Vernon Elementary Schools
PAWS to Learn
Grades K-4
The summer of 2020 provides an opportunity for students, staff and families to participate in a community learning adventure. We are excited to share that Vernon Public Schools has provided each student with a fiction and non-fiction book for summer reading activities:
Grades K-2 The Puppy Who Couldn’t Sleep, by Holly Webb
Grades 3-4 The Pet War, by Allan Woodrow
So, grab your Activity Calendar included in this packet and start on your summer adventure!
You have the opportunity to post your activities and adventures online to share with your school community. Each time you complete an activity and/or adventure, share it on SeeSaw with a photo, video, drawing, or link! School staff will respond to your posts throughout the summer.
In addition to reading the texts in this packet, you can read many other books and share your thoughts about them on Seesaw! Make sure you also write the title of every book/magazine/article you read on the Summer Reading Challenge Journal.
When you return to school in August, bring back your:
Summer Reading Journal for the Governor’s Reading Challenge
The journal with completed reading and math work from the activity calendar if you did NOT complete in Seesaw
We will celebrate your participation in these fun summer activities at the start of the school year!Have fun and PAWS to Learn!!
From all of your friends at:
Center Road School*Lake Street School*Maple Street School*Northeast School*Skinner Road School
Lexia has Literacy Building and Summer Bingo activities available. Login through Clever!
Starfall has lots of practice activities.
Link to printable version of Summer Tips for Kindergarten Students going to First Grade
Often, parents and students ask what can be done over the summer to maintain skills and develop mathematical thinking. This letter contains some ideas and opportunities for you and your child to enjoy math over the vacation months. There are example activities that you can do every day with your child. These games and activities will help strengthen your child’s mathematical foundation.
Mathematics Review from Kindergarten:
Counting:
Count objects to tell how many there are
Count forward, including starting at a number other than 1
Act out story problems
Measurement
Sort and classify objects using attributes (color, size, shape)
Order objects
Compare two objects by measure (longer, shorter, heavier, lighter)
Geometry:
Identify a pattern (red/blue/red/blue or stripes on the American Flag), extend a pattern, create a pattern, and describe the rule for the pattern,
Identify basic shapes (circle, square, triangle, rectangle) both generally and in the environment
Use positional language to describe location, direction and position of objects (ex: on, above, below, next to, etc.)
Recommended Math Websites and Apps
http://www.shepardsoftware.com
http://www.ct.gov/sde/summermathchallenge
Five Tips for Summer Learning
1. Math Around the House – Math is a natural part of our everyday life. Use the following ideas to help you and your child find the math in familiar situations.
Have your child set the table by counting out how many forks, plates, and napkins are needed. • Create a Mathematics Fruit Salad. Choose fruit to go into the salad. How many pieces of apple should go into the bowl? How many slices of banana? Peel an orange and together count the number of sections. Add the fruit to the bowl, counting each type as you go.
You can find all kinds of shapes in the kitchen. Look at containers, cereal, crackers, and pieces of fruit. What shapes do you see? Try nibbling a cracker or cookie into a circle or cookie into a circle or triangle.
Sort laundry, silverware, and toys together. Talk about the groups you make. How are the objects in each group the same? Why do things belong in one group and not another? How many are in each group?
Collect non-breakable containers that are different shapes and sizes, such as cottage cheese containers, plastic bottles, and juice containers. Use the containers to pour water back and forth in a sink or bathtub. Try to find out which container holds the most, the least, or about the same.
2. Early Number Sense and Counting – Matching numbers with sets of objects helps your child develop a sense for a number. Also, be on the lookout for opportunities to practice counting. Keep these counting activities brief, fun, and playful.
Cut an egg carton in half and label each cup with the numbers 1 – 6. Count out the correct number of an item (pennies, macaroni, or beans) for each cup.
Count the shoes in your closet or cans in the pantry. Lining up items to count helps children keep track of which items they have already counted. When washing hands, have your child count up as high as they can. This is a great way to make sure your child’s hands get clean!
Liven up walks by having your child hop or skip a certain number of times. Say the number and show it by using your fingers.
Count the stairs with your child as you walk up them. Count them again as you walk down. Is it the same number?
3. Numbers about Me – Children enjoy thinking about the numbers that relate to themselves, such as their ages, birth dates, addresses, and so on. This helps them understand the many ways we use numbers.
• Look outside your apartment or house and have your child try to find your address. Write your phone number on a sticker to put on the phone and have your child find it. Challenge your child to remember these numbers.
4. Games – Play games that encourage math skills. Focus on taking turns and counting exactly the number of spaces on a board to match the number rolled or spun. Some examples:
Chutes and Ladders
Candy Land
Hi Ho Cherry-O
Go Fish
5. Reading and Writing Math – Read books about math. Some suggestions:
Any of the books by author Tana Hoban
I Spy Little Numbers by Jean Marzollo
Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews
Rooster’s Off to See the World by Eric Carle
One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root
Ten Apples Up on Top! by Theo Le Sieg (Dr. Seuss)
Link to printable version of Summer Tips for Gr. 1 Students going to Second Grade
Often, parents and students ask what can be done over the summer to maintain skills and develop mathematical thinking. This letter contains some ideas and opportunities for you and your child to enjoy math over the vacation months. There are example activities that you can do every day with your child. These games and activities will help strengthen your child’s mathematical foundation.
Fact Fluency Review from First Grade
Most important for your child’s success is their continued work on number fluency. Connecticut’s new state standards require students to be fluent with addition and subtraction by the end of second grade. This means that by the end of grade 1 your child should be able to add and subtract mentally within 10 independently, with speed and accuracy. In order to build and maintain these skills, it is important for your child to practice his/her math facts. Some helpful resources are listed below:
Recommended Math Websites
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm Games for all math operations
gregtangmath.com Games as well as electronic versions of all of Greg Tang’s books. Take Greg Tang’s Summer Math Challenge!
www.abcya.com Practice math and language arts, while sharpening computer skills
www.mathplayground.com Challenging games
www.fun4thebrain.com Games for all math operations
www.xtramath.com Your child can use their account from school or you can create an account for free and track your child’s progress with fact mastery
bedtimemath.org Daily math problems at various levels, typically with a theme
www.prodigygame.com/play Story-based, interactive math game
http://www.ct.gov/sde/summermathchallenge Governor’s Math Challenge
A Dozen Tips for Summer Learning
1. Grocery Store Math – Counting, estimating, and making change are good math exercises. Using the latest advertisement announcing sales at the grocery store, ask what can we get for $10? At the register, ask your child to identify the coins you receive as change.
2. Menu Math – Next time you are at a restaurant, hang on to the menu while you are waiting for your meal. Ask your child to find the least expensive item on the menu, then all the items that cost between $5 and $10 or three items whose total cost is between $9 and $20. Have them “order” meals for the family for a total of $20 or less.
3. Kitchen Math – Measuring ingredients is a perfect math lesson. Have your child tell you how much of an ingredient you will need if you double the recipe. Have your child determine how to share items. If there are 5 people in your family and 15 strawberries to divide equally, how many strawberries will each person get?
4. Map Math – You don’t need to leave the house, although this activity is ideal for vacations. Get out a map that indicates miles between cities. What’s the distance from home to our destination? How long will that take us if we travel the speed limit?
5. On-the-Road Math – Numbers are all around roads if you look for them. Have your child add the numbers on license plates.
6. Money Math – Have your child identify the coins in your wallet or his/her piggybank. Talk about the advantages of saving for a big purchase or for a rainy day.
7. Reading and Writing Math – Read books about math. Some suggestions:
Rooster’s Off to See the World by Eric Carle
Domino Addition by Lynette Long
1 Hunter by Pat Hutchins
Two of Everything by Lily Toy Hong
Math-terpieces byGregTang
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
8. Calendar Math – Count down the days until special events, like the first day of school, birthdays, holidays, and vacations.
9. Game Math – Play gamesthat encourage math skills. Some examples: Battleship, Simon, Cribbage, Concentration, Checkers, Connect Four, Krypto, Mankalah, Yahtzee
10. Computer Math – There is no shortage of valuable game and instructional websites. Check out the list of recommended links on the front and these iPhone apps:
Math Concentration and Okta’s Rescue from NCTM
Addition Top-It, Subtraction Top-It, Tric-Trac from Everyday Mathematics
Math Drills Lite and Rocket Math
Math Puppy BINGO Challenge
11. Mail Math – Keep junk mail to make out “pretend” orders of clothes, books, groceries, etc. Add up the orders. Compare and contrast prices
12. Growth Math – Measure everyone in the family. Compare heights. Measure growth over time.
Link to printable version of Summer Tips for Gr. 2 Students going to Third Grade
Often, parents and students ask what can be done over the summer to maintain skills and develop mathematical thinking. This letter contains some ideas and opportunities for you and your child to enjoy math over the vacation months. There are example activities that you can do every day with your child. These games and activities will help strengthen your child’s mathematical foundation.
Fact Fluency Review from Second Grade
Most important for your child’s success is their continued work on number fluency. Connecticut’s new state standards require students to be fluent with addition and subtraction by the end of second grade. This means that your child should be able to add and subtract mentally within 20 and add and subtract within 100 on paper independently, with speed and accuracy. In order to build and maintain these skills, it is important for your child to practice his/her math facts. Some helpful resources are listed below
Recommended Math Websites
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm Games for all math operations
gregtangmath.com Games as well as electronic versions of all of Greg Tang’s books. Take Greg Tang’s Summer Math Challenge!
www.abcya.com Practice math and language arts, while sharpening computer skills
www.mathplayground.com Challenging games
www.fun4thebrain.com Games for all math operations
www.xtramath.com Your child can use their account from school or you can create an account for free and track your child’s progress with fact mastery
bedtimemath.org Daily math problems at various levels, typically with a theme
www.prodigygame.com/play Story-based, interactive math game
http://www.ct.gov/sde/summermathchallenge Governor’s Math Challenge
A Dozen Tips for Summer Learning
1. Grocery Store Math – Counting, estimating, and making change are good math exercises. Using the latest advertisement announcing sales at the grocery store, ask what can we get for $10? At the register, ask your child to identify the coins you receive as change.
2. Menu Math – Next time you are at a restaurant, hang on to the menu while you are waiting for your meal. Ask your child to find the least expensive item on the menu, then all the items that cost between $5 and $10 or three items whose total cost is between $9 and $20. Have them “order” meals for the family for a total of $20 or less.
3. Kitchen Math – Measuring ingredients is a perfect math lesson. Have your child tell you how much of an ingredient you will need if you double the recipe. Have your child determine how to share items. If there are 5 people in your family and 15 strawberries to divide equally, how many strawberries will each person get?
4. Map Math – You don’t need to leave the house, although this activity is ideal for vacations. Get out a map that indicates miles between cities. What’s the distance from home to our destination? How long will that take us if we travel the speed limit?
5. On-the-Road Math – Numbers are all around roads if you look for them. Have your child add the numbers on license plates.
6. Money Math – Have your child identify the coins in your wallet or his/her piggybank. Talk about the advantages of saving for a big purchase or for a rainy day.
7. Reading and Writing Math – Read books about math. Some suggestions:
Rooster’s Off to See the World by Eric Carle
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
1 Hunter by Pat Hutchins
Two Ways to Count to Ten by Ruby Dee
Math-terpieces by Greg Tang
The Grapes of Math by Greg Tang
8. Calendar Math – Count down the days until special events, like the first day of school, birthdays, holidays, and vacations.
9. Game Math – Play gamesthat encourage math skills. Some examples: Battleship, Simon, Cribbage, Concentration, Checkers, Connect Four, Krypto, Mankalah, Yahtzee
10. Computer Math – There is no shortage of valuable game and instructional websites. Check out the list of recommended links on the front and these iPhone apps:
Math Concentration and Okta’s Rescue from NCTM
Addition Top-It, Subtraction Top-It, Tric-Trac from Everyday Mathematics
Math Drills Lite and Rocket Math
Math Puppy BINGO Challenge
Sushi Monster
11. Mail Math – Keep junk mail to make out “pretend” orders of clothes, books, groceries, etc. Add up the orders. Compare and contrast prices
12. Growth Math – Measure everyone in the family. Compare heights. Measure growth over time.
Link to printable version of Summer Tips for Gr. 3 Students going to Fourth Grade
Often, parents and students ask what can be done over the summer to maintain skills and develop mathematical thinking. This letter contains some ideas and opportunities for you and your child to enjoy math over the vacation months. There are example activities that you can do every day with your child. These games and activities will help strengthen your child’s mathematical foundation.
Fact Fluency Review from Third Grade
Most important for your child’s success is their continued work on number fluency. Our new state standards now require students to be fluent with their basic facts by the end of third grade. This means that your child should be able to independently, with speed and accuracy:
add and subtract mentally within 20;
add and subtract within 100 on paper; and
multiply and divide mentally within 100.
In order to build and maintain these skills, it is important for your child to practice his/her math facts. Some helpful resources are below:
Recommended Math Websites
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm Games for all math operations
gregtangmath.com Games as well as electronic versions of all of Greg Tang’s books. Take Greg Tang’s Summer Math Challenge!
www.abcya.com Practice math and language arts, while sharpening computer skills
www.mathplayground.com Challenging games
www.fun4thebrain.com Games for all math operations
www.xtramath.com Your child can use their account from school or you can create an account for free and track your child’s progress with fact mastery
bedtimemath.org Daily math problems at various levels, typically with a theme
www.prodigygame.com/play Story-based, interactive math game
http://www.ct.gov/sde/summermathchallenge Governor’s Math Challenge
A Dozen Tips for Summer Learning
1. Grocery Store Math – Counting, estimating, and making change are good math exercises. Using the latest advertisement announcing sales at the grocery store, ask what can we get for $10? At the register, ask your child to identify the coins you receive as change.
2. Menu Math – Next time you are at a restaurant, hang on to the menu while you are waiting for your meal. Ask your child to find the least expensive item on the menu, then all the items that cost between $5 and $10 or three items whose total cost is between $9 and $20. Have them “order” meals for the family for a total of $20 or less.
3. Kitchen Math – Measuring ingredients is a perfect math lesson. Have your child tell you how much of an ingredient you will need if you double the recipe. Have your child determine how to share items. If there are 5 people in your family and 15 strawberries to divide equally, how many strawberries will each person get?
4. Map Math – You don’t need to leave the house, although this activity is ideal for vacations. Get out a map that indicates miles between cities. What’s the distance from home to our destination? How long will that take us if we travel the speed limit?
5. On-the-Road Math – Numbers are all around roads if you look for them. Have your child add the numbers on license plates.
6. Money Math – Have your child identify the coins in your wallet or his/her piggybank. Talk about the advantages of saving for a big purchase or for a rainy day.
7. Reading and Writing Math – Read books about math. Some suggestions:
Any of the books by authors Greg Tang or David Schwartz
Math Curse by Jon Sciesza
Amanda Bean’s Amazing Dream by Cindy Neuschwander
8. Calendar Math – Count down the days until special events, like the first day of school, birthdays, holidays, and vacations.
9. Game Math – Play gamesthat encourage math skills. Some examples: Battleship, Simon, Cribbage, Concentration, Checkers, Connect Four, Krypto, Mankalah, Yahtzee
10. Computer Math – There is no shortage of valuable game and instructional websites. Check out the list of recommended links on the front and these iPhone apps:
Math Concentration and Okta’s Rescue from NCTM
Addition Top-It, Subtraction Top-It, Tric-Trac from Everyday Mathematics
Math Drills Lite and Rocket Math
Math Puppy BINGO Challenge
Sushi Monster
11. Mail Math – Keep junk mail to make out “pretend” orders of clothes, books, groceries, etc. Add up the orders. Compare and contrast prices
12. Growth Math – Measure everyone in the family. Compare heights. Measure growth over time.
Link to printable version of Summer Tips for Gr. 4 Students going to Fifth Grade
Often, parents and students ask what can be done over the summer to maintain skills and develop mathematical thinking. This letter contains some ideas and opportunities for you and your child to enjoy math over the vacation months. There are example activities that you can do every day with your child. These games and activities will help strengthen your child’s mathematical foundation.
Fact Fluency Review from Fourth Grade
Most important for your child’s success is their continued work on number fluency. Our new state standards now require students to be fluent with their basic facts by the end of third grade and fluent with all computation by the end of fifth grade. This means that your child should be able to independently, with speed and accuracy:
add and subtract mentally within 20;
add and subtract within 1,000,000 on paper; and
multiply and divide mentally within 100.
In order to build and maintain these skills, it is important for your child to practice his/her math facts. Some helpful resources are below:
Recommended Math Websites
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm Games for all math operations
gregtangmath.com Games as well as electronic versions of all of Greg Tang’s books. Take Greg Tang’s Summer Math Challenge!
www.abcya.com Practice math and language arts, while sharpening computer skills
www.mathplayground.com Challenging games
www.fun4thebrain.com Games for all math operations
www.xtramath.com Your child can use their account from school or you can create an account for free and track your child’s progress with fact mastery
bedtimemath.org Daily math problems at various levels, typically with a theme
www.prodigygame.com/play Story-based, interactive math game
http://www.ct.gov/sde/summermathchallenge Governor’s Math Challenge
A Dozen Tips for Summer Learning
1. Grocery Store Math – Counting, estimating, and making change are good math exercises. Using the latest advertisement announcing sales at the grocery store, ask what can we get for $10? At the register, ask your child to identify the coins you receive as change.
2. Menu Math – Next time you are at a restaurant, hang on to the menu while you are waiting for your meal. Ask your child to find the least expensive item on the menu, then all the items that cost between $5 and $10 or three items whose total cost is between $9 and $20. Have them “order” meals for the family for a total of $20 or less.
3. Kitchen Math – Measuring ingredients is a perfect math lesson. Have your child tell you how much of an ingredient you will need if you double the recipe. Have your child determine how to share items. If there are 5 people in your family and 15 strawberries to divide equally, how many strawberries will each person get?
4. Map Math – You don’t need to leave the house, although this activity is ideal for vacations. Get out a map that indicates miles between cities. What’s the distance from home to our destination? How long will that take us if we travel the speed limit?
5. On-the-Road Math – Numbers are all around roads if you look for them. Have your child add the numbers on license plates.
6. Money Math – Have your child identify the coins in your wallet or his/her piggybank. Talk about the advantages of saving for a big purchase or for a rainy day.
7. Reading and Writing Math – Read books about math. Some suggestions:
Any of the books by authors Greg Tang or David Schwartz
Math Curse by Jon Sciesza
Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar or Anno’s Magic Seeds by Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno
If the World was a Village by David Smith
Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tombert
8. Calendar Math – Count down the days until special events, like the first day of school, birthdays, holidays, and vacations.
9. Game Math – Play games that encourage math skills. Some examples: Battleship, Simon, Cribbage, Concentration, Checkers, Connect Four, Krypto, Mankalah, Yahtzee
10. Computer Math – There is no shortage of valuable game and instructional websites. Check out the list of recommended links on the front and these iPhone apps:
Math Concentration from NCTM
Divisibility Dash, Baseball Multiplication, Beat the Computer, Name that Number from Everyday Mathematics Math Drills Lite and Rocket Math
11. Mail Math – Keep junk mail to make out “pretend” orders of clothes, books, groceries, etc. Add up the orders. Compare and contrast prices
12. Growth Math – Measure everyone in the family. Compare heights. Measure growth over time.
Link to printable version of Summer Tips for Gr. 5 Students going to Sixth Grade
Please visit the Middle School Summer Learning in the next section for additional information!
Often, parents and students ask what can be done over the summer to maintain skills and develop mathematical thinking. This letter contains some ideas and opportunities for you and your child to enjoy math over the vacation months. There are example activities that you can do every day with your child. These games and activities will help strengthen your child’s mathematical foundation.
Fact Fluency Review from Fifth Grade
Most important for your child’s success is their continued work on number fluency. Our new state standards now require students to be fluent with their basic facts by the end of third grade and fluent with all computation by the end of fifth grade. This means that your child should be able to independently, with speed and accuracy:
add and subtract mentally within 20;
add and subtract within 1,000,000 on paper; and
multiply and divide mentally within 100.
In order to build and maintain these skills, it is important for your child to practice his/her math facts. Some helpful resources are below:
Recommended Math Websites
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/math.htm Games for all math operations
gregtangmath.com Games as well as electronic versions of all of Greg Tang’s books. Take Greg Tang’s Summer Math Challenge!
www.abcya.com Practice math and language arts, while sharpening computer skills
www.mathplayground.com Challenging games
www.fun4thebrain.com Games for all math operations
www.xtramath.com Your child can use their account from school or you can create an account for free and track your child’s progress with fact mastery
bedtimemath.org Daily math problems at various levels, typically with a theme
www.prodigygame.com/play Story-based, interactive math game
http://www.ct.gov/sde/summermathchallenge Governor’s Math Challenge
A Dozen Tips for Summer Learning
1. Grocery Store Math – Counting, estimating, and making change are good math exercises. Using the latest advertisement announcing sales at the grocery store, ask what can we get for $10? At the store, point out that yogurt is $2.59 a six-pack. Ask how much it would cost to buy 3? At the register, ask your child to count the change.
2. Menu Math – Next time you are at a restaurant, hang on to the menu while you are waiting for your meal. Ask your child to find the least expensive item on the menu, then all the items that cost between $5 and $10 or three items whose total cost is between $9 and $20. Have them “order” meals for the family for a total of $20 or less.
3. Kitchen Math – Practice fractions by using recipes or reading cookbooks. Measuring ingredients is a perfect math lesson. Have your child tell you how much of an ingredient you will need if you double the recipe. Have your child determine how to share items. If there are 5 people in your family and 15 strawberries to divide equally, how many strawberries will each person get?
4. Map Math – You don’t need to leave the house, although this activity is ideal for vacations. Get out a map that indicates miles between cities. What’s the distance from home to our destination? How long will that take us if we travel the speed limit?
5. On-the-Road Math – Numbers are all around roads if you look for them. Have your child add the numbers on license plates. To practice multiplying, assign letters on license plates a number (such as 5), and have your child find the total. For example, TEM334 would be 5+5+5+3+3+4=25.
6. Money Math – Have your child pay and then count the change at the grocery store. Ask them to figure out other ways to make the same amount. Count the money in a piggy bank. Talk about the advantages of saving for a big purchase or for a rainy day.
7. Reading and Writing Math – Read books about math. Some suggestions:
Any of the books by authors Greg Tang or David Schwartz
Math Curse by Jon Sciesza
Anno’s Mysterious Multiplying Jar or Anno’s Magic Seeds by Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno
If the World was a Village by David Smith
Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tombert
8. Calendar Math – Count down the days until special events, like the first day of school, birthdays, holidays, and vacations.
9. Game Math – Play games that encourage math skills. Some examples: Battleship, Simon, Cribbage, Concentration, Checkers, Connect Four, Krypto, Mankalah, Yahtzee
10. Computer Math – There is no shortage of valuable game and instructional websites. Check out the list of recommended links on the front and these iPhone apps:
Math Concentration from NCTM
Divisibility Dash, Baseball Multiplication, Beat the Computer, Name that Number from Everyday Mathematics Math Drills Lite and Rocket Math
11. Mail Math – Keep junk mail to make out “pretend” orders of clothes, books, groceries, etc. Add up the orders. Compare and contrast prices
12. Growth Math – Measure everyone in the family. Compare heights. Measure growth over time.
There will not be Parent/Teacher Conferences on September 24th and September 25th. A new District Calendar has been linked to reflect the change. These will now be regular school days.
If you are receiving alerts on your phone to check your email for a message, but then do not see a message - PLEASE follow up with your child's school to ensure we have the accurate information.
There is an archive of emails located on the Covid-19 - Messages from the Superintendent.
