Math at PPE!

Join the New Math Club!

and let us know by 8:15 Monday a.m. works well so we can get food items needed. Send a note for dismissal to Monday Math Munchers along with your with check to cover one day or one month, whatever works. Our meeting time will shift from 3:30 - 4:30 with the MNPS time change.

We’ll meet weekly, each Monday, from 3:00-4:00 with Mrs. Austin & Mrs. Condra in their Kindergarten classroom! Come share a fabulous “hands-on-learning” experience in a nurturing classroom… combine cooking & math to create your very own, healthy snack! Share in the fun with friends and enjoy making a snack that is yummy & healthy each Monday afternoon for $15.00! *1/2 price for siblings! For more info download the flyer.

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MATH MATTERS!  by: Kenyetta K. Wynn, Ed.D.

SPOTLIGHT on Sunshine Math & Camp Invention: As we start a new year with new resolutions, please remind your child about the importance of Sunshine Math. This is an opportunity for parents and guardians to emphasize responsibility and accountability. As I visit classrooms, I am noticing that students who always have their Sunshine Math are more confident about math. When students are prepared, they can participate in math discussions, share their thoughts, and feel empowered mathematically!

Thanks for all you do to ensure that your child is prepared for optimal academic achievement.

Camp Invention
In partnership with Invent Now Kids, PPE is pleased to offer the nationally-acclaimed, week-long Camp Invention program to children entering grades one through five. This exciting summer day experience immerses children in imaginative learning that reinforces and supplements school-year objectives through inquiry-based activities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Each day of the program week, children rotate through five integrated modules that require creative thinking to solve real-world challenges. Working together, children learn vital 21st century life skills such as problem-solving and teamwork through hands-on learning, while having lots of fun!

This exciting week of activities will transpire June 14th-18th, 8:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at PPE. Dr. Wynn will direct the Camp Invention WONDER program with an all-star cast of PPE teachers. Children will be challenged to survive on a strange planet during the Problem Solving on Planet ZAK® module, rebuild a cleaner, more eco-friendly city in the Saving Sludge City™ module, and create amusement park rides during the Imagination Point: Ride Physics™ module.

The registration fee includes a Camp Invention T-shirt. Register before March 31 or with a friend to receive $25 off the base price of $215.00. Availability is limited, so visit www.campinvention.org or call 800.968.4332 to reserve your child’s spot today! Contact Dr. Wynn at Kenyetta.wynn@mnps.org with questions. See you this summer!!

12-11-09 

I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all of PPE’s students and their wonderful families. You confidently boarded the math train this year, and it has taken our students to wondrous places!

The daily math conversations transpiring around PPE still amaze me. Understanding math and its concepts is integral to your child’s success; therefore, I am grateful for the commitment you have made to support the many math initiatives we have introduced this year.

As you venture forward this holiday season, please continue to emphasize those math ideas that surface in your child’s
every day experiences. While shopping, cooking and reparing for the holiday season, challenge your child to make math connections.

Here’s wishing you a joyous holiday break!

Kenyetta K. Wynn, Ed.D,
Percy Priest Elementary, Consulting Teacher

11-13-09
There has been a lot of discussion in PPE classrooms about parts and wholes. As children begin to understand that parts make up wholes, parents can assist by helping learners find parts and wholes in the world around them. Take your child on a fraction hunt, and you will be amazed how many parts and wholes can be found on buildings, signs, etc! Use real-life situations to encourage fractional thinking. For example, the next time your family orders pizza, you can ask, “If the pizza is cut into 8 slices and there are 4 people in our family, what fraction of the pizza will be eaten if we each eat once piece? What fraction of the pizza will be left?” For older students when discussing AR goals, you might say, “If your goal is 40 points, and you currently have 10 points, what fraction of the way are you to reaching your goal?” If you’re looking for practice with fractions, check out http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/fractions/index.htm.
Happy hunting!

11-6-09
Harvest time is filled with cool weather, falling leaves and lots of candy! This is a great time to encourage your child to
sort and graph. Help your child record daily temperatures and/or types of weather. An ongoing graph can be created,
or your child can analyze the data and create a graph after a selected number of days. Also, leaves are great for
sorting and graphing.

Your child can even make a pictograph by gluing leaves down on a piece of paper. The leaves
can be sorted by color, shape, or any other creative idea your

child may choose. Finally, sorting and graphing candy is
always fun for children. This is a great way to enjoy candy without all of the sugar! If you need graph paper for your
activities, please check out this website. For math extensions, mathplayground.com is a great site!

FALL BREAK
Use your Fall Break trip to help your child refine math skills. Whether you are traveling by plane or car, math will be all around you and your family. If you are traveling by car, let your child help you plan your trip by figuring out how many miles will be traveled from one destination to another. Once on the highway, teach your child how to read the numbered highway signs. You can point out that the odd numbered highway signs indicate north to south highways, while the even numbered signs indicate east to west highways. This would also be a perfect time to calculate time of arrival based on miles per hour of travel.

10-8-09
Continue to make math meaningful for your child by pointing out how math relates to the real world! It is important that children understand that math is a major component of their everyday lives. Explain to your child how math is used in your particular area of work, and expand this discussion by asking your child how math is used in different types of jobs.

Math Tips!
Use coupons to stimulate math discourse in your home or at the store. When cutting coupons with your child, you can create scenarios, such as the following: "If a loaf of bread costs $3.50, and I use a coupon with a savings of $0.50, how much will the bread cost me before tax?" Ask your child what will happen if the store doubles or triples coupons. You can emphasize this concept by taking your child on a trip to the store with coupons in tow!