Resources

Math

For activities to support math at home, I encourage math games, including students in shopping or budgeting activities, as well as cooking and baking to support real life measurement and fraction skills.

🎲 Math practice using dice (dice of all varieties are available on Amazon)

basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication facts
- - roll two dice (use 6-, 10-, or 12-sided, or more, to adjust the level of challenge)
  - add, subtract, or multiply the two numbers
basic multiplication facts bump
- - play multiplication bump with 6-, 10-, or 12-sided dice and two colors of bingo/counting chips, the rules are right on the game boards
  - pack 1 (mixed facts, use d6 or d10), pack 2 (mixed facts, use d6 or d10), pack 3 (mixed facts, use d12), pack 4 (x6 / x7 / x8 / x9 / x12 facts, use d10 or d12), pack 5 (x2 / x3 / x4 / x5 / x10 facts, use d10 or d12)
multi-digit addition and subtraction
- - place multiple 10-sided dice in an inexpensive pillbox - the more dice, the larger the numbers! (inexpensive pillboxes can be found at dollar stores, pdf of label options for inside pillbox with varying levels of support)
  - shake to roll the dice twice
  - add or subtract the numbers
  - if you added fewer dice, this could also be used to generate numbers for multi-digit multiplication (1x3 digit or 2x2 digit)

expanded form and place value
- - place multiple 10-sided dice in an inexpensive pillbox - the more dice, the larger the numbers! (see above for more information)
  - shake to roll the dice
  - write out the expanded form of the number (e.g. 6,152,956 = 6,000,000 + 100,000 + 50,000 + 2,000 + 900 + 50 + 6)

Resources to support homework completion: multiplication chart, multiplication tricks, divisibility rules, place value chart, fraction bars. If students are struggling with basic multiplication fact homework, I suggest skip counting the facts on the side or back of the paper as a way for students to create their own reference.

Literacy

For activities to support literacy at home, I encourage not only reading or listening to audiobooks but also word games that provide an opportunity to think about words, parts of words, and their meanings.

🆕 ✍️ Spelling reference sheets - includes mini versions of anchor charts (the same ones that I use in small groups) for different phonics skills and spelling rules

🆕 🖊️ Bingo instructions to practice encoding (spelling) & decoding (reading) and blank bingo board. I encourage using a dry erase pocket or laminating bingo boards for reuse.

🆕 📋 Word lists arranged by phonics skill to use with bingo (I'm still working on adding to this spreadsheet!)

🎧 Bookshare - a great resource as students are able to both listen and follow along, email me for login information for your child. While audiobooks are a great way to access books of interest (I listen to them in the car daily!), this provides better opportunities to improve reading fluency by listening to a model of a fluent reader while the text being read is highlighted.

“Many of these children and adults [struggling with learning problems] seem to be drowning in an ocean of self-perceived inadequacy. ... If there is an ocean of inadequacy, then there must be islands of competence – areas that have been or have the potential to be sources of pride and accomplishment. ... We must help children and adults to identify and reinforce these islands so that at some point they become more dominant than the ocean of inadequacy.”

- Dr. Robert Brooks, The Search for Islands of Competence: A Metaphor of Hope and Strength

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