We all know that students are hard to "engage" at this time of year--so asking them to solve end of year word problems seems unrealistic, right? WRONG! When we create math problems related to topics students care about--they are FAR more likely to engage. I love doing problem solving at the end of the year because it's the perfect time to apply all those Standards for Mathematical Practice. ... Read the Post
New on the Blog
Teaching Students About Planning Narrative Writing
During our historical fiction unit, our curriculum gives students the opportunity to do a unique type of narrative writing. They take a key "scene" from one of the books we have read (either as a read aloud or their book club novel) and rewrite one scene from a different character's point of view. To really guide and scaffold their work, I wrote my own narrative from our read aloud as they wrote ... Read the Post
Focused Instruction: Teaching Effective Writing Minilessons
Well, I knew it was coming. We got the news that we are "virtual" for the rest of the year. Not a surprise, but devastating nonetheless. It's time to look at the remaining curriculum, streamline it, and figure out how to get the most "bang" for the delivery method with truly focused instruction. One thing that is becoming clear to me is that short and sweet is the way to go when teaching ... Read the Post
Accountable Talk: Teaching Speaking and Listening
Do you explicitly teach speaking and listening in your classroom? Many of us are familiar with the term "accountable talk" as it refers to discourse in the classroom. Many districts have begun implementing "accountable talk" initiatives. Teachers are working hard to explicitly teach students how to engage in quality educational discussions. I think most educators will be in agreement that this ... Read the Post
Teaching Patterns and Patterning in Upper Grades
Why Teach Patterns? "Patterning" is something that has typically been a focus of primary classrooms. Pass by any kindergarten or first grade room early in the school year and you can expect to see SOME sort of patterning work happening. The simple truth is that we sometimes forget WHY we get our youngest students thinking in terms of patterns. We NEED students to be able to recognize and ... Read the Post
Word Problem Mistake: Making All Your Word Problems Match Your Content
Over the years I have noticed that students tend to look for routine in math class. If it’s a division unit, they will divide any two numbers they find! If it’s a subtraction unit, they try to regroup everything! So what does this mean for word problems? It means we need to put students in a position where THEY need to think and decide what operation and strategies to choose. If we constantly ... Read the Post
Addition and Subtraction Computation with a TWIST!
Teaching Computation Addition and subtraction with regrouping are two critical math skills that all elementary students must learn. One thing that we often forget is that students need to experience math instruction—even computation in different ways. So often we ask them to “fill in the blank” instead of really thinking and tapping into that number sense we know they need. Most math series do ... Read the Post
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