Parents learn tips on how to assist their children
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(l-r) fourth-grader Carson Graf and his mother, Melanie Graf, fifth-grader Tynan Petty, Anthony McCauley and mother, Denise McCauley look over the books offered at the Scholastic Book Fair Monday evening at Snyder Intermediate School’s Family Night. -
Fourth-grade math teacher Melissa Sorrels (left) explains the box method of division to Angelica Jackson, the mother of a Snyder Intermediate School student, at the school’s Math Family Night Monday evening.
Two of the three “R”s were represented during Monday evening’s Family Night at Snyder Intermediate School.
Monday’s Family Night theme was “Math Night,” during which parents played the role of students, learning new math strategies to help their children with their mathematics learning process. Reading was also represented in the form of a book fair held in the school’s library.
Family Night activities were organized into come-and-go sessions, during which parents walked from classroom to classroom, learning and practicing a brief math strategy in each.
Fifth-grade math teacher Ashley Hernandez taught parents the box method of working long division problems.
“We’re teaching the box method, just to show parents that it’s pretty similar to the standard algorithm. (It’s) just a way to organize students’ work a little bit better,” she said.
Other math skills showcased by fifth-grade math teachers included the decimal times decimal model for multiplication, which was taught by Kimberly Hagins, and the decimal times whole number models for multiplication and division, taught by Ellen Goodwin.
Fourth-grade teachers also presented math strategies for parents. Lindzey Larrea presented the box multiplication method.
Kaylee Neff highlighted partial products/bow tie method; and Sherry Faulkenbery showcased the T-chart used for addition and subtraction of decimals.
Down the hall in the library, students and parents were browsing Scholastic books available for purchase.
“We’ve got our book fair and Family Night,” said Snyder Intermediate School Librarian Alexis Crawford. “Students can bring their families — parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents — and come buy books at the book fair.”