Bower hosts first Family Math Night

Submitted by Michele Foster, Bower Teacher

First grade Bower teachers Amy Goeb, Melissa Lamkin and Michele Foster were looking for a new, creative way to help parents discover how to help their children at home with math.

The first Family Math Night was held on the evening of March 18 and included a variety of math stations. Hands-on games and activities were geared toward the math standards taught in first grade. With their families, students practiced addition and subtraction skills with a deck of cards where place value and comparing numbers is reinforced. Dice were used for addition and subtraction as well as the skills of probability and making equal equations. Families could participate using their graphing skills with a Skittles graph and build 3D shapes with marshmallows and toothpicks. To wrap up the evening, students recited a “Math About Me” poem for their parents.

The evening was also a way for first graders to show their parents what they are learning about math. All students left with a math packet of activities and strategies to use at home with their families.