math-u-see Archives - KinderTown

Around the Kitchen: Demme Learning Day

Summer Camp is for parents and kids to work together, exploring the world around you with activities that will take you outside, inside, and as far as your imagination will go! Learn more by reading the Welcome to KinderTown Summer Camp! blog post.

Make a Treat!

Math-U-See® is a complete K-12 math curriculum produced by Demme Learning. This unique program develops by level, rather than by grade, presenting mathematical concepts incrementally. Students use manipulatives at most levels to establish an understanding of the concepts, and then move on to solving problems until they have demonstrated mastery.

The kitchen is an excellent place for practicing real-life math skills. Young children can identify basic measurement tools and help with counting, while elementary level children can practice multiplication by doubling or tripling a favorite recipe with this printable.

Older elementary children can use division and fractions to halve a recipe with this printable.

Choose one of the following no-bake recipes (or find one of your own) and help your children sharpen their math skills in preparation for the upcoming school year.

RECIPES:

Peanut Butter Butterscotch Bars

15 graham crackers, broken up

3 tablespoons sugar

Pinch of salt

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1 11-oz. package butterscotch chips (about 1 3/4 cups)

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

Line a 9-inch square baking pan with foil, making sure the foil extends up over the edges.
Process graham crackers with sugar and salt in a food processor until finely ground. Pulse in butter until moistened. Transfer to lined pan and press crumbs down evenly and firmly.
Place butterscotch chips in a large bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove and stir until smooth and creamy. (Do not overheat, or mixture will turn stiff.) Stir in peanut butter. Blend well and spread evenly over graham-cracker crust. Cover and chill until firm (1-2 hours).
Lift bars out and remove foil. Use a sharp knife to cut into squares.

Chocolate No-Bakes

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Large pinch salt

1. Line a baking sheet with wax paper or parchment paper.
2. Bring the sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally; then boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat. Add the oats, peanut butter, vanilla, and salt and combine.
3. Drop teaspoons of the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and sit at room temperature until hardened.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preschool-Early Elementary: Tell your child which tool you need (measuring cup, teaspoon) and have him find that tool for you. Point out the relationship between the tools (ex., two half cups fill a whole cup). Have your child count as you add the correct number of cups, tablespoons, etc.
Elementary: Ask your child to double the recipe by multiplying each ingredient by 2. (You may need to help with any fractional measurements.) Then have him multiply the yield by 2 to predict how many bars or cookies he will have at the end.
Upper Elementary: Ask your student to halve the recipe. Depending on his ability level, have him divide by 2 (helping with the fractional measurements) or multiply by ½.

Around the Kitchen Giveaway

Take photos of your family enjoying a summer/cooking activity at home and upload them to social media with the hashtag #KTcook or upload them below to enter.

Raddish Kids is also offering a coupon for 25% off the first kit with purchase of a 3-, 6-, or 12-month membership. The code is KINDERTOWN.

Related Blog Posts

Around the Kitchen: Opening Ceremony
Around the Kitchen: App Connections
Around the Kitchen: Grab Bag
Around the Kitchen: Closing Campfire

Master Builders: Demme Learning Day

Spelling You See® is a curriculum produced by Demme Learning and designed to guide students through the developmental stages of spelling. In the phonetic stage, students learn to associate letters and sounds by writing words. In later stages, students learn to spell commonly-used words by copying interesting passages and “chunking” (color-coding) letter combinations. These activities help students commit the correct spellings of words to memory.

Today, have your elementary-aged campers choose one of these two passages to read: The Transcontinental Railroad or Lalibela

After your camper has read the chosen passage, help him think of a creative way to present the information to the rest of the family, such as:

Writing, directing, and presenting a play
Performing a dramatic reading of the passage, with props, if desired
Creating a slide show for the passage

If you have a younger camper, print out a copy of this activity page.

Then read the passage to the camper and point out the following words:

The Transcontinental Railroad: men, spent, six, west, link
Lalibela: block, rock, cut, top, hill

Dictate the words for your camper to write in the letter boxes at the bottom of the activity page. (Note how the shaded boxes help with vowel placement.) Then have your camper draw a picture in the box at the top of the page to illustrate the passage.

Master Builders Giveaway

Take photos of your family enjoying a summer/building activity at home and upload them to social media with the hashtag #KTbuild or upload them below to enter.

Related Blog Posts

Master Builders: Opening Ceremony
Master Builders: App Connections
Master Builders: Closing Campfire

Next series: Around the Kitchen.

How Creative: Demme Learning Day

Today, have your elementary-aged campers choose one of these two passages to read: Dr. Silver’s Invention or The Hot Air Balloon.

After your camper has read the chosen passage, help him think of a creative way to present the information to the rest of the family, such as:

Writing, directing, and presenting a play
Performing a dramatic reading of the passage, with props, if desired
Creating a slide show for the passage

If you have a younger camper, print out a copy of this activity page.

Then read the passage to the camper and point out the following words:

Silver’s Invention: think, kept, stick
The Hot Air Balloon: hot, sink, cloth, man, duck

How Creative! Giveaway

Take photos of your family enjoying a summer/creative activity at home and upload them to social media with the hashtag #KTcreate or upload them below to enter.

Related Blog Posts

How Creative: Opening Ceremony
How Creative: App Connections
How Creative: Closing Campfire (8/6)

Next series: Master Builders.

The Great Outdoors: Demme Learning Day

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Math-U-See® is a complete K-12 math curriculum produced by Demme Learning. This unique program develops by level, rather than by grade, presenting mathematical concepts incrementally. Students use manipulatives at most levels to establish an understanding of the concepts and then move on to solving problems until they have demonstrated mastery.

Geometrical shapes aren’t just manufactured: they’re everywhere! In the lower levels of Math-U-See, students learn to identify basic shapes; later, they explore the characteristics of shapes, such as symmetry, and learn how to draw lines and shapes on a coordinate grid. This nature scavenger hunt provides a fun way to apply these mathematical skills.

Download this PDF file to follow along with the activities.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preschool-Early Elementary: Have your child collect at least 5 different objects from nature that have different shapes. Ask: which objects have shapes that are close to circles? Which are close to squares? Rectangles? Triangles? Ovals? Hearts?
Elementary: Have your child collect at least 5 different objects from nature that show symmetry around a line. (Fig. 2) Ask: where you can draw a line to divide the object into two mirror images? Can you do this in more than one way?
Upper Elementary: Have your student collect 5 interesting objects from nature. He should choose one to place on the coordinate grid (Fig. 1). Draw a dot wherever the edge of the object meets an intersection on the grid. Have your student label each dot with an ordered pair.

EXAMPLE:

Now remove the object from the grid. Show your grid and objects to another member of your family. Can that person guess which object fits inside the dots?

Related Blog Posts

The Great Outdoors: Opening Ceremony
The Great Outdoors: App Connections
The Great Outdoors: Grab Bag
The Great Outdoors: Closing Campfire

Next series: How Creative!

Sports of All Sorts: Demme Learning Day

Newspaper Free Throw

Math-U-See® is a complete K-12 math curriculum produced by Demme Learning. This unique program develops by level, rather than by grade, presenting mathematical concepts incrementally. Students use manipulatives at most levels to establish an understanding of the concepts and then move on to solving problems until they have demonstrated mastery.

People who are interested in sports often like to record data, such as the number of points earned, the time it took to complete a challenge, or the percentage of games won. Students at all levels of Math-U-See study different types of data analysis. Young children record results with tally marks (Primer, Lesson 23), elementary-aged children learn how to make graphs (Beta, Lesson 30), and older students calculate percentages (Zeta, Lesson 11).

As you prepare to play today’s “sport,” you can refer to this PDF to review data-recording techniques.

MATERIALS:

Old newspapers (Other types of paper may be used, as long as the pages are all the same size.)
Bucket or basket
Pad of paper or marker board for keeping score

INSTRUCTIONS:

Wad up each full sheet of newspaper into a ball. Try to keep the size of the “balls” somewhat uniform.
Create a free-throw line with chalk or tape. Set up the “basket” a designated length away from the free-throw line. (You may want to adjust this distance based on the age of the contestant.)
Each contestant stands behind the line and throws the newspaper balls into the basket. Another person should record the number of times the balls go into the basket. The person who shoots the most “baskets” wins. (NOTE: If you only have one player, that person can throw the balls three times and write down all three scores.)
Complete the appropriate activity to record the data.
Preschool – Early Elementary: Have the child record the scores with tally marks and report the totals at the end of the competition.
Elementary: Make a bar graph to compare the scores of the contestants or a line graph for the three trials of an individual player.
Upper Elementary: Count the total number of balls and calculate the percentage of successful baskets for each player or trial.

If you want to learn more about Math-U-See, visit our website.

Sports of All Sorts Giveaway

Take photos of your family enjoying a summer/sports activity at home and upload them to social media with the hashtag #KTsports or upload them below to enter.

Related Blog Posts

Sports of All Sorts: Opening Ceremony
Sports of All Sorts: App Connections
Sports of All Sorts: Closing Campfire (7/23)

Next series: The Great Outdoors.

Under the Sea: Demme Learning Day

Today, have your elementary-aged campers choose one of these two passages to read: Seahorses or The Vikings (great sea explorers).

After your camper has read the chosen passage, help him think of a creative way to present the information to the rest of the family, such as:

Writing, directing, and presenting a play
Performing a dramatic reading of the passage, with props, if desired
Creating a slide show for the passage

If you have a younger camper, print out a copy of this activity page [link to preschool page]. Then read the passage to the camper and point out the following words:

Seahorses: fish, but, not, neck, grass
The Vikings: ships, long, hull, land, had

Dictate the words for your camper to write in the letter boxes at the bottom of the activity page. (Note how the shaded boxes help with vowel placement.)

Then have your camper draw a picture in the box at the top of the page to illustrate the passage.

Under the Sea Giveaway

Take photos of your family enjoying a summer activity at home and upload them to social media with the hashtag #KTSea or upload them below to enter.

Related Blog Posts

Under the Sea: Opening Ceremony
Under the Sea: App Connections
Under the Sea: Closing Campfire (7/16)

Sports of All Sorts.

No Place Like Home: Demme Learning Day

Today, have your elementary-aged campers choose one of these two passages to read: Pioneer Children or The Aztecs.

Both passages focus on the experience of moving to a new home and making a life there. After your camper has read the chosen passage, help him think of a creative way to present the information to the rest of the family, such as:

Writing, directing, and presenting a play
Performing a dramatic reading of the passage, with props, if desired
Creating a slide show for the passage

If you have a younger camper, print out a copy of this activity page.

Then read the passage to the camper and point out the following words:

Pioneer Children: thing, pack, fill, stuck
The Aztecs: land, plant, crops, rich

No Place Like Home Giveaway

Take photos of your family enjoying a summer activity at home and upload them to social media with the hashtag #KTHome or upload them below to enter.

Related Blog Posts

No Place Like Home: Opening Ceremony
No Place Like Home: App Connections
No Place Like Home Closing Campfire

Next series: Under the Sea.

Discover the Sun: Demme Learning Day

Activity: Make a Sundial!

For this activity, your preschool student will use her skills in telling time (taught in the Primer and Alpha levels), and your older student will investigate Roman numerals (Delta) and types of angles (Zeta).

As you create your sundial, you can refer to the accompanying activity page to review the underlying concepts.

MATERIALS:

Printout of sundial template
Paper plate or round piece of cardboard
Glue
Sharp pencil
Ruler
Drinking straw
Duct tape
Crayons, colored pencils, or markers (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Print out the sundial template. In the box at the end of the line, write the number 12. The camper can decorate the template, but be sure to leave room around the outside edge to write in numbers.
Glue the template to the paper plate or cardboard.
Poke a hole in the center with a sharp pencil.
Put the straw through the hole and tape it into place.
Find a spot that gets sun for most of the day. At exactly noon, turn the paper plate so the straw’s shadow lines up with the 12. Fasten the paper plate to the ground with duct tape so it doesn’t move.
Have the camper predict what will happen an hour later. At exactly 1:00, mark the spot on the paper plate and write 1. Repeat this process every hour on the hour to make the clock. To use the sundial on subsequent days, it must be put in the same place in the same position.

EXTENSION:

Pre-K/Early Elementary: Use Math-U-See integer blocks to make the block clock shown on the activity page. As the camper marks each hour on the sundial, have him compare the time on the sundial to the corresponding time on the block clock.
Lower Elementary: Label the sundial with Roman numerals.
Upper Elementary: As the camper is marking each of the hours, ask him to identify the angle made by the straw’s shadow and the 12:00 line. (For example, at 2:00, an acute angle is made. At 7:00, an obtuse angle is created.)

Wonders of Water: Demme Learning Day

Summer Camp is for parents and kids to work together, exploring the world around you with activities that will take you outside, inside, and as far as your imagination will go!

“Fill the Bucket Game”

Math-U-See® is a complete K-12 math curriculum produced by Demme Learning. This unique program develops by level, rather than by grade, presenting mathematical concepts incrementally. Students use manipulatives at most levels to establish an understanding of the concepts and then move on to solving problems until they have demonstrated mastery.

Students work with liquid measurement in the Gamma level (customary units) and the Zeta level (metric units) in the Math-U-See program. As you prepare to play this water game, you can refer to this printable to review measurement.

MATERIALS:

Tools for measuring liquids– measuring cups, pint jars or plastic containers, quart jugs, half-gallon jugs, gallon jugs; may also want to include liter bottles, 2-liter bottles, milliliter droppers or teaspoons (5 ml)
2-3 identical buckets
Large container for holding water (kiddie pool, large washtub, ice chest) or access to outdoor faucet
3 x 5 notecards

INSTRUCTIONS:

On the notecards, write at least two instructions related to the measuring tools you have, such as “Add 1 cup” or “Subtract 1 pint.” You can tailor the instructions to your students as follows:
- PK/Early Elementary: measures in whole units, using the tools you have
- Lower Elementary: measures that require substitution (ex., “Add 1 pint” but have no pint containers or “Subtract 1 gallon” but only have half-gallon containers)
- Upper Elementary: include metric measures

There should be a minimum of 10 cards for each level, with more “adds” than “subtracts”.

Divide the children into teams, or allow them to compete individually, each one getting a bucket. Put instruction cards into piles.
Children take turns drawing a card from the appropriate pile and following the instructions. The team or person who fills the bucket first wins.