Click here for summer reading
Welcome to
Webster Hill
Elementary School
Back to School Supply Packs-- Click here
Welcome to Summer Adventures! It’s important to stay educationally active throughout the summer so I’ll be posting some ideas each week to help.
Summer Adventure Activity Four: Find math in your daily experiences:
- find patterns all around you
- review basic facts
- count change
- count by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s (choose a random number and count by 2's, 5's, and 10's)
- do a web search for number games and puzzles (KenKen puzzles are great)
- Pick a letter and see if they can make the sound.
- Pick a letter of the alphabet and see how many words you can come up with that start with that letter. (Take turns going back and forth until you run out of words and then try a new letter).
- Pick a letter of the alphabet and see how many words you can come up with that end with that letter. (Take turns going back and forth until you run out of words and then try a new letter).
- Pick two letters and see if they can come up with a word that starts with the first letter and ends with the second (example: You say “a, e” and they say ape or apple).
- Pick a simple word and see how many times you can take turns finding words that rhyme with it.
- Take turns saying words that eventually make a sentence that makes sense. When you or your partner think the sentence is over, they can say “period, question mark or exclamation point” on their turn.
- Play the “alphabet game”. You pick a word that starts with “a”, they pick a word that starts with “b” and keep going until you finish the alphabet.
- Play a “category game”. Pick a category like animals, colors, shapes and see how many words you and your child can come up with that fit the category.
- Play the category game where you share a category and say three things. One of the things won’t belong. See if they can guess which one. Example: “The category is farm animals. Which doesn’t belong- pigs, chickens, bears?"
- Start with the letter A and look on signs for words that begin or end with that letter. You could also make lists of things you hope to see while driving and then keep track of the number of times you saw them. You could make up math problems using the numbers when the list gets large enough.
Summer Adventure Activity Two: Plan a weekly "family game night"! Children learn so much from playing board games and card games (there are many fun outdoor games, too). Children learn to be patient when it's not their turn, they learn to think, strategize, plan, and communicate. If you help them, they learn how to win graciously and learn how to lose (yes, it's okay to beat your child at a game). Weekly game night brings your family together combining fun and important life skills!
Summer Adventure Activity One: Pick a “word of the day”. Make it a robust vocabulary word and see how many times you can use it. Pick a new one each day. Talk about synonyms and antonyms for the word, too.
For this week, I ask that you spend some time with your child or children and make a plan for daily reading.
- When will they read (when they first wake up, after lunch, before bed)?
- When will you read to them? Elementary school students are not too old to be read to.
- Where will they read? Identifying a place helps ensure fidelity.
- Don’t focus on how much they read. Don’t set timers. The goal is for students to love what they are reading so help them find books that they want to read. Anything is fine. Fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, biographies, articles, etc.
- Whenever possible, read together. Whether it’s on the beach, by the pool, on the couch, under a tree, or wherever, grab your book and read together.
- Talk about the books they are reading. Talk about the characters, the characters’ decisions, the information they are learning, and more. Don’t quiz or test them. Use this discussion time to enjoy being with your child and make the process of reading a positive one. Help model that reading is fun!
Jeff Wallowitz-Principal
125 Webster Hill Boulevard
West Hartford, CT 06107
Phone 860-521-0320
Fax 860-561-1230
West Hartford Public Schools
50 South Main St, West Hartford, CT 06107
T: 860-561-6600
F: 860-561-6910