Terraset has worked hard over the years to develop a strong math program and it has been recognized by math teachers throughout the county as offering something different to our students. That difference reflects the energy and commitment of our teachers, in particular the Math Leads Ann Donavan and Jessica Matthews.
 
"Terraset has an outstanding math program!" says Mrs. Matthews.  It has been designed according to Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Pacing Guides in Mathematics. The FCPS guides help all teachers countywide to plan their math lessons to assure that all students are exposed to the same curriculum.
 
At Terraset, the math program focuses on the use of manipulatives to teach fundamental concepts. Best practice research shows that children learn effectively when they have a "hands-on" experience. For example using real containers to explore volume or using rulers when talking about measurement. Manipulatives allow kids to count, measure, sort, order, group, rearrange, test, guess, compare, classify, name, label, create shapes, and identify shapes while exploring math problems. This provides concrete experience in a learning situation. Eventually, students can abstract the concepts they have learned to reapply them to new problems.
 
For the past 15 years Terraset ES has held an annual Family Math Night to help parents learn how math can be taught through games and other hands on activities. This evening allows families to work together to solve problems and do math in a fun and stress free way. Math Night will be held on Monday, November 10th this year and all families are urged to join in!
 
Outback Steakhouse in Herndon has graciously donated food for the past four years for our Outback Dinner before math night. They are doing the same this year, so don't miss those steaks at 6pm.
 
Outback Steakhouse donates all the food, so one hundred percent of the money raised from the Outback Dinner comes back to the school and into its math program. As a result, Terraset is able to continually add new games and manipulatives to its math resources.

 

This year's math night will showcase a new set of games, bought with money earned last year, called "Partner Games". These games will be used by all grades K-6 throughout the year with the purpose of developing number concepts and computational skills.

In addition, Terraset ES is excited to welcome back volunteers from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), headquartered here in Reston, to help support its student's learning in math. "This year, there will be 13 volunteers coming on a weekly basis to have lunch bunches with many of our students," says Mrs Matthews. Students will work on improving basic math skills through games and hands-on activities.

We hope to see you all on Monday, November 10th for the Outback Dinner and Family Math Night. All reservations for the dinner are due by Wednesday, Nov. 5th. If you have any further questions about the math program feel free to contact Ann Donovan or Jessica Matthews.

Children's Art Classes taught by a Virginia Certified Art Teacher (and Terraset parent) from her home studio in Reston (5 minutes from Terraset School). Small groups of 4-8 students explore and express their art through drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpting, and ceramics. For grades K-6.

www.artiselementary.com 

Or contact Tammy French at 703.391.1613

 

 

Terraset PTA is very fortunate to have Stephanie Randall as its Vice-President. She brings to our association a breadth of experience in marketing and sales.
 
After graduating from Virginia Tech, Stephanie worked in the corporate sector for 12 years. This is evident as she works to build Terraset PTA membership, promotes its role within our community, and seeks out government and corporate funding to build the financial resources available to our school.

"Over the years, I have learned that by stepping out of your comfort zone, you can accomplish things that didn't seem possible," says Stephanie. She sees Terraset as a great school with a real sense of community and hopes that by deciding to get more involved in the school, she can "make some positive impacts on the school and on [her] family." 

 

Stephanie's primary goal is to encourage an environment where Terraset parents and guardians know they too can make a positive impact on the school and their child's education.
 
At the beginning of the academic year, Stephanie enthusiastically sought to build volunteerism within the school. She reminded us that volunteering could have such a huge impact. "Studies show that by dedicating just three hours of your time to the school over the course of the school year, you can strengthen the partnership between home and school for your child's benefit." 

 

Stephanie would like to remind all families they are welcomed by the school community, and that any contribution they can make is valued. Together we can make a difference.

This year, Terraset welcomed a new Social Worker to its staff. Mary Jo Davis has been a school social worker for ten years. She worked at Loudoun County Public Schools for nine years before coming to FCPS.  

 

Before working in the school setting Ms Davis worked with Loudoun Hospital Counseling Center to provide counseling to individuals and families. She is very excited to now be a part of a larger school system that offers a variety of resources and services to students and families.

 

"Terraset Elementary School has a wonderful and welcoming faculty" says Ms Davis. "I have noticed that the faculty at Terraset works well as a team to develop the best educational experience for their students." Ms Davis has also been impressed with the administrative leadership and the internal resources that Terraset offers their students. This "assist[s] them in having a strong academic performance at school" she says. Ms Davis should know, she works at three schools in the county-- Armstrong ES, Terraset ES, and Great Falls ES-- this gives her a unique opportunity to compare services, programs and staff. So we can feel reassured that Terraset is providing a great environment for our children. 

In these times of economic challenge, Ms Davis has been able to assist families in identifying resources in the community that could help support them. "As Terraset's school social worker, I am available to students, families and faculty as a resource to help them find and link to community resources," she says. "I have noticed that the faculty at Terraset goes beyond the educational experience within the classroom in order to assist students and families with various needs."  This commitment helps the school social worker and psychologist identify those in need on a timely basis.

Ms Davis is excited to get to know the community at Terraset Elementary School.. She believes that the PTA is a vital part of that community, with an important role in helping support school families and faculty.

If you are interested in contacting Terraset's Social Worker, then email Mary Jo Davis, or phone 703-204-3894.

 

 

 

 

Don't miss the annual Outback Dinner at 6pm, Nov 10th. All proceeds from the evening go directly to our math program. Reservations are required, so complete the form distributed in last week's Tuesday Packet and return it to school.

 

But, you don't have to attend the dinner in order to participate in the fun of Math Night at 7pm. Join the hands-on math activities for all ages to enjoy.

 

This month the class with the highest participation rate will win a Pizza Party. So get your tops and labels in by December 12. Check your Tuesday Packet for more information or visit our web site.

 

Bingo Night is another big event for Terraset! Make sure you have it in your calendar. There will be plenty of opportunity to think about numbers at this fundraiser!

 

But what helps to create the fun? The prizes to be won! Your donations are needed.

 

See the flyer that was distributed in your Tuesday Pack and send in a new, theme-related item to school some time between now and Wed Nov 19.

SCA Bake Sale on Election Day, November 4th, 9-3pm in the courtyard
Canned Food Drive from November 10-14.
 

 

We all know math is important, but how do we help our kids with their math homework if we have an ingrained hang-up about using it ourselves? First, stop being so hard on yourself. Stop and think about all the times you use math on a daily basis. Estimating whether the total grocery bill is reasonable, whether you have enough gas to get home, calculating whether you will be able to pay a given invoice, or if you can manage your budget and set aside some money in a certificate of deposit.
 
Marlene Kliman, a scientist with TERC (formally known as Technical Education Research Cneter), says "All adults-whatever their backgrounds-use mathematics in a variety of situations every day. By involving children in some of these situations, several times a day or just once a week, parents help their children view mathematics as a meaningful, natural part of everyday life, a tool for solving important and relevant problems, and an entertaining way to spend family time."
 
But, you shouldn't just talk about the importance of math-- you need to demonstrate it. Talking about how you need math in your life is great, but how much better would it be to show how important it is. If you bring your work home, let your kids see you using mathematical skills in solving problems... graphs, calculations, comparative data, statistical analysis, pay stubs, budget allocations (both work based and domestic), these all help your child see the relevance of building math skills.
 
Greg Johnson, in his Philadelphia Tribune article "Help your kids bridge math gap" reports that a 2006 survey showed 80 percent of teens wanted to pursue careers in medicine, sports, science, education, business, military, law or architecture-- many of which require advanced college degrees with significant focus on mathematics and science. Yet, only half of them were planning to take advanced math classes beyond their schools' minimum requirements. What can we do now to help our kids, while they are in elementary school, to avoid this lack of readiness for their chosen career? Well, one thing would be to foster a joy in mathematics, the way we try to with reading!
 
Kliman says that most parents will find it easier to integrate mathematics into family time by building on activities that they already do. Story time can include activities such as counting characters, examining layout of diagrams, or guessing the size of objects in the story "would that dinosaur fit in our house?" Spending time outdoors can include measuring things, estimating distances, averaging the number of skips made without stumbling. When on the road you can look for patterns, calculate your arrival time, or estimate the time it will take for red lights to change. And household chores can be used to plan time allocations; matching, sorting and counting the laundry; or reading tables and charts. The key is to demonstrate! Arthur Benjamin, co-author of Teach Your Child Math: Making Math Fun for the Both of You, points out that you can show your little mathematician why 3 x 4 is the same as 4 x 3. Just reach into your pocket, pull out 12 coins and demonstrate why it must be true. If you turn math into a game, it becomes not only fun, but also understandable.
 
Don't leave it until your child is in middle school to start trying to foster an interest in mathematics. That's too late! By then kids have formed their opinions about whether something is boring, too hard, or irrelevant. You need to integrate math into games and everyday life now to ensure a long-term impact on your child's attitudes about math. Kids can be so resourceful-- they haven't learned to think there is only one way to solve a problem. Further, little kids haven't learned to think that math is hard. Our job is to help them hold onto this resourcefulness.
 
"Mathematics is a game played to better understand the world," and children are natural-born problem solvers says Benjamin. So, how can parents help their children hold onto this natural enthusiasm for mathematics?

http://www.fcps.edu/TerrasetES/
 

If Mathematics is about process, logic, and the verification of accuracy-- along with the application of technology to these problems-- then Terraset 6th graders certainly got to see math in action at the Mock Election held at school on October 28-29.

 

Terraset students had a rare opportunity to experience a "real life" election when their teachers organized a mock election last week. Spearheaded by the Technology, Library and Media departments, and backed up by PTA volunteers, each student in the school was given the opportunity to vote. But the sixth graders were even closer to the action by checking off voters as they arrived, monitoring the use of voting technology, and acknowledging student voters with "I voted" stickers.

 

The mock election closely mirrored the real event. Students discussed the importance of the election with Ms Dix, School-Based Technology Specialist, prior to voting. They were presented information on each of the candidates and their policies in an age-appropriate manner and were briefed on the importance of "political privacy"-- the expectation that an individual will not enquire as to another's voting intentions and will respect all political opinion. Then the students were given the opportunity to cast their vote using customized voting technology. The Smart technology allowed each student to use a personal keypad to record their vote, then tallied the votes from each voting precinct (grade). At the end of the voting period, the votes were tallied. The Terraset ES election results were announced via WTER.
 

The sixth graders who helped with the election were briefed on how the voting technology worked. Some of them were given the task of initializing voting keypads, all explored how the receiving device captured each vote, then saw the graphed results of final voting returns. There is no doubt these students enjoyed the opportunity they had to play a role in an important process-- and hopefully they have a better understanding of that process, preparing them for when their vote will really count.

Here are some quick ways to do math with your children as you plan, cook, serve, and eat meals. (Source: "Beyond helping with homework: Parents and children doing mathematics at home" Marlene Kliman.  Teaching Children Mathematics. Reston: Nov 1999. V6 Iss 3 p140.)

 

How much food should we make? Ask your children to help you figure out how much food is needed for a meal, a set of lunch boxes, or a party. They'll practice counting, adding, or multiplying.

What's fair? Next time your children clamor for fair division of a favorite food, invite them to propose their own solutions! For food that comes in small pieces, children practice with counting, arithmetic, or fractions. For food that comes in pans or large pieces, children work with shapes and area.

A miniproject: How far to our table? As children explore where their food comes from, they work with distance units, scale, and maps. (All ages)