7 Estrategias de Vacaciones de Primavera para Cerebros en Crecimiento

por Logan Juve Janicula, Especialista del Programa de Educación Especial Integrada

Over the next few weeks, students across the country will abandon their desks and leave their pencils and papers behind. Classrooms will transform into ghost towns, and playgrounds will be empty. Why? It’s spring break! While our students may be opting to sleep in and play outside in the sunshine instead of dissecting paragraphs and working through math lessons, it doesn’t mean they can’t continue to grow their brains this week! Here are seven strategies that students and their caregivers can engage in to keep their brains active during this spring break.

On the Road

1. Road Trip: Whether you’re headed to the grocery store or to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, road trips offer a fun opportunity to practice math skills. Test out some of these questions the next
time you’re on the go:

How many miles have we travelled so far? How many miles do we have left?
If our car gets 20 miles per gallon and there are ten gallons in the tank, how far can we travel before we have to stop again?
If gas is $3 per gallon and we need 12 gallons, how much will we spend?

2. Math Wars: Do you have a budding card shark in your family? Take advantage of your next road trip to engage her skills by playing a math card challenge! There are only three rules to remember:

Remove face cards from the deck. The Ace represents 1.
Evenly deal a deck of cards between two players.
Each player places one card face up. The first person to call out the product (or sum/difference) of the two cards wins the hand. The player with the most cards in the end wins!

Outside

3. Phonics Scavenger Hunt: Students in lower grades are learning new sounds and spelling patterns every day. Why not have her practice these sounds in a real-world (and fun!) context? To play, follow these steps:

Choose a letter sound or phonics pattern that your student knows. If you need support, ask your student’s teacher for a list of recommendations!
Call out the letter sound and ask your student to find as many objects in the room or outdoor area as possible. For example, if the letter sound is /t/, your student might shout out, “Tree!”
Make a list of all of the objects your child finds that match the sound given. Read these words together and give your student a high five for her accomplishment!
As a bonus, ask your student to illustrate the list after you’ve read it together. There’s nothing like sketching in the sunshine to keep a brain active!

4. Sight Word Games: As students begin to read, there are a number of words that appear frequently and require memorization. These words are called sight words, and they are easy and fun to practice at home. First, ask your Rocketeer’s literacy teacher for a list of sight words your child needs to practice in order to increase her reading fluency. Then, get creative! Check out Lista de juegos de palabras de uso frecuente de Education.com, y crea algunos propios. Un ejemplo es Búsqueda de Palabras de Vista. Para jugar este juego, sigue estos pasos:

Escriba entre 10 y 15 palabras de vista de su lista de Rocketeer en tarjetas de índice.
Copia esas mismas palabras en notas adhesivas o trozos de papel.
Hide the words around the house or outside – in the fridge, on the mirror, on the fence post, in the mailbox. Are you taking a walk? Hide the words along the way, and have your Rocketeer find them on the walk back!
After giving your child the index cards, send them on a Sight Word Hunt to find (and read!) the match.
On Easter, try turning this game into a sight word egg hunt! Place the sight words inside plastic eggs, hide them around the yard, and have your Rocketeer find and read them for a smart twist on the classic egg hunt.

On Screen

5. All Star Math: Whether cheering for Warriors on TV or watching the Brewers gear up for the 2016 season, sports games are a perfect time to practice math. Try out some of these questions to promote your child’s math skills:

What shape is the field (or court)? How do you know?
How many more points does the losing team need to catch up?
How many players have scored points? What’s the average per player?
How much time is left in this half (or quarter)? How much time is left in the game?
If that player scores five points, how many points will the team have altogether?

6. Log On: Does your Rocketeer want to hang out with Jiji this spring? Now she can! Many of Rocketship’s Online Learning Programs (OLPs) can be accessed from your home computer or tablet. Ask your child’s teacher for more information! If you don’t have access to Rocketship’s OLPs, check out these low-cost apps!

7. Blockbuster Comprehension: Spring break is the perfect time to catch up on the latest blockbuster hits. Whether you’re seeing Zootopia o Kung Fu Panda 3, this can be the perfect season and opportunity to improve your Rocketeer’s reading comprehension skills. By asking questions aligned to standards, students will be building their brain muscles without even realizing it! After the movie, ask:

Pretende que nunca he visto la película antes. ¡Cuéntame qué pasó!
¿Cuál fue la idea principal de la película?
Who were the characters in the movie? What was the setting? Was there a problem? What was it, and how did the characters solve it?
¿Cómo cambió el personaje principal del principio de la película al final?
¿Cuál fue la moraleja o lección de la película?
Which character did you like the most in the movie? Why?
¿Cómo manejó (Personaje) (Situación)? ¿Qué habrías hecho tú? ¿Por qué?

Share your spring break plans with us ➟ @RocketshipEd

Logan llegó a Rocketship en 2013 después de pasar tres años en un distrito vecino en el este de San José. Conoció el modelo de inclusión total inspirado de Rocketship y supo, en sus primeros días como Rocketeer, que estaba en el lugar correcto para influir en el cambio para todos los estudiantes. Logan se inspira especialmente en sus alumnos, quienes parecen entender inherentemente que el aprendizaje puede ser confuso y difícil, pero que, a pesar de ello, están dispuestos a sumergirse de cabeza. Logan vive con su esposo y su perro en la soleada Santa Cruz y dedica su tiempo libre a jugar en las playas o a hacer senderismo bajo los árboles de secuoyas en su patio trasero. Sigue a Logan en Twitter: @loganjuve

Published on marzo 21, 2016