Math Night at SMS

Parents come join your 1st and 2nd grade teachers as we get together after school to share some of the fun math games that help us to learn as we play them.  Most everyone enjoys playing games and in addition to some that you will learn tomorrow night in your classroom from 5-6pm (Tuesday, Oct. 16) here are some that you might want to try at home. 

Family Math Night
Scholastic games

Also, here is an activity that you can do with your child on your next trip to the grocery store to make it a little more fun -

Practice Math with the "Guess the Groceries" Game
Most kids don’t think of grocery shopping as an exciting way to spend the
afternoon. But when grocery shopping involves a game and possible
prizes, you just might have your child begging to go with you! Not only is
this a fun diversion from worksheets (and a chance for you to get some
shopping done), but it's also a great chance to practice rounding,
estimation and addition with a hands-on method--one of the very best
ways to make sense of math.
What You Need:
Grocery list
Pencil
Calculator (optional)
What You Do:
1. Write your weekly grocery list, leaving space next to each item for a dollar amount to be written.
2. Ask your child to look over the list, think about what each item probably costs, and “guess” a total
price for all of the groceries.
3. Head to the grocery store with your child. On the way, explain that she will be rounding, adding and
estimating the total cost of the groceries as you shop. Surprise her by telling her that she will get a
prize if her estimate comes within $10.00 of the actual total.
4. As you begin shopping, hand over the shopping list to your child. Every time an item goes into the
cart, she should write the actual price and then round it to the nearest dollar (e.g. peas: $2.89 =
$3.00). When you finish shopping, ask your fourth-grader to add up her list of rounded amounts
and get an estimated total (bring a calculator or help her do mental math). Compare her estimated
total with her “guess” from home.
5. After checking out and paying for your groceries, give the receipt to your child and have her
compare her estimated total with the actual total. If she is within $10.00, offer her a small prize. If
she doesn’t “win”, offer a “participation prize” to keep her motivated.
Follow-up questions for the ride home are a great way to focus in on what was learned. Try these: What
items were least/most expensive? What patterns do you see in pricing? What types of food are more
expensive? How can rounding and estimating help you as a shopper?
If it's difficult to schedule a joint trip to the grocery store, try occasionally bringing home your grocery
receipt. Cut off the bottom sales total, then give the top portion to your child and ask her to round each
item and estimate the total. Compare to see how close she came to the actual total. You can offer a
small reward, or just simply praise her for a job well done – the best reward of all!
Estimating the grocery bill could even become your fourth-grader’s new job and a way to earn a small
allowance. Your child will enjoy the small rewards for completing an "adult" job, and she will look forward
to her weekly challenge of guessing the groceries!
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