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DPS Family Math Program

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A guide for K-5 families to support, encourage, and experience mathematics together at home with less stress and more fun!

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K-5 Imagine IM Framework

Jasmine Rigby | Lead Family Empowerment + Title I Specialist

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DPS Land Acknowledgement

Recognizing DPS commitments to “Know Justice, Know Peace,” we, the DPS educational community, place our minds and bodies in this space while acknowledging Indigenous relatives who have lived in and cared for this ancient Land from time immemorial. We acknowledge the close relationship that Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute and Natives of other tribal Nations continue to have with the waters, plants, and all moving things that call this Land home. We pledge our respect for those enduring Indigenous connections to the place we now call Colorado.

-- Tink Tinker, Ph.D., Osage Nation

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Our FACE Vision

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When Families and Communities Thrive, Every Learner Thrives

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Cuando las familias y las comunidades prosperan, todos los estudiantes prosperan.

Visión de FACE

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Four Core Beliefs

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  1. All parents have dreams for their children and want the best for them.

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  • All parents have the capacity to support their children’s learning.

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  • Parents and school staff should be equal partners.

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  • The responsibility for building partnerships between school and home rests primarily with school staff, especially school leaders.

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Cuatro Creencias Fundamentales

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  • Todos los padres tienen sueños para sus hijos y quieren lo mejor para ellos.
  • Todos los padres tienen la capacidad de apoyar el aprendizaje de sus hijos.
  • Los padres y el personal escolar deben ser socios iguales.
  • La responsabilidad de crear alianzas entre la escuela y el hogar recae principalmente en el personal escolar, especialmente en los líderes escolares.

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Norms

Respect & Trust: Listen to one another, withhold judgment, and create a safe space to share.�

Everyone’s Voice Matters: Pause, allow all to contribute, and value each person’s wisdom.�

Different Opinions Welcome: Share openly and stay open to others, even when we disagree.�

Supportive Sharing: Offer advice only when asked and honor parenting struggles with compassion.�

Withhold personally identifiable information: Such as birthday, address, school, phone number.

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Normas

Respeto y confianza: Escucharnos unos a otros, evitar juzgar y crear un espacio seguro para compartir.

La voz de todos importa: Toma tiempo para pausar, permita que todos contribuyan y valora la sabiduría de cada persona.

Diferentes opiniones son bienvenidas: Comparta abiertamente y manténgase abierto a los demás, incluso cuando no estemos de acuerdo.

Compartir con apoyo: Ofrece consejos solo cuando se los pidan y honra los desafíos de los padres con compasión.

Ocultar información de identificación personal: Como fecha de nacimiento, dirección, escuela, número de teléfono.

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Interactive Features!/Funciones Interactivas

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Four Core Beliefs

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  • All parents have dreams for their children and want the best for them.

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  • All parents have the capacity to support their children’s learning.

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  • Parents and school staff should be equal partners.

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  • The responsibility for building partnerships between school and home rests primarily with school staff, especially school leaders.

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Agenda

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Introduction to IM Math

Talking About Math (Group Practice)

Real World Math Centers

Closing Resources

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Three Core Principals of IM Math

Provide Access for All

Presume Competence

Strength-Based Focus

Ensures every student has the tools, pathways, visual aids, and processing time required to actively participate in the mathematical work.

Starts with the foundational belief that every student is fully capable of thinking critically, solving complex puzzles, and understanding grade-level math.

Celebrates unique student reasoning. Highlights what children *do* understand and builds on their existing visual or structural ideas.

Math is for everyone, and this curriculum is how we get there.

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Flexible Learning Pathways

People have different preferred ways of learning. If your child is stuck or frustrated, their brain may benefit from trying new sensory strategy:

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  • VISUAL: Draw, color-coded numbers, diagrams, charts

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  • AUDITORY: Explain thinking and read story problems out loud
  • READING / WRITING: Write stories or use sentence stems
  • KINESTHETIC: Use ‘realia’ (coins, paper, count cubes)

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Manipulatives

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Math Learning Center English & Spanish | A suite of visual, open-ended math tools—including number frames, pattern blocks, fraction bars, and math clocks—designed to build conceptual understanding and spatial reasoning.

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Amplify Polypad Over 25 languages: An advanced, highly customizable digital canvas featuring dynamic geometry shapes, algebra tiles, prime factor circles, and probability tools ideal for elementary through high school math.

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Didax Virtual Manipulatives: English | A collection of clean, classic classroom tools—such as Unifix cubes, base-ten blocks, and geoboards—that mirror physical hands-on objects for early elementary math.

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Manipulatives . com: English: An ad-free, classroom-focused digital library (powered by Toy Theater) offering interactive visual counters, spinners, and grid tools for foundational math skills.

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The ‘Three Reads’ Routine

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Mai grew 7 tomatoes. She picked 5. How many tomatoes are in the garden?

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1st Read: Story Context

2nd Read: Mathematicize

3rd Read: Strategy

Read without numbers or the final question. Ask: "What is happening in this story? Who is it about?"

Add the numbers. Ask: "What are the things we can count or measure? What do these numbers stand for?"

Reveal the question. Ask: "What are we trying to solve? How can we represent this situation?"

Expression:

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The ‘Three Reads’ Routine

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  • Mai grew 9 tomatoes. Some were yellow. The rest were red.

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1st Read: Story Context

2nd Read: Mathematicize

3rd Read: Strategy

Read without numbers or the final question. Ask: "What is happening in this story? Who is it about?"

Add the numbers. Ask: "What are the things we can count or measure? What do these numbers stand for?"

Reveal the question. Ask: "What are we trying to solve? How can we represent this situation?"

Expression:

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The ‘Three Reads’ Routine

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  • Diego gathers 42 orange seeds. Jada gathers 16 apple seeds. How many more seeds does Diego gather than Jada? Show your thinking using drawings, numbers, or words.
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1st Read: Story Context

2nd Read: Mathematicize

3rd Read: Strategy

Read without numbers or the final question. Ask: "What is happening in this story? Who is it about?"

Add the numbers. Ask: "What are the things we can count or measure? What do these numbers stand for?"

Reveal the question. Ask: "What are we trying to solve? How can we represent this situation?"

Expression:

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The ‘Three Reads’ Routine

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Maya’s 5th-grade science class is setting up a new rectangular fish tank for their class pet, Bubbles the goldfish.

  • The tank measures 10 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 9 inches tall.
  • To prevent water from splashing out when Bubbles swims around, Maya needs to fill the tank so that the water level reaches 2 inches below the top edge.
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1st Read: Story Context

2nd Read: Mathematicize

3rd Read: Strategy

Read without numbers or the final question. Ask: "What is happening in this story? Who is it about?"

Add the numbers. Ask: "What are the things we can count or measure? What do these numbers stand for?"

Reveal the question. Ask: "What are we trying to solve? How can we represent this situation?"

Expression:

V = L x W x H

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More than Preventing Number ‘Plucking’

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Understanding the Goal (Our Why)

When children see numbers in a word problem, they often instantly add or subtract them without reading the context. By focusing on Math Language Routines, like ‘Three Reads’, we encourage deeper reading comprehension and problem solving skills.

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Real World Application: The Math is everywhere!

For example, cooking is a highly natural, stress-free zone for foundational math concepts. What are some engaging math skills we might see in the kitchen?

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  • Beginner | How Many / More / less: Ask children to count as you go, and ask often if we have enough, and why? For our even younger children, we can task them with describing items as well.

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  • Intermediate | Money & Budgeting: Bring kids into pricing conversations at the grocery store. Compare unit costs of foods.

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  • Advanced | Measurement & Volume: Ask children to help measure out 1/2, 1/4, or whole cups of ingredients.

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Math Centers At Home:

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Station Focus

Hands-On Activity

At-Home Equivalent

Game Night

Play math center card games or roll casino-donated dice to build sums.

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Keep a standard deck of cards in the car or at the dinner table. (ask families for more examples after the rotations).

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The Kitchen Table

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Compare shapes of food items, measure ingredients, or sort foods. (k-5 activities)

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Discuss prices, fraction splits, how many, more/less, and volumes during cooking.

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Story Tellers

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Invent customized word problems based on local Denver landmarks and photos.

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Find mathematical patterns in architecture or nature while walking.

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K-2 Game Night Activity

Materials Needed: Decks of playing cards (face cards removed; Aces = 1), casino-donated dice, dry-erase markers/pencils, paper.

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K–2nd Grade Activity: "Target 10" (Dice & Cards)

  • What Families Do:
    1. Each player draws 3 playing cards or rolls 2 dice.
    2. The goal is to add, subtract, or combine the numbers to get as close to 10 as possible (e.g., if you roll a 6 and a 3, your total is 9—you are "1 away").
    3. Players record their expression on paper (e.g., 6 + 3 = 9). The person closest to 10 wins the round.
  • Math Focus: Subitizing, composing/decomposing numbers within 10, fact fluency.

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These Activities are suggestions for Virtual Presentation - they are subject to change for live school sessions based on what activities we have available.

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3-5 Game Night Activity

Materials Needed: Decks of playing cards (face cards removed; Aces = 1), casino-donated dice, dry-erase markers/pencils, paper.

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3rd–5th Grade Activity: "Place Value Build-It" (Cards & Dice)

  • What Families Do:
      • Each player draws 4 playing cards or rolls 3 dice.
      • The goal is to add, subtract, or combine the numbers to get as close to 24 as possible (e.g., if you roll a 6 and a 3, your total is 9—you are "1 away").
      • Players record their expression on paper (e.g., 6 + 3 = 9). The person closest to 10 wins the round.
    1. Math Focus: Subitizing, composing/decomposing numbers within 10, fact fluency.

These Activities are suggestions for Virtual Presentation - they are subject to change for live school sessions based on what activities we have available.

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Rotation 1

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K-2 Kitchen Table Activity

Materials Needed: Play food models or real, low-cost groceries (graham crackers, pretzels, apples, beans, pasta, dry cereal, paper plates).

K–2nd Grade Activity: "Snack Sorting & Shape Search"

  • What Families Do:
    1. Children sort a bowl of mixed items (e.g., different shaped pasta or dry cereal) into groups by shape, color, or size on a paper plate.
    2. They line up their items to compare amounts: "Which row has more? Which has fewer?"
    3. The Extension: Kids use graham crackers or cheese slices to build 2D shapes (squares, triangles) and "decompose" them by breaking them along the score lines.
  • Math Focus: Sorting, 1-to-1 counting, comparing quantities, foundational 2D geometry..
  • Card Game Examples

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These Activities are suggestions for Virtual Presentation - they are subject to change for live school sessions based on what activities we have available.

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3-5 Kitchen Table Activity

Materials Needed: Play food models or real, low-cost groceries (graham crackers, pretzels, apples, beans, pasta, dry cereal, paper plates).

3rd–5th Grade Activity: "Fraction Feast & Unit Cost"

  • What Families Do:
    1. Fraction Feast: Children take a "whole" food item (like a tortilla, paper plate pizza, or graham cracker) and physically fold or cut it into equal parts (halves, fourths, eighths) to represent fractions.
    2. Grocery Math: Using mock grocery receipts or real food packages, students calculate unit costs (e.g., "If a box of 4 apples costs $2.00, how much does 1 apple cost?").
  • Math Focus: Equal sharing, visual fraction representations, unit rates, real-world budgeting

These Activities are suggestions for Virtual Presentation - they are subject to change for live school sessions based on what activities we have available.

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Rotation 2

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K-2 Storytelling Activity

Materials Needed: Laminated photos of Denver landmarks (e.g., Denver Zoo, Union Station, Red Rocks, Coors Field, Denver Botanic Gardens), dry-erase markers, and sentence stem cards.

🔹 K–2nd Grade Activity: "Denver Picture Stories"

  • What Families Do:
    1. Families choose a local photo (e.g., flamingos at the Denver Zoo or trains at Union Station).
    2. Without looking at any numbers, children describe the scene using a sentence stem:�"I see [amount] of _______ on the train platform, and then [amount] more arrive."
    3. They draw a quick representation (circles or tally marks) of their story and write a simple addition/subtraction sentence.
  • Math Focus: Connecting real-world contexts to math, practicing the first 2 steps of the Three Reads routine, visual representation.

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These Activities are suggestions for Virtual Presentation - they are subject to change for live school sessions based on what activities we have available.

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3-5 Storytelling Activity

Materials Needed: Laminated photos of Denver landmarks (e.g., Denver Zoo, Union Station, Red Rocks, Coors Field, Denver Botanic Gardens), dry-erase markers, and sentence stem cards.

3rd–5th Grade Activity: "City Challenge Problems"

  • What Families Do:
    1. Families pick a Denver landmark photo (e.g., Red Rocks Amphitheatre or Coors Field).
    2. Students write a multi-step math problem using the landmark context (e.g., "There are 8 rows of seats at Red Rocks with 10 people in each row...").
    3. They swap their problem with another family to solve using a visual strategy (such as an array, tape diagram, or number line) instead of just writing an equation.
  • Math Focus: Word problem creation, multi-step operations (multiplication/division/fractions), constructing mathematical arguments.

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These Activities are suggestions for Virtual Presentation - they are subject to change for live school sessions based on what activities we have available.

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Rotation 3

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Family Math Activities: English | Spanish

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Debrief

Which station felt the most natural to try at home?

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What is one everyday moment in your routine where math is already happening?

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What tools and games already work for you at home?

Math isn't just a subject at school; it's a language we use at home every day.

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Digital Resources:

Imagine IM Family Support Hub:

  • Consent Decree Translated Portals: Imagine IM Parent Resource Guides are available in English, Spanish, Arabic, French, and Vietnamese
  • Unit Learning Content & Videos: Every single unit across grades K-5 includes short, interactive explanation videos designed directly to show families what is being studied in class and how to support it.
  • Virtual Manipulative Library (Login Required)

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Other Learning Tools:

  • student.dpsk12.org: Retain district student logins throughout summer break, allowing continuous, fun learning loops outside school.
  • Khan Academy

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Free Community Math Supports

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denverlibrary.org/tutorcom: Virtual on-demand tutoring and homework help for students and adult learners, with resources and support for English language learners.

Academic Search Premier (EBSCO): Free access to math skill-building courses, practice tests, and foundational math tutorials from elementary through high school.

My Denver Card: Provides all Denver youth (ages 5–18) free access to all Denver Recreation Centers, which frequently host structured after-school programs, drop-in homework spaces, and computer labs.

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Advocate for Your Child

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Conference Questions to Ask

  • Is my child performing on grade-level in math?
  • What specific visual representation tools do they prefer?
  • Which online tool should they practice on for 15 mins?
  • Any other games, or strategies I can use to support my child’s math at home?

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Advocate for Your Child

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Explore More Resources

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Next Wednesday

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Read & Rise Family Literacy Program | English 5 pm

Spanish 6:30 pm

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Bring this Program to Your School!

Food

Giveaways

Childcare

Connection

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Ways to Stay in Touch

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Feedback & Fun Time!

All Families are going home with a Family math Kit

Mark Fukae | Title I Specialist | mark_fukae@dpsk12.net

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Jasmine Rigby | Lead Family Empowerment | jasmine_rigby@dpsk12.net

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Sources

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