December 2023 Newsletter: Bingo Cards
Happy Holidays! We know you are looking forward to the upcoming break, spending time with family and friends, and briefly stepping away from the classroom. Even though you probably do not want to think about it now, you will also want to ensure your students do not forget what they have learned. This is why this December, we are providing for you: game Bingo Cards! Our gift to you: RightStart Math wants to help you encourage your students to work on their math facts – but in a fun way. We have created… FREE December Bingo Cards …to encourage students to have fun playing math card games over the break. We have included full-color cards, as well as black and white cards to accommodate your printing needs. You can encourage student participation by having a contest to see how many of your students can complete a row or column of game ideas or maybe even complete the entire card! Another gift Do you need extra decks of cards for your classroom? At the end of December, we plan to give away $100 worth of Card Decks to the first 10 people who share a testimonial video of how they have seen the math card games help their students. The recording should be between 1 and 4 minutes in length. Please send your testimonial video to: info@rightstartclassroom.com. These videos may be used for promotional purposes. By sending the testimonial video to us, you are giving us permission to use them. We hope you have a lovely winter break! See you in 2024! Your RightStart Math partners, Teresa, Rachel, Maren, and Kathleen
January 2024 Newsletter
Easing Your Load I don’t know about you, but I get a little overwhelmed when I return to work after the holidays. Do you feel the same? Maybe you look at the number of weeks left in the school year and wonder how you are going to get it all done. In this January Newsletter, we will share with you how we can help. Pacing Schedules If you feel like you are behind schedule, contact us! We regularly help teachers get back on track. So, let us help you! Contact us for a quick conversation to determine where you are and to discuss your classroom environment and size. We will put together a schedule that you can use to complete your students’ instruction by the end of the school year – without added stress! Game Videos Do you want to learn how to play a game quickly? We have short videos that show you how to play RightStart Math card games! Here is a link to sample these videos. You may even want to have your students view the video prior to playing a game – so you don’t have to! WE ARE LOOKING FOR TESTIMONIES! Be one of the first 10 people to submit a video testimonial of how you have seen the math card games benefit your students and receive FREE card decks (valued at $100)! The recording should be between 1 and 4 minutes in length. Send your testimonial videos to: info@rightstartclassroom.com These videos may be used for promotional purposes. By sending a testimonial video to us, you are giving us permission to use it.
October 2023 Newsletter
Unsure of how to correctly use the Cotter Abacus? Click here to view a short video that will show you how to use the abacus correctly and efficiently. When students use the abacus correctly, they can see math facts and understand mathematical processes better. Feel free to contact us for more information about the abacus and how it can help your students learn. Do you have transfer students coming to your class? Many of the new students coming into your class have not used RightStart Math and may be behind in their progress. How can you catch them up? Here are some suggestions: First Lessons in your book. Teach the student from the first lessons in the Teacher’s Manual (You can also work through the review lessons from a previous level). Those first lessons will help your student learn how to use the abacus and strategies taught throughout the year. Tutoring Programs. Consider using our Tutoring programs if you find your student is behind in grade-level content. We have topics such as Number Sense (addition and subtraction), Multiplication and Division Book 1 (basic multiplication and division math facts), Fractions, and more. Peer instruction. Help your new student make new friends by pairing them up with a student in your class. Peer instruction is a great way for students to develop leadership skills and help your new student understand how to use the RightStart Math manipulatives and strategies. For more ideas, do not hesitate to contact us. Have a game you want to play but don’t have time to read the directions? We have instructions for all the games available by video through Vimeo! Each video is only a couple minutes long and will demonstrate how to play the game. Here is a sample of some of the games. All of the games are available through an annual subscription of $206. Click here to subscribe or contact us for more information! Remember, you have FREE year-long support! Click here to contact us.
November 2023 Newsletter: Math Card Games
Why are games important? We all know that practicing math facts is necessary, and games are a fantastic way to get the job done. In fact, it can be said that games are to math as books are to reading. However, they should be more than just a glorified version of flashcards; they must be designed to teach. When playing RightStart’s math card games, students get immediate feedback from their peers or from the game itself, increasing their proficiency. So, how do you help your students play more math games? End each math lesson with a game Use ten minutes before or after recess/lunch or before dismissal to play a game Encourage your parents to play math card games at home** Use games and other activities to challenge your students, especially your early finishers. In addition, you can provide your students with tangram puzzles and geometry net cards for engaging and educational supplemental learning activities. Do you want a way to assess student progress as they play the math card games? Click here to learn how. **We can help you get the math card games kit into the hands of your parents at a discounted price! Contact us to find out how! Parent Game Night Experience Help your parents understand the value of playing card games at home by having a parent night at your school. Parent Game-Night Options: We can come to your school and help you lead the parent night. You only need to cover our travel expenses. Teachers can oversee the tables and help parents learn how to play the games. Students can oversee the tables and teach the games. Encourage attendance by choosing a fun theme: Parents-only Hors D’oeuvres Night (wine and cheese, etc.) Casino Night (decorate the room like a casino) Family Fun Night (all family members and friends are invited) Game Instructions Available on Video Finally, are you interested in learning how to play the games quickly? We have video instructions on how to play every game used in the RightStart Math curriculum. We have game instructions on video! Feel free to view a sample of them. For more information about the year-long subscription, click here. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are here to help you have a fabulous school year! Your RightStart Math partners, Teresa, Rachel, Maren, and Kathleen
What Makes RightStart™ Math Different?
When looking for a math curriculum, schools and teachers want: A comprehensive mathematics program that will increase student test scores One that is easy to teach One that gives students the foundation they need for everyday living in our technological world One that gives students a solid understanding and love for math This research-based, comprehensive RightStart™ Mathematics program, is used worldwide. It provides students with the foundation they need by helping them understand abstract mathematical concepts. What Makes RightStart™ Math Different? RightStart™ Math is a unique program that Incorporates visualization of quantities De-emphasizes counting Provides strategies for learning the facts Visualization and Grouping The primary learning tool used in RightStart™ Math is the Cotter Abacus. This specially designed and effective learning tool is hands-on and develops a visual model of mathematical ideas. It engages students in the learning experience while providing them with an interactive instructional model that will deepen their understanding of abstract mathematical concepts. To appreciate visualization, try to imagine eight apples in a line without grouping them–virtually impossible. Next, imagine five of those apples as red and three as green. Now, you can see them. Students learn to use these mental models for doing arithmetic. Counting is an inaccurate and inefficient model that ignores place value. However, when students learn to group in quantities of fives and tens, they can quickly visualize the solution, enabling them to solve problems quicker and more accurately. Look at the figures below. Without counting or grouping, can you tell how many blocks are in the left figure? How many are in the right figure? Comprehension In RightStart™ Math, understanding is emphasized. Jo Boaler, a mathematics professor at Stanford University, said, I have never committed math facts to memory, although I can quickly produce any math fact. She goes on to say, “My lack of memorization has never held me back at any time or place in my life, even though I am a mathematics professor, because I have number sense, which is much more important for students to learn and includes the learning of math facts along with a deep understanding of numbers and the ways they relate to each other. When students understand number sense, they need less time reviewing the math facts. Conversely, rote memorizing, is high maintenance, requiring constant review. Students who learn math facts through memorization usually can’t apply them to new ideas. A better way to help students learn and retain math facts and concepts is to help them understand them. Place Value RightStart™ Math introduces place value early. The Place Value Cards are a tactile and visual tool to help students learn how to construct numbers and read them from left to right. They can see the pattern that ten 1s is 10, ten 10s is 100, and ten 100s is 1000 by working with 4-digit numbers, even in first grade. Traditional math programs stop at 99, preventing the students from seeing this pattern. “Why the Cotter Abacus?” We know that children learn best when they work with physical models to explore math’s inherent patterns. The Cotter Abacus has 100 beads grouped in fives by color and grouped in tens by rows. When students use the beads to add two or more quantities together, the sum is obvious. No counting is required. The Cotter Abacus also provides visual pictures to help the children master the facts. Even though students enjoy using it, it doesn’t become a crutch because they develop a mental image of the patterns and strategies taught to them through the abacus, removing the need for it. One day, a five-year-old boy named Stan was asked, “How much is 11 + 6?” He answered 17. When asked how he knew the answer, he said,“I’ve got the abacus in my mind.” Discover for Yourself the Difference RightStart™ Math Makes For more information about RightStart Math and how it will help your students grow in their understanding of mathematical concepts, check out the curriculum and intervention pages. You can also contact us for more information and to find out how you can get these materials in your school. RightStart Math’s Mission: To help everyone understand, apply, and enjoy mathematics.
Parent Involvement and Parent Letters
Studies show that parent involvement positively influences student learning. That is why RightStart Math has created Parent Letters for your teachers to send home with their students. The National Coalition for Parent Involvement wrote, Parent involvement in education is crucial. No matter their income or background, students with involved parents are more likely to have higher grades and test scores, attend school regularly, have better social skills, show improved behavior, and adapt well to school. What is included in the Parent Letter? Each parent letter starts with a summary of what the student learned during the week. Then it provides three or more activities the parent can do at home to support their child’s learning. Next, there is a list of math card games that the student’s family can play at home to reinforce the skills the student is currently learning and to review the skills the student previously learned. Finally, the letter will briefly discuss what the student will learn in the upcoming week of school. These letters are given to the teacher as a Word document so the teacher can add your school logo, their name or signature, and any other pertinent modifications needed. Here are some samples of some parent letters. Kindergarten 1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade Teachers who use the letters have found them to be an extremely beneficial means of communicating with their students’ parents. Not only does it inform the parents of what their child is learning, it opens the opportunity for more dialogue between the teacher and the parent. If you would like more information about parent letters, contact us! We would love to provide these fabulous resources to your teachers! You can also contact us to find out other ways to improve parent involvement. We have helped schools develop family game nights that provide the opportunity for parents to learn how important the games are to their child’s learning. Game nights are also a fun way to have your students show off what they are learning! Let us know if you are interested in more information about game nights!
RightStart™ Math and Students with Dyslexia
Here are some evidence-based strategies that RightStart™ Math naturally incorporates in the lessons to support students with dyslexia: 1. Students with dyslexia learn best with multisensory input. RightStart™ Math helps students with dyslexia learn and understand math by incorporating at least one manipulative in every lesson. The manipulatives are visualizable and are used to help students see how math works. Each activity using the manipulative includes discovery and explicit instruction to help students understand math facts and math processes. 2. Students with dyslexia struggle with writing and completing worksheets. RightStart™ Math reduces the amount of written work by having students practice skills and demonstrate their understanding through math card games and verbal responses. During the lesson, the teacher asks questions, and the student explores the manipulative and answers the question verbally. To practice math facts and processes, students play math card games. The games will produce the same math facts as included on worksheets, but students do not need to write the answers. I always recommend that the students say the math facts out loud as they play the games to develop greater fluency. 3. Students with dyslexia tend to have working memory deficits. Games Because students with dyslexia struggle to remember math facts, they need a significant amount of practice, specifically interesting practice. As stated previously, RightStart™ Math incorporates games into the lessons to help students practice math facts and processes. There are numerous games available to teach skills, keeping the practice interesting and engaging. Strategies The program develops math fact fluency through strategies to help the student learn the facts, reducing the need for rote memorization. Jo Boaler, an author and math education professor at Stanford University, said this, “I have never committed math facts to memory, although I can quickly produce any math fact, as I have number sense and I have learned good ways to think about number combinations.” RightStart™ Math helps students learn number sense and strategies to help them solve math facts quicker, without draining their mental energy on memorization. Review To ensure students with dyslexia are learning and retaining what is being taught, RightStart™ Math also incorporates daily review through Warm-Up exercises and games. In addition, there are frequent review lessons and assessments. That way, the teacher knows what the students are learning, what they are retaining, and what needs to be reviewed. 4. Students with dyslexia learn better when lessons are taught in smaller chunks. RightStart™ Math lessons are two pages in length, and that includes pictures of the manipulatives being used. Dr. Cotter, the author of RightStart™ Math, has students with dyslexia learn processes in steps. One lesson will build on another lesson until the student has a solid grasp of the full process. 5. Students with dyslexia need comprehension support. Children with dyslexia cannot retain information through rote memorization. They need to understand how things work. RightStart™ Math is all about helping students understand math concepts, not just memorize processes. When students understand how something works and why, they are more likely to remember the process for it. The company believes in this so strongly that it is included in its mission statement: RightStart™ Math: helping everyone understand, apply, and enjoy mathematics. 6. Students with dyslexia tend to have auditory processing disorders. This tends to show itself most notably in spelling when students cannot differentiate between the short vowel sound ‘i’ and the short vowel sound ‘e.’ However, this disorder can also cause difficulties in math, specifically when the student with dyslexia cannot hear the difference between ‘forty’ and ‘fourteen.’ Math way of saying numbers RightStart™ Math presents quantities in various ways to help students with auditory processing disorder ‘hear’ the difference between these two quantities. One strategy used in the curriculum is to temporarily use the math way of saying numbers. For example, students will hear and say the place value, such as ten four (for fourteen) and four ten (for forty). Not only can the students hear the difference between the two words, but they also are developing place value sense. Place value cards Students will also use place value cards and the Cotter Abacus to visualize and demonstrate an understanding of place value through manipulatives. The teacher can see if the student is misunderstanding the word by looking at what they are building. For example, if the teacher asks the student to enter 14 on the abacus or build 14 using place value cards and the student builds 40, then the teacher can quickly see that the student is misunderstanding what is being said. Quick student feedback I have found when students learn both the traditional names and the math way of saying a number, they develop a better grasp of place value. For students with an auditory processing disorder, the teacher can check for understanding of a quantity by having them do the following: Say the number the math way Show the quantity using the abacus and/or place value cards. By using this process, the teacher can quickly determine if the student is hearing the number correctly. Summary Children with dyslexia need to have math presented to them in a way they can understand. The RightStart™ approach to teaching math not only helps these students learn, but they can understand and enjoy it. For more information about how RightStart™ Math can help your students learn, contact us!
