Homework help
for first grade Investigations units
*Note: These
suggestions are written for the homework designed by the authors of each unit
(usually a Student Sheet).
If teachers
choose to send home other work, they may choose to send home additional
suggestions for helping your child.
Click here for explanations of
the math content in all of the first grade units.
Skip to Building Number Sense
Skip to Survey Questions and Secret Rules
Skip to Bigger, Taller, Heavier, Smaller
Skip to Number Games and Story Problems
Mathematical Thinking at Grade 1
Investigation
1
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this investigation. Teachers may choose to assign other
tasks.
Investigation
2
Session
1
Students
are to play the game Compare with someone. They will bring home SS 1 and a set of number cards. Students should keep their cards in a
special place at home unless the teacher requests that they are returned to
school. Compare is an alternate
version of the game War. The
variations at the bottom of SS 1 can be fun for students at different levels.
Sessions
2 and 3
Students
are to play Compare or Double Compare with someone. The directions for Double Compare are on SS 2. This game is similar to Compare, but
now players are to turn over two cards and add the numbers together; the person
with the larger total wins. Help your child to think of different ways to add
the two numbers each time.
Teachers may choose to send home the Game Record Sheet to help students
think about what they have learned while playing these games. A sample response on one of these
sheets might be: I had to use buttons to figure out what 2 + 5 was, but I
figured out the rest in my head.
Session
4
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session. Teachers may choose to assign other tasks.
Sessions
5 and 6
Students
are to complete SS 3, Balls and Bats, with the number 8 or perhaps a different
number that the teacher has chosen.
The idea of this activity is for students to determine all of the ways
you could have a total of 8 items, where some are balls and some are
bats.
Investigation
3
Session
1
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session. Teachers may choose to assign other tasks.
Session
2
Students
are to play Double Compare with someone.
The directions for Double Compare are on SS 2. Players are to turn over two cards on each turn and add the
numbers together; the person with the larger total wins. Help your child to think of different
ways to add the two numbers each time.
Teachers may choose to send home the Game Record Sheet to help students
think about what they have learned while playing this game. A sample response on one of these
sheets might be: I had to use buttons to figure out what 2 + 5 was, but I
figured out the rest in my head.
Sessions
3 and 4
Teachers
will send home SS 4, Patterns from Home.
Please read this and help your child find something at home to that has a
pattern on it and that can be brought to school.
Sessions
5 and 6
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session. Teachers may choose to assign other tasks.
Investigation
4
Session
1
Students
are to play the game Collect 15 Together with someone. The directions for this game are on SS
5. Note the last sentence on the
sheet if you do not have a dot cube at home. As students are playing this game, you can ask them how many
they still need to get to 15 and how they know this. It is good to help your child focus on 10 as a landmark
number; that is, students can use 10 as a reference point to help them figure
out how many they have and how many more they need (if they have 8, they need 2
more to get 10 and 5 more to get 15, and 2 + 5 = 7). Teachers may choose to send home the Game Record Sheet to
help students think about what they have learned while playing this game. A sample response on one of these
sheets might be: I had to use the cubes to figure out how many I needed to
get from 3 to 15 cubes, but I figured out the rest in my head.
Sessions
2 and 3
Students
are to play Compare, Double Compare, or Collect 15 Together with someone.
Teachers may choose to send home the Game Record Sheet to help students think
about what they have learned while playing these games. A sample response on one of these
sheets might be: I had to use buttons to figure out what 2 + 5 was, but I
figured out the rest in my head. See
below for notes about each:
Compare
Students
will bring home SS 1 and a set of number cards. Compare is an alternate version of the game War. The variations at the bottom of SS 1
can be fun for students at different levels.
Double
Compare
The
directions for Double Compare are on SS 2. Players are to turn over two cards on each turn and add the
numbers together; the person with the larger total wins. Help your child to think of different
ways to add the two numbers each time.
Collect
15 Together
The
directions for this game are on SS 5.
Note the last sentence on the sheet if you do not have a dot cube at
home. As students are playing this
game, you can ask them how many they still need to get to 15 and how they know
this. It is good to help your
child focus on 10 as a landmark number; that is, students can use 10 as a
reference point to help them figure out how many they have and how many more
they need (if they have 8, they need 2 more to get 10 and 5 more to get 15, and
2 + 5 = 7).
Session
4
Students
are to complete SS 6, Dinosaurs and Tigers, with the number 10 or perhaps a
different number that the teacher has chosen. The idea of this activity is for students to determine all
of the ways you could have a total of 10 animals, where some are
dinosaurs and some are tigers.
Session
5
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session. Teachers may choose to assign other tasks.
Session
6
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session. Teachers may choose to assign other tasks.
Investigation
5
Session
1
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session. Teachers may choose to assign other tasks.
Session
2
Students
are to play Compare, Double Compare, or Collect 15 Together with someone.
Teachers may choose to send home the Game Record Sheet to help students think
about what they have learned while playing these games. A sample response on one of these
sheets might be: I had to use buttons to figure out what 2 + 5 was, but I
figured out the rest in my head. See
below for notes about each:
Compare
Students
will bring home SS 1 and a set of number cards. Compare is an alternate version of the game War. The variations at the bottom of SS 1
can be fun for students at different levels.
Double
Compare
The
directions for Double Compare are on SS 2. Players are to turn over two cards on each turn and add the
numbers together; the person with the larger total wins. Help your child to think of different
ways to add the two numbers each time.
Collect
15 Together
The
directions for this game are on SS 5.
Note the last sentence on the sheet if you do not have a dot cube at
home. As students are playing this
game, you can ask them how many they still need to get to 15 and how they know
this. It is good to help your
child focus on 10 as a landmark number; that is, students can use 10 as a
reference point to help them figure out how many they have and how many more
they need (if they have 8, they need 2 more to get 10 and 5 more to get 15, and
2 + 5 = 7).
Sessions
3 and 4
Students
will be asked to complete either SS 7 or SS 8, as the teacher chooses. The idea of these activities is for
students to determine all of the ways you could have a total of the
given number of items, where there are different types of items that could be
part of this total.
Sessions
5 and 6
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session. Teachers may choose to assign other tasks.
Investigation
1
Session
1
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may send home
the family letter or other homework tasks.
Session
2
Students
are to play Compare Dots with someone.
They will need SS 1 and four sheets to make Dot Cards, set A. Keep these in a safe place at home for
later use. The variations at the
bottom of SS 1 can be fun for students at different levels.
Sessions
3 and 4
Students
are to follow the directions on SS 2, Copying Counters. The mathematical emphases in this game
are on knowing how to find the correct number of counters to use and arranging
them in the same way that the other person did (building spatial sense).
Sessions
5 and 6
No
homework is assigned by the authors in these sessions, but teachers may choose
to assign other tasks.
Sessions
7 and 8
Students
are to play Double Compare Dots with someone (a variation on Compare Dots that
is found at the bottom of SS 1).
They will need SS 1 and their Dot Cards, set A. Keep these in a safe place at home for
later use. The other variations at
the bottom of SS 1 can be fun for students at different levels.
Session
9
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Investigation
2
Session
1
Students
are to complete SS 5 as directed, with the number 11 or perhaps a different
number that the teacher has chosen.
The idea of this activity is for students to determine all of the ways
you could have a total of 11 items, where some are turtles and some are
frogs.
Session
2
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Session
3
Students
are to play Double Compare with someone.
The directions for Double Compare are on SS 6, and they will need a set
of Number Cards (probably saved from the previous unit). Players are to turn over two cards and
add the numbers together; the person with the larger total wins. Help your
child to think of different ways to add the two numbers each time. Teachers may choose to send home the
Game Record Sheet to help students think about what they have learned while
playing these games. A sample
response on one of these sheets might be: I had to use buttons to figure out
what 2 + 5 was, but I figured out the rest in my head.
Sessions
4 and 5
(Session
4)
Students
are to play On and Off with someone.
They will need SS 7 (the directions), SS 8 (the game grid), and about 20
items that can be used as counters, such as beans, pennies, paper clips,
etc. Teachers may suggest a number
of items to use. The idea of this
game is for students to develop the relationship between parts of a group and
the whole group and how to find out how many are in a part when they know the
whole and one part (leading toward addition and subtraction facts).
(Session
5)
Students
are to play Counters in a Cup with someone. They will need SS 9 (the directions), SS 10 (the game grid),
a small cup or other container that is not clear, and about 20 items that can
be used as counters, such as beans, pennies, paper clips, etc. Teachers may suggest a number of items
to use. The idea of this game is
for students to develop the relationship between parts of a group and the whole
group and how to find out how many are in a part when they know the whole and
one part (leading toward addition and subtraction facts).
Sessions
6, 7, and 8
Students
are to play any of the following games with someone: Compare Dots, Copying
Counters, Double Compare, On and Off, and Counters in a Cup. See above for information about each of
these. Teachers may choose to send
home the Game Record Sheet to help students think about what they have learned
while playing these games. A
sample response on one of these sheets might be: I had to use buttons to
figure out what 2 + 5 was, but I figured out the rest in my head.
Session
9
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Investigation
3
Sessions
1 and 2
Students
are to complete SS 11 as directed.
You might also encourage your student to try to represent the number
using pictures or words, or write one or two things he/she can observe about
the number.
Sessions
3 and 4
Students
are to play any of the following games with someone: Compare Dots, Copying
Counters, Double Compare, On and Off, and Counters in a Cup. See above for information about each of
these. Teachers may choose to send
home the Game Record Sheet to help students think about what they have learned
while playing these games. A
sample response on one of these sheets might be: I had to use buttons to
figure out what 2 + 5 was, but I figured out the rest in my head.
Sessions
5, 6, and 7
Students
are to play Ten Turns with someone.
They will need SS 13, SS 14, a number cube, and pennies or other
counters (beans, paper clips, etc.).
You may have a number cube at home as part of a board game; if not, students
can use the number cards 1-6 from their number card deck or create slips of
paper with the numbers 1-6 (these would be drawn randomly during the
game). The mathematical focus of
this game is learning to find totals fairly efficiently, particularly using
landmarks of 10, 20, and 30 as possible stopping points (landmarks) along the
way.
Session
8
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Session
9
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Investigation
4
Session
1
Students
are to complete SS 15, Apples and Oranges. Even if these numbers are relatively simple for your
student, it is important for each student to be able to clearly represent how
the problem could be solved using pictures, numbers, and/or words (depending on
teacher instructions). Encourage
your student to think about ways to break apart the numbers and re-combine them
in another way to find the total.
Session
2
Students
are to complete SS 16, Eating Apples.
Even if these numbers are relatively simple for your student, it is
important for each student to be able to clearly represent how the problem
could be solved using pictures, numbers, and/or words (depending on teacher
instructions). Encourage your
student to think about ways to break apart the numbers and re-combine them in
another way to find the solution.
Sessions
3, 4, and 5
1)
Teachers may choose to send home story problems from Set A (pasted to unlined
paper) for students to finish.
Even if these numbers are relatively simple for your student, it is
important for each student to be able to clearly represent how the problem
could be solved using pictures, numbers, and/or words (depending on teacher instructions). Encourage your student to think about
ways to break apart the numbers and re-combine them in another way to find the
solution.
2)
Students are to play Five-in-a-Row with someone. They will need SS 17-20, two number cubes, and a number of counters
(such as beans or pennies) to use as game markers. You may have number cubes at home as part of a board game;
if not, students can use 2 sets of the number cards 1-6 from their number card
deck or create 2 sets of slips of paper with the numbers 1-6 (these would be
drawn randomly during the game).
The mathematical focus of this game is finding the total of two
numbers. Even if these numbers are
relatively easy for your student, encourage him/her to think about ways to
break apart the numbers and re-combine them in another way to find the total.
Session
6
Students
are to play Dot Addition with someone.
They will need SS 21 and 22 and Dot Addition cards (to be cut up either
at school or home). The
mathematical focuses of this game are finding totals (leading to addition
facts) and thinking about how to get a total when part of the set is already in
place (leading to subtraction facts) – ex: what card do I need to get 11
when I already have 8 dots here?
Even if these numbers are relatively easy for your student, encourage
him/her to think about ways to break apart the numbers and re-combine them in
other ways to find solutions.
Sessions
7, 8, and 9
1)
Teachers may choose to send home story problems from Sets A and/or B (pasted to
unlined paper) for students to finish.
Even if these numbers are relatively simple for your student, it is
important for each student to be able to clearly represent how the problem
could be solved using pictures, numbers, and/or words (depending on teacher
instructions). Encourage your
student to think about ways to break apart the numbers and re-combine them in
another way to find the solution.
2)
Students are to play Dot Addition with someone. They will need SS 23 and 24 and Dot Addition cards (to be cut
up either at school or home). The
mathematical focuses of this game are finding totals (leading to addition
facts) and thinking about how to get a total when part of the set is already in
place (leading to subtraction facts) – ex: what card do I need to get 11
when I already have 8 dots here?
Even if these numbers are relatively easy for your student, encourage
him/her to think about ways to break apart the numbers and re-combine them in
other ways to find solutions.
Session
10
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Survey Questions and Secret Rules
Investigation
1
Sessions
1 and 2
No
homework is assigned by the authors in these sessions, but teachers may choose
to assign other tasks, possibly including collecting lids and buttons to be
brought from home for sorting in class.
Please be sure that anything sent to class is clean and not something
you need to get back.
Session
3
Students
are to complete SS 1, Describe a Button.
The more words that students can write, the better, because these words
will be used to sort and classify, skills which are important building blocks
for logic in mathematics.
Session
4
Students
are to complete SS 2, Sorting Things.
Read and help your child with the directions, and be sure that his/her
final sort includes two opposite groups (the example is squares and not
squares; another example might be noisy when dropped and quiet when
dropped). Nothing should be able
to fit into both groups, and anything that the child might choose should fit
into one of the groups.
Session
5
Students
are to complete SS 3, Design a Lid.
This can be a lid from any container. If your child does not remember what the class groups of
lids were, he/she can write any words that describe this lid.
Session
6
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Investigation
2
Sessions
1 and 2
Students
are to bring in items listed on Student Sheet 5, Collections for Sorting. Your child should take 10-15 of the
same type of item, not a few of one and a few of another. (but they should not be
identical)
Sessions
3 and 4
No
homework is assigned by the authors in these sessions, but teachers may choose
to assign other tasks.
Sessions
5 and 6
For
the beginning of Investigation 3, each student will need to write down his/her
birthdate and bring it to class.
If, for any reason, this cannot be done, your child can choose another
day that is special to him/her and bring it in.
Investigation
3
Session
1
Students
are to complete Student Sheet 7, Calendars. Help your child look for mathematical ideas related to the
calendar, such as numbers of days in a week, weeks in a month, days in 2 weeks,
patterns in the dates, etc.
Session
2
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Session
3
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Investigation
4
Session
1
Students
are to complete Student Sheet 8, Record of Family Ages. This will be used in class, so the
information should be relatively accurate so that students can get a sense of
the differences among the ages of family members. See the suggestions on the sheet.
Sessions
2 and 3
No
homework is assigned by the authors in these sessions, but teachers may choose
to assign other tasks.
Sessions
4 and 5
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Bigger, Taller, Heavier, Smaller
Investigation
1
Sessions
1 and 2
Students
should refer to SS 2, Something to Weigh, which asks them to bring one small
item to school to weigh. The size
limitations are on the sheet. They
should write what they decide to bring on the sheet.
Sessions
3 and 4
No
homework is assigned by the authors in these sessions, but teachers may choose
to assign other tasks.
Sessions
5 and 6
Students
should complete SS 4, Finding Things That Balance. They are to find two collections of small items that seem to
weigh about the same amount, which they will determine by how heavy two bags
feel when the items are in them.
This activity is intended to help students develop the idea that items
can weigh different amounts even if they may be similar in size, or they may
weigh similar amounts even though they may be different in size.
Investigation
3
Session
1
Students
should complete SS 15, Foot Outlines from Home, following the steps listed on
the sheet. Students may need help
cutting out the foot outlines.
These outlines will be used for length measurement activities in class.
Session
2
Students
should refer to SS 17, Shorter Than My Arm, which asks them to bring two
non-breakable items from home to measure (measuring length). They should write what they decide to
bring on the sheet.
Session
3
Students
should complete SS 16, Measuring With Hands and Feet. This will be the second copy of this sheet that they will do
because they also used a copy in class.
They are to measure with their own hands or feet because this helps them
to recognize that they will get different measurements and that hands and feet
on different people will also produce different measurements. It is important for first graders to
use actual units (even hands and feet) to measure rather than representations
of units, as we have on rulers or measuring tapes, because they must be able to
touch and physically repeat the units before they can understand how these
units are shown more abstractly on rulers.
Sessions
4 and 5
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Number Games and Story Problems
Investigation
1
Session
1
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Sessions
2 and 3
1)
Students are to play Dot Addition with someone. They will need the Dot Addition Boards from class, SS 1, and
Dot Addition cards (they may have these from an earlier unit, or if not, they
should be sent home). The
mathematical focuses of this game are finding totals (leading to addition
facts) and thinking about how to get a total when part of the set is already in
place (leading to subtraction facts) – ex: what card do I need to get 11
when I already have 8 dots here?
Even if these numbers are relatively easy for your student, encourage
him/her to think about ways to break apart the numbers and re-combine them in
other ways to find solutions.
2)
Students are to play On and Off with someone. They will need SS 5 (the directions) and SS 6 (the game
grid) along with 20 or more counters like pennies, beans, paper clips, etc. Teachers may suggest a number of items
to use. The idea of this game is
for students to develop the relationship between parts of a group and the whole
group and how to find out how many are in a part when they know the whole and
one part (leading toward addition and subtraction facts).
Sessions
4 and 5
Students
are to play Total of 10 with someone.
They will need SS 7 (the directions) and a set of number cards. Cards will be sent home if your student
does not already have them at home (or any cards numbered 0-10 in two or three
sets will work). Students can try
the variations at the bottom of SS 7 if they are ready for a number other than
10. 10 is an important number for
students to understand, especially how it can be broken into parts.
Session
6
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Sessions
7, 8, and 9
1)
Students are to play Counters in a Cup with someone. They will need SS 8 (the directions) and SS 9 (the game
grid). They will also need a cup
and about 20 or more counters such as pennies, paper clips, buttons, beans,
etc. Teachers may suggest a number
of items to use. The idea of this
game is for students to develop the relationship between parts of a group and
the whole group and how to find out how many are in a part when they know the whole
and one part (leading toward addition and subtraction facts).
2)
Students may also be asked to play the other games from this unit; see the
notes above for Sessions 2-5.
Session
10
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Investigation
2
Session
1
Students
are to complete SS 10, How Many Hands at Home? They should be sure to write a number sentence (with an
equal sign) to show the total. If they
would like to then count hands and paws at home, they may do that.
Session
2
Students
are to solve the problem on SS 11, Cats and Paws. They should be sure to write a number sentence (with an
equal sign) to show the total.
Session
3
Students
are to play Collect 25 Cents Together with someone. They will need SS 12 (the directions), a collection of real
or play coins, and a dot cube. See
the Note To Families on the sheet if you do not have a dot cube at home. As students are playing this game, you
can ask them how many they still need to get to 25 cents and how they know
this. It is good to help your
child focus on 10 and 20 as landmark numbers; that is, students can use 10 and
20 as reference points to help them figure out how many they have and how many
more they need (if they have 18, they need 2 more to get 20 and 5 more to get
25, and 2 + 5 = 7). Students can
try the variations on SS 12 if they are ready.
Sessions
4 and 5
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Sessions
6, 7, and 8
Students
are to solve the problem on SS 14, Coins.
They should be sure to write a number sentence (with an equal sign) to
show the total. It might also be
fun for your child to make up a new problem like this one for you to solve, or
vice versa.
Session
9
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Sessions
10, 11, and 12
Students
are to complete SS 16, 17, and 18, which contain partially filled 100
charts. Help your student look for
patterns in the tens and in the ones in order to determine what numbers to
write where. It is probably not
going to be helpful to give your child a 100 chart to copy from unless he/she
is very unsure at the beginning.
The goal is for students to have a mental image of where each number
would be placed and why – this develops place value sense.
Session
13
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
Investigation
3
Session
1
Students
are to solve the problem on SS 19, At the Beach. They should be sure to write a number sentence (with an
equal sign) to show the total. It
might also be fun for your child to make up a new problem like this one for you
to solve, or vice versa. It will
also be beneficial if your student can explain why the answer to the original
problem makes sense in several ways; this shows good number sense.
Session
2
Students
are to solve the problem on SS 20, Clay Animals. They should be sure to write a number sentence (with an
equal sign) to show the total. It
might also be fun for your child to make up a new problem like this one for you
to solve, or vice versa. It will
also be beneficial if your student can explain why the answer to the original
problem makes sense in several ways; this shows good number sense.
Sessions
3, 4, and 5
1)
Students may be asked to continue working on story problems from Set A. If so, they will have copies that they
will bring home. They may use
pictures, numbers, or words, and they should be sure to write a number sentence
(with an equal sign) to show the answer.
It will also be beneficial if your student can explain why the answer to
the problem makes sense in several ways; this shows good number sense.
2)
Students are to play Five-in-a-Row With Three Cards with someone. They will need SS 21 (the directions),
a set of number cards (or any cards numbered 0-10 a few times), Five-in-a-Row
Boards A through C, and counters such as beans, pennies, buttons, etc. The idea of this game is for students
to practice recalling sums of single-digit numbers and to think about various
ways to come up with different totals.
Your child might want to try the variations on the game as well.
Sessions
6, 7, and 8
1)
Students may be asked to continue working on story problems from Set A and/or
B. If so, they will have copies
that they will bring home. They
may use pictures, numbers, or words, and they should be sure to write a number
sentence (with an equal sign) to show the answer. It will also be beneficial if your student can explain why
the answer to the problem makes sense in several ways; this shows good number
sense.
2)
Students are to play Tens Go Fish with someone. They will need SS 25 (the directions) and a set of number
cards (or any cards numbered 0-10 a few times). 10 is an important number for students to understand,
especially how it can be broken into parts.
Session
9
Students
are to complete SS 26, Write Your Own Story Problem. They should be sure to write a number sentence (with an
equal sign) to show the total. It
might also be fun for your child to make up a new problem like this one for you
to solve, or vice versa. It will
also be beneficial if your student can explain why the answer to the original
problem makes sense in several ways; this shows good number sense.
Sessions
10, 11, and 12
1)
Students may be asked to continue working on story problems from Sets A through
D. If so, they will have copies
that they will bring home. They
may use pictures, numbers, or words, and they should be sure to write a number
sentence (with an equal sign) to show the answer. It will also be beneficial if your student can explain why
the answer to the problem makes sense in several ways; this shows good number
sense.
2)
Students are to play any of the math games from this unit with someone. It might be helpful to encourage them
to try the variations that are listed on each set of directions (see the notes
about each game in Investigations 1-3 above).
Session
13
No
homework is assigned by the authors in this session, but teachers may choose to
assign other tasks.
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