September, 2011
Elul, 5772
Dear Parents,
What is Math Mania?
Math Mania is a website created specifically for the parents and children in SSDS of Nassau County. There will be a weekly Challenge Problem for the children in Gan through fifth grade. These problems are designed for children and parents to solve together. Parents are encouraged to work with their children to explore the varied possibilities to find the correct answer. When parents and children work collaboratively on tasks to achieve a common goal, the children feel more confident and are willing to take on greater challenges in the future.
Where Do Math Mania Problems Come From?
The problems that are posted on Math Mania are taken from grade level books. According to the math standards and strands of New York State these are the kinds of word problems which our students are expected to be proficient at answering. While these problems may seem difficult at first, the best way to approach them is to read the problem over a few times to get an understanding of the task at hand. Almost all of the extra challenges are taken from the Marcy Cook Math series of problem solving activities. These challenges and accompanying tiles are used in the classroom along with our math series, EnVision 2012 giving children the opportunity to practice manipulating the tiles to problem solve in class.
How Can I Help My Child Solve Math Mania Problems?
For all of the problems the children are encouraged to use manipulatives to figure out the answers. A mathematical manipulative is an object which is designed so that a student can learn some mathematical concept by manipulating it. The use of manipulatives provides a way for children to learn concepts in developmentally appropriate, hands-on ways. Mathematical manipulatives are used in the first step of teaching mathematical concepts, that of concrete representation. The second and third steps are representational and abstract, respectively. Manipulatives are used to help children understand one-to-one correspondence as well as helping them make the abstract concrete. Simple manipulatives can be found in every household. Items such as toothpicks, popsicle sticks, pennies, buttons, dried beans, dried pasta, cereal as well as small candies such as M&Ms can all be used to enhance student learning and understanding. Encourage your child to use these manipulatives as often as is necessary. You will notice over time how adept your children will become at solving math word problems.
Math Mania will begin on Monday, September 13, 2010. It is best to use Mozilla Firefox as your internet browser. You can download the browser for free at http://www.mozilla.com. Once the browser is downloaded go to http://www.mathmania4kids.com to view and print out the pages.
What Strands of Math Do the Math Mania Problems Cover?
The Marcy Cook Tile pages that are posted on Math Mania are grade level problems that are taken from The Problem Solver published by Creative Publications. These problems involve all five content areas of the math curriculum: Numbers and Operations, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, and Data and Operations. It also incorporates the five process standards: Problem Solving, Reasoning and Proof, Communication, Connections and Representation. As students work on the problems, they learn to reason and to communicate in many different ways. They can represent their work by writing, drawing pictures or diagrams, and making tables and charts.
How Do We Get Started?
To begin solving the problems:
1. Using Mozilla Firefox as your internet browser, go to http://www.mathmania4kids.com.
2. Look over all of the different problems there are to solve.
3. Click on the Challenge of the Week for your child’s grade level and any other problems you want to work on together.
4. Print out the challenges and read the problems carefully. Talk to your child about the different ways to approach each problem. There will usually be more than just one way to figure out the solutions.
5. When you and your child figure out the answers, please be sure to have your child’s first and last name as well as his/her class written clearly at the top of the page, and bring it in to the classroom teacher.
Math Mania Response Expectations:
For the Weekly Challenge Problem all children will be required to show how they got their answer. Of course, the level of expectation is different for each grade.
The children in Gan are expected to draw a simple picture or write a number sentence to show how they solved the problem.
At the beginning of the year, the children in first grade are expected to show their work by drawing a simple picture and/or writing a number sentence explaining their answer. As the year progresses they will be encouraged to write a few sentences explaining how they solved the problem.
The children in second through fifth grade are expected to show their work and write a few sentences explaining how they solved the problem.
What Are The Different Types of Math Mania Problems?
In addition to the Problem of the Week for each grade there are also:
Daily grade level Marcy Cook Tile challenges
Daily Puzzlers
Daily Gan Sudoku Puzzles
Daily Sudoku Puzzles for grades 1-5
Monthly Problems
The children in all grades are welcome to try any of the problems and have them count towards their individual total.
Each week the classroom teachers will send the names of the students in their class who figured out the problems and the challenges to the office. Every Tuesday we will announce the class that had the greatest percentage of Math Mania participants. At the end of the year each student in the top three classes will receive a special Math Mania prize.
We look forward to seeing all of the entries and to heightening our children’s love of numbers and math!
Mathematically yours,
Sandi Swerdloff
What is Math Mania?
Math Mania is a website created specifically for the parents and children in SSDS of Nassau County. There will be a weekly Challenge Problem for the children in Gan through fifth grade. These problems are designed for children and parents to solve together. Parents are encouraged to work with their children to explore the varied possibilities to find the correct answer. When parents and children work collaboratively on tasks to achieve a common goal, the children feel more confident and are willing to take on greater challenges in the future.Where Do Math Mania Problems Come From?
The problems that are posted on Math Mania are taken from grade level books. According to the math standards and strands of New York State these are the kinds of word problems which our students are expected to be proficient at answering. While these problems may seem difficult at first, the best way to approach them is to read the problem over a few times to get an understanding of the task at hand. Almost all of the extra challenges are taken from the Marcy Cook Math series of problem solving activities. These challenges and accompanying tiles are used in the classroom along with our math series, EnVision 2012 giving children the opportunity to practice manipulating the tiles to problem solve in class.How Can I Help My Child Solve Math Mania Problems?
For all of the problems the children are encouraged to use manipulatives to figure out the answers. A mathematical manipulative is an object which is designed so that a student can learn some mathematical concept by manipulating it. The use of manipulatives provides a way for children to learn concepts in developmentally appropriate, hands-Math Mania will begin on Monday, September 13, 2010. It is best to use Mozilla Firefox as your internet browser. You can download the browser for free at http://www.mozilla.com. Once the browser is downloaded go to http://www.mathmania4kids.com to view and print out the pages.
What Strands of Math Do the Math Mania Problems Cover?
The Marcy Cook Tile pages that are posted on Math Mania are grade level problems that are taken from The Problem Solver published by Creative Publications. These problems involve all five content areas of the math curriculum: Numbers and Operations, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, and Data and Operations. It also incorporates the five process standards: Problem Solving, Reasoning and Proof, Communication, Connections and Representation. As students work on the problems, they learn to reason and to communicate in many different ways. They can represent their work by writing, drawing pictures or diagrams, and making tables and charts. How Do We Get Started?
To begin solving the problems:1. Using Mozilla Firefox as your internet browser, go to http://www.mathmania4kids.com.
2. Look over all of the different problems there are to solve.
3. Click on the Challenge of the Week for your child’s grade level and any other problems you want to work on together.
4. Print out the challenges and read the problems carefully. Talk to your child about the different ways to approach each problem. There will usually be more than just one way to figure out the solutions.
5. When you and your child figure out the answers, please be sure to have your child’s first and last name as well as his/her class written clearly at the top of the page, and bring it in to the classroom teacher.
Math Mania Response Expectations:
For the Weekly Challenge Problem all children will be required to show how they got their answer. Of course, the level of expectation is different for each grade.The children in Gan are expected to draw a simple picture or write a number sentence to show how they solved the problem.
At the beginning of the year, the children in first grade are expected to show their work by drawing a simple picture and/or writing a number sentence explaining their answer. As the year progresses they will be encouraged to write a few sentences explaining how they solved the problem.
The children in second through fifth grade are expected to show their work and write a few sentences explaining how they solved the problem.
What Are The Different Types of Math Mania Problems?
In addition to the Problem of the Week for each grade there are also:Daily grade level Marcy Cook Tile challenges
Daily Puzzlers
Daily Gan Sudoku Puzzles
Daily Sudoku Puzzles for grades 1-
The children in all grades are welcome to try any of the problems and have them count towards their individual total.
Each week the classroom teachers will send the names of the students in their class who figured out the problems and the challenges to the office. Every Tuesday we will announce the class that had the greatest percentage of Math Mania participants. At the end of the year each student in the top three classes will receive a special Math Mania prize.
We look forward to seeing all of the entries and to heightening our children’s love of numbers and math!
Mathematically yours,
Sandi Swerdloff