Make the Most of the Middle: Review & Preview

By this point in the school year, most everyone has reached or is approaching the end of the first nine weeks of the school year.   The report card grades will soon be coming in and It's a good time to congratulate your student(s) on the skills they mastered and also reflect on what skills they struggled with and consider how to best help them moving forward.

May we suggest...Review and Preview!  Reviewing previously taught skills and previewing skills that are coming soon provides so many benefits such as:

• Extra practice and repetition increase the chance of skill mastery and retention of what they have learned
• Builds student confidence: Not only in their ability to remember and correctly solve problems from previous lessons, but also gives them a confidence boost in their ability when it comes time to tackle those new skills they will soon be faced with.

Review

I don't know about you, but as an adult I am CONSTANTLY forgetting things and kids are no different.  The only skills we truly retain and can recall are those that we encounter and practice again and again.  In addition, if your student had a hard time grasping certain math concepts, then the extra practice and review is essential for future success in math throughout the rest of the school year. Take a look at these important skills we commonly see students struggle with that are usually covered in the first nine weeks in each grade level. 

3rd Grade: 

• Adding and Subtracting 3-digit numbers (students tend to specifically struggle with subtracting from a number with multiple zeros such as 800-639=)
• Rounding numbers to the nearest tens place and hundreds place

4th Grade: 

• Rounding numbers up to one million
• Multiplying up to a 4-digit number by a single digit number. (Ex. 5,342 x 6 = ), and multiplying a 2-digit number by another 2-digit number (37 x 76 = ).

5th Grade:

• Evaluating numerical expressions using the Order of Operations
• Dividing whole numbers by a 2-digit divisor

6th Grade:

• Dividing fractions and mixed numbers
• Compare and order rational numbers (73, -0.75, -114, 1.8)

Preview

Now let’s think about the future.  I am all about having a sense of adventure and jumping in the car on a gorgeous day off with no clue where the road will take me or what I will find.  However, when it comes to learning new math skills, I think we would all agree that knowing what is coming and being prepared for it is the way to go.  We have found that in the 2nd nine weeks of the school year these are usually hot topics in math for each grade level:

3rd Grade: 

• Multiplication and division facts–that’s right, start learning those multiplication facts NOW!
• Solving word problems with multiplication and/or division

4th Grade: 

• Long Division
• Putting a fraction in simplest form (a.k.a. Simplifying or reducing a fraction)

5th Grade:

• Dividing decimals 
• Adding and subtracting fractions unlike denominators

6th Grade:

• Solving problems involving equivalent ratios
• Solving problems including distance, rate and time

Reviewing and previewing these important skills can be game changers for student success in math!  Taking the time to do this with your student(s) will not only improve retention of math skills but will also set them up to learn new skills with ease and improve those test scores.  

If you are ready to get started, but don’t want to spend hours searching for reliable resources we’ve got you covered with Math Hero Membership for Parents and Math Hero Membership for Teachers.  Our Math Hero memberships give you access to tutorial videos, math skill guides, step by step example problems and extra practice worksheets prepped and ready for you to use so that you can get started immediately.  Math Hero conveniently organizes important skills that students learn in each grade level week by week throughout the school year with new skills delivered to your inbox each month. Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial of Math Hero Membership for Parents or Math Hero Membership for Teachers today and check it out for free!

Don’t wait until the end of the next quarter or further into the school year when there will be even more material to go back and cover.  Start reviewing and previewing skills now with your child or student(s) and help them reach their fullest potential!