homework time Archives

show your kids how to study: 5 easy ways

09 | 24 | 2015

One thing I have come to realize, after years of teaching and tutoring, is that kids really don’t know how to study.

We may tell them to study before a test or quiz, but that doesn’t mean they know what that really means.

Their teachers remind them to study, but that doesn’t mean that kids really will.

Kids may believe they know how to study, but I’m willing to bet that they honestly have no clue.

It’s time, with the start of a new school year, that parents actually sit down with their children and talk to them about what studying really means and how to do it.

Grab a pen or paper. Grab some Post-it® Super Sticky Notes. Grab a highlighter.

Review these strategies yourself, and then grab your kid and share with him or her.

Here are five easy ways that parents, today, can show their kids how to study.

It’s not rocket science, but it’s worth repeating.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Show Your Kids How to Study–5 Easy Ways:

Did you know that in a Back-to-School STEM Research Study, recently conducted by the Post-it® Brand, it was reported that 79% of parents believe their students’ homework is harder now than it was when they were in school?

Is that true for you? Do you believe that homework is harder now? If that’s a fact, then our kids need more help than we got. Let’s give it to them.

1. Re-write notes.

When students re-write notes in neater, more easy-to-read bits, it helps them to better understand the concepts they’re learning.

Oftentimes, students’ notes are a mess and are taken in haste in class.

Start by gathering all of the papers with notes on them. Read over them to get a sense of what was discussed, and highlight or circle the main points.

Consider grabbing a Post-it® Flag–how fun are the bright colors of the World of Color Rio de Janeiro collection?!–and use them to easily mark each important point.

Then re-write the notes on a fresh sheet of paper in a more organized way. It will help!

2. Make a concept poster.

A concept poster is just that–a poster all about a certain topic.

Start again by gathering all of the papers and handouts on the topic. Write the main concept in the middle of the poster, and then add information about it all around, much like a brainstorm web but more organized and specific.

Once the poster is complete, use Post-it® Super Sticky Notes to cover areas with details. Then test your knowledge on a topic by trying to remember the information that is covered. It’s a great way to practice and learn!

Another finding from the Post-it® Brand Back-to-School STEM research study found that 54% of parents think that students learn most easily by touching or participating in a hands-on activity. The creation of this poster during studying will certainly help bring the concepts to life.

______________________________

3. Re-teach. It’s undeniable that students learn by doing.

Reading over notes and having the student re-teach concepts to a parent or sibling is a super way for the student to show their level of understanding.

Have students review notes first and then take the mic. Write key vocabulary words or concepts on Post-it® Super Sticky Notes, place them on the refrigerator or wall, and have the student explain them to you.

You may be surprised at what you learn!

4. Make flashcards–and use them!

It’s one thing to make flashcards, but it’s a whole other thing to use them.

Make flashcards by cutting a piece of paper into eight small sections. You can do this easily by folding an 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet in half, in half again, and then in half again.

Write key vocabulary words or concepts on one side of the paper and the definition on the other side.

Or if you just need a way to study specific words on the go, write each word on a Post-it® Super Sticky Note and stick them together. Students can flip through the pages anywhere and any time for a quick review!

If you decided on making flash cards of any sort, here are a few ways to actually use them:

Quick Quiz: Put all of the cards in a pile with the word facing up. Have the student say the definition of the word then check for accuracy. Put all of the cards the student got correct in one pile, under a Post-it® Super Sticky Note with ‘yes’ or a smiley face and the incorrect ones in another pile, under ‘no’ or a sad face. Review the incorrect ones until they are all answered correctly.

Speed Write: The parent holds the cards and shows a card to the student. The student then writes the answer or definition on a white board or chalk board. The parent checks for accuracy, and the goal is to answer as many correctly in a certain timeframe as possible.

Reverse It: Put all of the cards in a pile with the definition facing up. Have the student determine the word then check for accuracy. Put all of the cards the student got correct in one pile and the incorrect ones in another pile. Have the student review the incorrect ones until they are all answered correctly.

Game Show: The parent reads the definition of the word, and the student writes the correct word on a Post-it® Super Sticky Notes then places the Post-it® Super Sticky Notes on the wall. Once the student has gone through all words one time correctly, there should be quite a collage of words on the wall! As extra review, the parent reads the definitions again, and the student simply points to the correct word.

5. Comic strip your notes.

Some kids learn best by drawing, so this method is for him or her.

In fact, another finding from the Post-it® Brand Back-to-School STEM research study found that 86% of parents think the best way for their students to learn STEM-subjects is through visual learning, like reading or seeing pictures.

Have the student review class notes and handouts. Then, using either the comic strip concept review here or Post-it® Super Sticky Notes, allow the student to draw out concepts!

It may sound difficult or even impossible, but the act of reading information and transferring it to doodles or pictures will help the student ‘own’ the information and remember it in a new way.

If you want to download the comic strip concept review, you can do so here: comic strip concept review _ teachmama.com

Studying is not easy, friends. It’s really not. But hopefully these few ways will help your child learn how to master a skill necessary for success in school from here on out!

Want all of this information in a happy little printable? Sure you do.
Print it and share it with your child. Keep it on hand for the school year. You’ll be glad you did.

If you want to download the How to Help Your Kids Study sheet, you can do so here: 5 ways to study _ teachmama.com

Want to grab the fun supplies we’ve used in this post? Sure you do.

We used the Post-it® Brand World of Color, Rio de Janeiro collection. Visit Post-it.com for information on where you can grab these for yourself.

Go ahead and get connected with the great folks at Post-it® Brand: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest

fyi: This post was written as part of a partnership with Post-it® Brand, but as always, opinions and ideas are all my own, influenced only by my experience as a parent and educator.

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how to teach summary writing: the 1-hand summary

03 | 23 | 2015

Summaries are difficult.

Writing summaries, oral summaries–it doesn’t matter.

Both? Difficult.

No matter the student’s age, the act of reading something–anything–and either retelling or summarizing is really, truly tough.

Summarizing is a skill that must be explicitly taught. And it’s a skill that must be modeled.

And it’s a skill that is worth revisiting time and time again, year after year.

This year, Maddy’s been challenged with the weekly task of reading her choice of a news article and summarizing it. I love the assignment. Personally, any repeated effort to improve a student’s reading and writing skills is a win in my book.

However, her summaries were rough at first. Really rough.

So I dusted off my teaching resources, updated a few things, and handed her this: the 1-hand summary.

Here’s the skinny. . .

How to Teach Summary Writing–The 1-Hand Summary:

My goal with this was to have it work for anything Maddy chose–a news article, a magazine article, anything. And for the most part, it works.

I started with the very article that Maddy chose for her homework–a piece from The Washington Post about Jennifer Yu, a local chess champion.

Maddy knew she needed some support with her summary writing assignment; she had written summaries for about four weeks, and each time, we worked together on multiple edits.

Her summaries were not summaries.

She was including her opinion.

She was missing major details.

She was adding too much detail.

She was not including the ‘stuff’ of summaries.

So I handed her the 1-Hand Summary Sheet.

We looked at the hand and talked about the components of a strong summary:

title and author
strong topic sentence
facts and no opinions
conciseness–say everything you need to say in as few words as possible
5 W’s and H are covered (who? what? why? where? when? and how?)

We read the article together.

And then I showed her the sample summary.

Kids must see models. They must. There’s no way kids automatically know what a good summary looks like or sounds like.

So reading the one I created helps. We talked about why it works.

We talked about some strategies to use while reading to save time later: highlighting or circling important details or putting a star or a checkmark in the margins. You can even write in the margins if it’s a newspaper article.

We talked about how this summary includes the infamous 5 W’s and H (who? what? why? where? when? and how?) but incorporates them in an easy to understand paragraph.

We talked about why the topic sentence is so important.

We talked about how you can grab words and phrases from the title of the article to make your writing easier.

The 1-Hand Summary helps.

I love the format of this 1-hand summary. Yes, it covers the typical: Someone. . . wanted. . .but then. . .finally.

But for a more advanced writer, it includes a topic sentence where students can incorporate the title and author of the piece. I think that’s important. And it will prepare kids for higher level writing down the road.

The 1-Hand Summary is here to download if you’d like: one hand summary writing _ teachmama.com

(If you choose to share (and we hope you do!) please link to this page instead of the attachment page. Thank you!)

In order to succeed in school and in life, strong readers need to be able to summarize what they’ve read.

Summarizing is a foundational skill of the Common Core State Standards. It’s a building block and a necessary component of any comprehensive reading program, and summarizing is an element of every grade, every year:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.2
Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

But even before the CCSS’s were around, we all know that summarizing is a skill necessary for success just about anywhere.

Want a few more resources for summary writing?

A few more resources on summary writing:

get the GIST, from readwritethink
summary writing, from scholastic

fyi: Huge thanks to the following resources for information here: http://www.corestandards.org/ | Literacy Implementation Guidance for the ELA CCSS | The Washington Post article by Tom Jackman

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halloween printable games for kids

10 | 25 | 2014

Need two quickie Halloween games for your kids?

Maybe for a Halloween class party or for some after school fun?

Want to up the fun factor of a playdate or just get a little more into the Halloween spirit?

Here are two Halloween printable games for kids that my kids liked and that we’ll be using for class parties this year.

Simple but fun. Tic-tac-toe and Halloween Follow-the-Path.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Halloween Printable Games for Kids:

Half the battle of sneaking in some fun learning for our kids is knowing where to look for things.

And that goes for class parties and church parties and playgroup parties as well.

So when I became a room parent for the 6580987420 millionth time this year, I decided I was just going to share anything and everything I make. Because really? No need to reinvent the wheel.

And no need to make things difficult for good people who really just want to make things fun for their kids.

Two games. Super simple.

Bat Follow-the-Path Game: Players begin at the upper lefthand block and take turns rolling the dice to see how far they go on each turn. Winner gets bat to his family first!

Download our Bat Follow-the-Path Game here: follow the path game halloween

(Please, if you decide to share, share this post and not the attachment page!)

Tic-Tac-Toe: Just like the game we all know and love, but this one uses Halloween stamps!

We’ve long played Tic-Tac-Toe in our own way with our own flare–this time, we’re rocking it out with a little Halloween fun.

Download our Tic-Tac-Toe boards here: tictactoe board | teachmama.com

(Please, if you decide to share, share this post and not the attachment page!)

And that’s it!

Super-simple, totally fun games that you can print on regular paper or cardstock, use, and enjoy.

Need some more? Got a couple Halloween class parties planned for you here:

(No joke. . . you can thank me later! Just click the picture!)

Want a few more fun halloween party ideas?

fyi: Affiliate links are used in this post, which means that every time you purchase something using one of our links, we get at teeny, tiny percentage of the sale. so. . . thank you for using them, friends!

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raising strong students: study habits for smart kids

10 | 07 | 2014

Once your kids hit elementary school, things get a little bit crazy.

All of a sudden, your kids actually need to be at school on time.

All of a sudden, you’re buried under a mountain of papers, fliers, and notices.

All of a sudden, your kids have real homework.

All of a sudden, your kids get to buy lunch and play instruments.

All of a sudden, you feel overwhelmed and inundated with kid projects and activities.

In the blink of an eye, your little, innocent preschoolers are replaced by these big kids who have tests and assignments. And it’s nuts.

So what we do now–as parents of elementary schoolers–really, truly makes a big difference in our kids’ long-term success in school.

It’s about setting up habits and routines that matter. If we want to raise strong students, we must start now.

And believe me, I know it’s not always easy. Believe me. We are late nearly every single day, and we live a stone’s throw from the school.

But we’re working on it, and we’re trying.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Raising Strong Students–Study Habits for Smart Kids:

I’ve talked long and hard about how important it is for parents to do what they can to help build a solid foundation for learning for our kids–playing games with ABCs, talking about numbers, teaching the basics–so that they start their formal education on solid ground.

And I still stand by that for sure.

But it’s only half the battle.

The other half of the battle is all about establishing routines. In order to raise strong students, we have to establish study habits for our smart kids. Early.

If you have no study habits to speak of at this point, don’t worry. Do. Not. Worry. Start tomorrow. Or start this Monday.

Here’s what has to happen: Kids do their jobs. Then you do your job. Pause. Then you both do your job again.

Bam. In more detail:

1. Kids do their jobs. It’s their job to put their backpacks, coats, and shoes in the same place every single day.

And they should put their folders or assignment books and lunch boxes in the same place every single day.

2. Parents do their jobs. Your job is to look at their school folders and go through their papers.

Sign or fill out important forms and file everything that your kids do not need in a special folder for each child. Empty the folder every month, keeping things you want to save and recycling everything else.

Pause. Kids relax for 15 or 20 minutes. They have a snack.

They wash hands, put on their play clothes or soccer uniform or dance outfit–whatever they’ll need for an after school activity later.

They chill out while you get your work finished.

3. Jobs again. Kids’ biggie job is homework. Your job–especially when kids are younger–is to make sure it’s completed in a satisfactory manner.

Sometime in the first hour that kids get home–after they’ve had a snack and have chatted with you about their day, played with the dog or did their quick chore–kids must finish homework in a quiet, distraction-free spot in the house. That way, it’s over. They don’t have to worry about it and can instead relax for the rest of the evening.

That’s it. But parents must play an active role in establishing this routine. Really, they must.

Some helpful hints to make it work?

Keep homework in the same place every day. Make it as distraction-free as possible.

Keep necessary supplies close at hand: paper, pencils, stapler, tape, crayons.

Keep kids responsible. Ask them to write down tests on a family calendar and post it so everyone can see. Kids put their work in folders when finished and pack backpacks for the next day.

Keep reminding kids that right now, school is their job and they want to do it well.

Keep reminding kids how much everyone appreciates their teacher’s hard work.

Keep it positive.

Keep it upbeat.

Keep consistent with the routine.

Keep it real. Some days, you need to stray from the routine. But get right back on it asap.

This is not easy, and I’ll be the first to admit that even though we run a pretty tight routine over here, I choose my battles.

My kids’ socks never match. We’re the family running to school as the bell is ringing. I don’t always put sunscreen on their little faces for recess, and I often pack double desserts in their lunches but forget to include a drink.

They do forget library books and homework and sometimes wear flip-flops on days they have P.E.

And some days, even if I see that forgotten homework or book on the table, I physically cannot bring it to school because I have work and meetings and calls myself. So it’s all a learning process. Believe me.

Bottom line is this: what we do now really counts. Because though we think we’re in the big game now, once our kids get to high school and college, then they’re in the big leagues. And if they have long-established study habits–study skills that work for them–then they’re more likely to be successful in the major leagues and later on in life.

We got this. But parents, wee have to be in the game–every day.

What works for you? For your kids? For your family? How do you raise strong students with solid study habits?

I’d love to know!

Want a little more info? NEA, National Education Association, has it covered. Visit nea.org/parents for more info on raising strong students.

fyi: This post reflects a collaboration with the National Education Association’s Raise Your Hand for Student Success campaign. All thoughts and opinions are, of course, my own.

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halloween word search

09 | 25 | 2014

originally published 10/26/11 but republished today for you!

Homework time over here this week and last has been a little spooky.

Just a bit.

Cora and Owen have been rockin the Halloween Word Search, which I made last year for Owen when he was on his crazy word search kick and which I made not a single change to this year.

Owen is much more into the ole word search halloween, but Cora did give it a go twice, never actually finding all of the words–or even caring that she didn’t. She did, however, love the idea that she had ‘work’ to do just like Maddy and Owen at homework time.

So while they worked, she worked. . .

Here’s the skinny:

Halloween Word Search: I didn’t get a chance to edit the document and that was actually fine because, like I said, Cora gave it a go for a bit but wasn’t in love with it.

It could be that it was too much for her–too many small letters all jumbled together–or that word searches just aren’t her game. Perhaps a bit of both.

She was very excited at first, when I sat down next to her and read through each of the words she had to find. I drew tiny pictures of each, right next to the word to help her remember each.

We talked about strategies for hunting for each word, like:

going line by line and searching for the first letter, then looking for the second letter once you find the first;

using a piece of paper to help guide you as you look at each line of letters;

saying the first letter over and over in your head so you remember; and

looking for double letters.

word search halloween

We talked about different ways of identifying each word, like:

using a highlighter to highlight the word;

using a different color to highlight each word;

using water colors to paint each word;

circling each letter of the word;

circling the whole word.

She searched a bit, choosing to use her Hello Kitty pen o’many colors, but when Maddy and Owen were finished with their work, she was finished with hers. She asked to finish her word search the next day, but she decided that coloring her tiny Mickey Mouse coloring pages was what she needed to do instead.

I bet if there were jewels in the word search, or sparkles or glitter, she’d be more game. . .

And that’s it–just a little bit of literacy-focused Halloween Word Search fun during homework time. Happy Searching!

Want a few more fun halloween ideas?

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brain teasers for kids

09 | 24 | 2014

We’re longtime fans of brain teasers for kids over here, in any form, at any time.

We dig brain teasers at lunchtime, brain teasers in the kitchen, brain teasers for long road trips.

Maddy went through a riddle stage last year, when every other day she shared one of a handful of riddles, and ever since then, we’ve been hooked.

So I did a bit of poking around the ‘net this past summer in an attempt to nail down any and all freebie brain teasers for kids I could find.

I hit the jackpot in a big way.

They keep asking for more. Woot.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Brain Teasers for Kids: Really, there are about 8 million books and sites about brain teasers, but I wanted something that I could print and take places with me.

I wanted something that I could use as reading material at mealtime and entertainment on the soccer sidelines.

I stumbled across Squiggly’s Playhouse which has been around FORever and which is packed with tons of fun for kids.

And I put the brain teasers on a happy little document and printed them out on fun and fancy, colorful cardstock. Then I printed them out, cut them up, and threw them in a sandwich bag.

I take them just about anywhere and use them any time I want the kids to be unplugged. Any time I want them to use their brains.

I created two sets of Brain Teaser Cards:

Poem Brain Teasers (like the riddles that Maddy loved): poem brain teaser cards

Clever Brain Teasers (shorter ones): clever brain teaser cards

If you use them, let me know! I’d love to hear it.

If you share them, please link to this blog post, and let me know! I’ll give you a shout out of thanks!

Both are created with thanks to Squiggly’s Playhouse.

I originally shared both sets via our Tabletop Surprises this summer, but (gulp!) we didn’t figure them all out.Some are pretty tough!Most recently, we’ve been using the brain teasers at breakfast. Though there was a time in our lives when I read the newspaper with the kids in the morning, now I’m doing the am scramble.

Before the kids wake up, I work for an hour or two in the morning or try to sneak in some exercise–so when I get them out of bed, I follow them back down stairs and make lunches. It’s fine. It’s working.

We chat, plan out the day, or, as mentioned here, work through some brain teasers.

I just talk through the news after school now, while we debrief about school and have a snack or two.

And these are a good way to get Maddy, Owen, and Cora to do some critical thinking and stretch their minds a bit. To think outside the box.

That’s it–try it for yourself and see how it goes!

Just a little, sneaky and fun, at-home learning in the every day, when we’re able. Not as easy as it once was when my loves were little, but we’re trying!

Do you have a favorite site or book for brain teasers? I’d love to hear it~

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get kids to read: Kindle eBooks for reluctant readers

09 | 15 | 2014

These days, with school in full swing and cool ‘big guy’ neighbors across the street and a travel soccer team to keep him busy, my boy isn’t that big a fan of reading.

He’s into Pokemon (ugh). He’s wicked smart on Words With Friends. And he spends a good amount of his free time thinking about how he can eke time out of his Screen Time Cards for Minecraft and AnimalJam.

Honestly, he’s one of the coolest kids I know. And lately, he just hasn’t been digging reading.

I get it. Often changes of schedules and shifts in season mean that my kids’ interests will ebb and flow, but Owen hasn’t deliberately reached for books for quite a few weeks.

It makes me a bit nervous, though, knowing that reading habits often change when kids hit middle school. A few short years, and he’s there.

One thing that’s helped a bit with Owen’s little reading ‘dry spell’ is giving him a chance to read books digitally. eBooks.

It’s one way we get our kids to read–and really enjoy reading. Kindle eBooks.

And I truly think that in this day and age, a healthy mix of digital and traditional books is quite the norm–or it really should be–if we want our kids to grow as readers in the digital age.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Get Kids to Read–Kindle eBooks for Reluctant Readers:

Owen’s not the only one who is game for reading books on our Kindle.

Maddy and Cora love it, too, so we often have to resort to figuring out whose day it is so that there’s no major battle.

I think there’s something about the simple holding of the Kindle device that I think my kids love. They love how light it is, how sleek it is, and how easy it is to navigate.

For reluctant readers, especially, Kindle eBooks are great for:

ease of use. Kids can find books in seconds.

organization. My kids each have their own little collections.

convenience. They can pick up where they last left off without worrying about finding a lost bookmark. They can touch the corner of a page, and the bookmark is there–even able to sync to Kindle apps on all of their devices.

focus. Especially with chapter books, there’s not a whole lot of distracting fluff or add-ons in Kindle eBooks.

quality. Kids can long touch a word, and its definition appears along with the Wikipedia definition and translation option. I like this feature.

Kindle eBooks are also great for:

skill-building. Long touch a word, and kids can highlight or make notes about a word or passage. Upon finishing a book or chapter, they can look back at all of the notes they made and share them via email.

increased comprehension. Many books have the option of adding professional narration to the text which helps emerging and struggling readers better understand what fluent reading should sound like.

online safety. The Parental Controls on Kindles are super, and the Kindle FreeTime piece is a huge bonus. With Kindle FreeTime, I can assign a separate user for each of my kids, put books on their shelf, and make sure that when they’re in bed reading at night, that’s really what they’re doing.

variety. I’m a huge fan of the Kindle Unlimited which gives you a ton of free books each month. For a small fee (cheaper if you’re a member of Amazon Prime), you can score a boatload of books for every member of the family. We’ve had it for a month now, and we’ve really been happy with it.

The bottom line is that kids need a balance. They need a healthy combination of print and digital books to keep them interested and keep them savvy with both mediums. But if a kid’s balking when it comes to reading and needs a kick-start, Kindle eBooks can do it.

As Junko Yokota and William H. Teale state, in their May 2014 article in The Reading Teacher:

Let us be clear from the start that we believe that both print and digital picture books should play central roles in early childhood literacy education. The issue
in this instance is not one versus the other, but what works well for achieving which ends in particular situations or for particular lessons.

Junko, Yokota & William H., Teale (2014). Picture Books and the Digital WorldEducators Making Informed Choices. The Reading Teeacher, 67(8), 577–585. doi: 10.1002/trtr.1262

The article goes on to explain how important it is to choose quality eBooks but how often the ‘extras’ –music, supplementary features, add-ons, etc.–upset the integrity of the story. It was an interesting read. Though my kids are now more reading chapter books on the Kindle and are past picture books on the devices, I did like what the authors had to say.

What’s your experience with Kindle eBooks? Have they been helpful in getting your kids reading and, more importantly, wanting to read?

Let me know–I’d love to hear it!

fyi: Staples sent our family a Kindle to help in the writing of this post, but as always, opinions are all my own, influenced only by my experience as an educator and parent. Visit Staples.com for more on the Kindle.

Some links are affiliate links.

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26 triangles: tricky, fun math game

08 | 19 | 2014

$26 triangles: tricky, fun math game$

We’re winding down summer over here, but not before my kids finish up their math and reading assignments from school.

Yes, we just started them this week. But whatever. We’re getting there and doing what we can.

One of the activities I thought was particularly cool was one of the days in Owen’s math calendar.

Simple. Challenging. Tricky and fun.

It was a 26 triangle math puzzle, and it had us stumped for a long, long time.

Here’s the skinny. . .

26 Triangles–Tricky, Fun Math Game:

We adapted this to make it easier to work through, basically moving the triangles from a 1 inch by 1 inch square to a looseleaf piece of paper with number cards.

The premise is simple: use the numbers 1-12 and place them in each circle of the triangle so that each side totals 26.

Seems easy, right? But it’s not.

It took us a long, long time. Longer than I’d care to admit.

It reminded us of other math games we’ve played in the past, but this one was all big and bad for third graders.

Want to try it yourself? Print it here: 26 math game teachmama

26 math game teachmama

I like the kind of game that you can print out, use, and not worry about–like this one.

Or you could print it out, laminate it, and save it for your home or classroom. I’ve folded ours up, threw it in an envelope, and will keep it in my purse for long waits in dance studios or sidelines.

What do you think? Can you solve 26: the tricky math puzzle?

Looking for more super-fun, sneaky math activities?

Or check out the following math-happy posts:

Stop by and follow these great educational Pinterest boards:

math | teachmama
math is fun | Allie McDonald
math madness & stem | Zina

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what to say when kids make reading mistakes

07 | 16 | 2014

originally published on 8/5/10 but sharing again because we all need these refreshers. . .

So what should you say when a child makes mistake during reading?

I’ve been asked this question so many times by my friends, by parents of students I tutor, and by many, many readers of this blog.

And because we’ve run into this situation most recently this week after our trip to the library for fish books, I thought I’d share some ways that parents–and teachers–can handle those tough, uncomfortable timeswhen kids make reading mistakes.

These are ways that I handle times when Maddy makes mistakes, these are the things I said when I listened to her classmates read when I volunteered at her school, and these are things I say when I’m tutoring and working with students.

Here’s the skinny. . .

What to Say When Kids Make Reading Mistakes:

Sure, our first inclination is to just give kiddos the word–especially if we’re in a time crunch or if the child is an especially slow reader.

Child: Something must be wr-wr wh-whh. Wrrroooo. Wruu. I don’t know.

Parent: It’s ‘wrong’. ‘Wrong.’ ‘Something must be wrong with. . .’

Child: Oh. ‘Something must be wrong with the sun to-today.’

The kiddo gets off easy and will soon learn that all he has to do is make some feeble attempts at sounding out a word in order to get Mom or Dad–or teacher–to throw him the rope.

We’ve all done it, but it sure isn’t a great habit.

When kids blindly choose a book to read,they may run into some reading problemos. Teach them to choose just right books.

There are ways we can use these exciting and (sometimes) trying times during emerging reader read-alouds as jumping off points for learning. If we just keep a few phrases in our back pockets, our kids really might start to become stronger readers before our eyes. . .

When kids won’t even try to sound out a word or they won’t budge, say:

Think about the letters you recognize and the sounds they make. What sound does this letter make (point to first letter)? Let me hear you make the sound. Now what sound does this letter make (point to second letter)? Let’s put the sounds together. . .

Look at the letters you know in the word and the picture on the page. The picture is here to help you. Think about the sound this letter makes (point to first letter of word) and what you see in the picture. . .

Think about what’s going on in this story. You just read, (read previous line). Look at the picture, look at the word, and think about what might happen next.

Skip the word you don’t know and move to the next word you can read.

You might not recognize this word, but I know you know this word (cover the first letter and let him read the part he knows—at from ‘bat’). Think about the sound that ‘b’ makes, put the sounds together, and you’ll have it!

You just read this word on the previous page, and you read it correctly. Use your detective eyes, find the word on the other page, and see if that helps.

When a child makes an error on a page and moves right on by like nothing happened, even if what she read makes no sense: Let her go! Don’t interrupt mid-reading; instead consider saying at the end of the sentence, phrase, or paragraph:

Are you correct?
Read it again and check closely.
Can you find the tricky part?
It’s in this line.
I’ll point it out and help you find it.

Use this prompt occasionally even when your child reads the words correctly!

That way she’ll get in the habit of self-monitoring while she’s reading solo.

Remember also to use the above prompts in order–that way beginning with a general question (Are you correct?) will have her go back and check her work without your help and specific direction!

what to say when kids make reading mistakes | teachmama.com

If you’d like to have these prompts as a pdf, you may download what to say when kids make reading mistakes by signing up below.

It has a little more explanation and information and will hopefully be something worthwhile to keep on hand!

Cheers, and happy reading during this incredibly exciting journey!

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play with letters or numbers: cool summer learning for kids

07 | 13 | 2014

The following Rockstar Sunday guest post is written by a woman whose third language is English and who has two little ones and two rockstar blogs.

Birute Efe writes Playtivities which is full of fun toy-making, learning, and creative parenting ideas, and she writes Attach From Scratch, a blog full of attachment parenting, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and all that fun stuff.

Pretty impressive, I know.

Today, Birute is sharing a quick and fun way that you can help your kiddos learn a little during the hot summer months.

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Play with Letters or Numbers–Cool Summer Learning for Kids, by Birute Efe

Summer is for fun. Fortunately learning can be fun and full of laughter too. It’s all how we present it to the kids.

If you are trying to teach your little one letters, sight words, numbers, beginners math this playful educational activity will be a hit in your house for sure.

Things you will need:

Plastic Ice cube tray. (the more you have the more letters and numbers you will be able to write on). You can get them really cheap at flea markets or garage sales.

some letter, number stickers or markers

marbles

What to do:

It’s so simple.

Depending on how many ice cube trays you have and what you want to teach your child just stick stickers in/on/near every ice cube holes.

You could also use markers.

The rules (they can be very customizable):

Kids learn faster through songs. I have noticed it a lot. So encourage them to sing or pick some kind of rhyme while they are dropping marbles in the ice cube tray holes.

Name the letter/sight word/number you just dropped marble in.

Name the word that starts with the letter you just threw marble on.

Find a rhyming word for the letter you just dropped marble on. (e.g. A – I may, Z – just like a bee, etc)

Try juggling few marbles.

$play with letters or numbers: cool summer learning for kids$

Just a thought

You could try using real ice cubes for this activity. Make sure to write on the ice cube holes with permanent marker. Those splashes from melting ice cubes will make learning cool for sure.

Things kids will practice:

motion coordination

letters, numbers, rhyming and singing

I hope I got you inspired to help your children learn through a fun activity.

For more fun DIY Toys that encourage child’s creativity and promotes fun learning follow my Pinterest Board Playtivities. So you won’t miss a thing.

Birute Efe has daily fun at her kids activities blog Playtivities and the farm where she lives with her family. She loves creating activities and toys for her 2 kiddos by up-cycling household items. She she will never walk pass by a big cardboard box or a pile of old magazines. She believes the best learning comes from exploring and creating.

Looking for more fun ways to sneak in some literacy or math learning into your day? Stop by and follow these great educational Pinterest boards:

Educational-tivities | Playtivities
Fun-tivities | Playtivities
Home-tivities | Playtivities
literacy | teach mama
math | teach mama
summer fun and cool for kids | teach mama

This post is part of our new Rockstar Sunday posts. Each week, I will highlight one ‘rockstar’ in the parenting and education field. These posts? Seriously awesome.

Have something you’d like to share that in some way relates to fun learning, school, technology, education, or parenting? For a short time we’ll be accepting Rockstar Sunday guest posts.

The response to our Rockstar Sunday feature has been overwhelming. I am in awe of the ideas, submissions, and shares!

Having been in the blogging space for 5+ years, we know for sure that our readers are always up for fresh and fun ideas on literacy, math, technology, parenting, and learning in the every day. They love crafts, hands-on teaching ideas, printables, cooking with kids, and anything that makes their job as parents easier, better, and more fun.

You don’t have to have a blog of your own–just cool ideas to share! We look forward to hearing from you!

other posts in the series:

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fractions with FOOD: hands-on math

04 | 06 | 2014

$fractions with food cover$

This post about fun with food and fractions is written by Jen of Beyond Traditional Math.

Hopefully after reading it, you’ll never look at food quite the same! Thank you, Jen, for your time, effort, and expertise!

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Fractions with Our Favorite Thing…Food! by Jen

Before you first meet me, I should tell you that I am certifiably nuts about being anti-worksheets right now, so I am going to try to dial it back a bit to write this post.

This past school year, we adopted a new math series that is very heavy on worksheets and giving tons of practice problems. When we piloted the series, we knew that we’d need to supplement and scale back as needed.

It is difficult for me to expect children to work out between 30 and 50 problems a day.

I particularly struggle with this style of teaching when the concept is very abstract. Right now, our team is introducing fractions, and I can’t tell you how difficult this is for third graders.

The idea of shading in boxes and naming fractions of symbols was so abstract that students had nothing to connect it to. It was actually making me crazy. The idea of doing it with 30 problems on a worksheet made me even crazier!

So I came up with a series of activities that would allow them to explore fractions with one of their favorite things: Food! (OK, I will admit it is my favorite thing, too.)

This change has made ALL the difference. By cutting an apple in half, we could explore the definition of a fraction. Then, we discovered the concepts of equal parts, numerators and denominators with a pan of brownies.

But my favorite activity that I believe was most effective is graham cracker fractions. Instead of randomly coloring in boxes to show fractions, we laid a graham cracker down on a piece of paper and drew a symbol of it below.

$fractions with food | teachmama.com$

Now when it came time to shade in ¼ of the box, it made sense, because they had broken their graham cracker into four equal parts. When we eat a quarter of it, we can shade it in.

To extend this the next day, we took a graham cracker and transferred what we did the previous day to a number line. This was the easiest it has ever been to teach fractions on a number line. Again, since number lines represent counting, we simply counted by quarters instead of by whole numbers.

The best part was that when the graham cracker disappeared, they could still plot the numbers on the line!

$fractions with food | teachmama.com$

All things in math must absolutely be connected to the real world for students right from the start.

So often we jump right to symbols and numbers without giving them proper background knowledge needed. This is truly a disservice to kids. Helping them connect to real life (especially yummy snacks) will make us all successful!

Thank you, thank you, THANK you, Jen, for sharing your math expertise–and totally cool idea!– with us!

Jen is a third grade teacher with 8 years of experience teaching elementary students. Her passion is teaching math with a focus on conceptual knowledge through real world projects and rigorous problem solving. You can find more teaching tips and resources (and hear about how much she has learned from her mistakes) at her blog: Beyond Traditional Math. You can also connect with her on Pinterest, TpT, Twitter, and Facebook.

Stop by and follow these great educational Pinterest boards, filled with more fab sneaky learning ideas:

math | Beyond Traditional Math
Math Facts | Beyond Traditional Math
math | teachmama
math is fun | Allie McDonald

Or check out the following math-happy posts:

This post is part of our new Rockstar Sunday posts. Each week, I will highlight one ‘rockstar’ in the parenting and education field. These posts? Seriously awesome.

Have something you’d like to share that in some way relates to fun learning, school, technology, education, or parenting? For a short time we’ll be accepting Rockstar Sunday guest posts.