We are working very hard to avoid your son or daughter feeling like this poor girl!

The Connecticut Mastery Tests divide skill areas into different topics, called strands.  Last month, I shared with you how we’re working on a variety of different skills.  We are still working on the math review packet, which focuses on some of the areas where students strugged on last year’s mastery tests.  Because this directly addresses those weaker strands, it ignores other skill areas that are equally important for kids.  Over the past two weeks, we have worked on one or two different strand packets each morning.  Each packet focuses on a single strand.  We correct them very quickly as a class (intentionally speedy) and then I meet with students who struggled with the packet.  The idea is that I can provide more targeted instruction in a small group, and the kids who had little or no difficulty with the packet can work on other purposeful activities in class.  This has been working very well, thanks in large part to the wonderful work of our classroom paraprofessional, Mr. Minton, who has either led whole class activities while I work with the small group, or vice versa.

The timing of this review is perfect because we are working with fractions right now in our general math lessons.  Fractions were, for me, the most difficult kind of math when I was a kid.  Now, I like teaching them because, while they can be very challenging for kids, an understanding of fractions opens up many different doors to new understanding.  Fractions reach into many other areas of math, including computation (1/4 is the same as one divided by four), geometry (a 1/4 turn), measurement (3 and 3/8 inches), time (1/2 past the hour), etc.  As we work on the different math strands, we are routinely finding that our fraction work is coming in handy!