DANIELA U.

When I taught 3rd grade, my students were at all different stages of learning to read. We would say that up to a certain point, when kids are learning the letter sounds and piecing the words together, they were learning to read. Once they were able to read most words and move on to longer and more complicated texts, they were reading to learn.

The same concept can apply to writing. Are you learning to write, or writing to learn? Many college students haven't been adequately taught to write research papers, or are returning to school after a long break, and therefore, have forgotten some writing skills. But when you are learning to write, it is much more difficult to learn from your writing. You are spending so much time trying to make the writing sound academic that the intention of the paper - to help you learn about a new topic - is lost.

Instead of waiting for paper assignments to learn to write, be proactive. Take some writing courses over the summer, or look up some sample assignments and practice writing them. No one expects to find success running a marathon without training for months in advance. After all that training, the marathon is fun. Without the training, it would be painful to go out and run for miles.

Similarly, when you already know how to write, you can actually enjoy tackling writing assignments. When you are unsure of your skills, writing each assignment can feel like running a marathon after sitting on the couch for months. You don't get much out of it, and when you are done, you feel exhausted, sore and unprepared for the next paper.

5 Inexpensive Supplies That Make Learning More Fun

posted by WyzAnt tutor: DANIELA U.

1. Whiteboards and whiteboard markers

Somehow, using these can transform any learning activity that involves writing, i.e. math and spelling, into an exciting time. Buy these at any office supply store, or visit Markerboard People for a huge variety of boards and inexpensive markers.

2. A timer

Most kids like being timed. Whether you are timing them on knowing their math facts, reading a poem, or spelling a word, adding the element of speed will make learning activities feel more like games.

3. Smelly markers

Smelly markers, the thick, colorful scented markers that come in a blue box, can do a lot to help kids have fun with learning. Use them to highlight printed reading passages, have kids grade their own math worksheets, create illustrated books, and more. Available at most grocery stores.

4. Magnetic tape and sticky putty

What could be more fun than sticking things to other things? Not much. Use magnetic tape to create word cards to put on your refrigerator to practice vocabulary and spelling words. Stick your child’s writing to the wall with a hunk of sticky putty. Most importantly, let the kids put the tape or putty on and affix things to the fridge or wall. Attaching their work to the wall makes it feel special, and if they get to do it, all the better. Purchase these at Home Depot or most office supply stores.

5. Letter and number tiles and magnets

These are great for practicing spelling and math. Anytime you can switch things up and practice them in a different way, do it. Instead of having your kids write their spelling words, have them create them with tiles. Writing math problems out can feel boring and repetitive for kids, but when you put tiles or magnets into the mix, it suddenly feels new and exciting. Use tiles from a Scrabble set, or purchase these at a learning supply store or online.

Seed, Bud, Bloom - A Creative Writing Lesson

posted by WyzAnt tutor: DANIELA U.

A simple way to help students expand and improve their writing is to write a seed sentence on the board.

For example:
The child ate lunch.

This is a seed sentence because you can't tell much about the child or about the lunch.

Tell your student or students that our goal is to make the sentence bloom.

You can either provide a pre-written example of a bud sentence or have the student or students help expand the sentence. I like to focus on the different parts of the sentence - Can we use more specific nouns? Was the child a boy or a girl? How about using a name? What about the verb? Can we make it more active to help the sentence come alive?

The bud sentence could look something like this:
Ronald scarfed down a pastrami sandwich.

Much more descriptive, right? But the sentence could still be better. It could still expand and become a more interesting sentence. How about adding some adjectives? Or playing with the sentence structure to make it flow differently?

The bloom sentence might be:
As Ronald scarfed down a pastrami sandwich with lettuce and tomatoes, some mustard oozed out and stuck to his wild red hair.

Rewriting individual sentences helps students to grasp how to make their own writing more vivid. After practicing a couple of these, a student can go back into his or her writing notebook and underline sentences that need a little boost. Then he or she can expand each of those sentences and help them to bloom as well.