As we pass the halfway point in our school year, one thing that is often a year-long issue is keeping all the math "stuff" organized! If you are doing any small group work, you know that pieces and papers and parts can end up all over the place! Here are a few tips that might help things run a little more smoothly-and save you and your students a little time and frustration. ... Read the Post
Playing math games…they aren’t just for fun (even though they ARE!)
Why do we play games in math class? Tons of reasons! If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that games are an important part of my math class--not every day, but often. As I watched my students last week, I noticed a few things that weren't going as well as I wanted them to--and I realized that I haven't spent enough time talking to them about WHY we play games and what their ... Read the Post
Setting the Tone for Math Workshop!
I am SO excited to be guest blogging over at The Cornerstone for Teachers...I know many of you have been asking for more and more and more about math workshop--so I have kicked off this series of posts with one about "Setting the Tone for Math Workshop". I would love for you to stop by Angela's blog and check it out. If you haven't visited her blog, you are definitely going to want to ... Read the Post
Open Ended Problem Solving: A Holiday Feast Problem!
My current unit in math starts off with a pretty detailed and methodical set of lessons on subtraction using the traditional algorithm. It's good--I like how it's presented. In earlier grades, they did a TON of work with subtraction in a more conceptual way using number lines, manipulatives, 100's charts, and other mental compensation strategies. It's time for them to learn the ... Read the Post
Bullseye Math!
If you are like me, this time of year is really tough. The kids are getting spring fever and you have tons of curriculum to finish and assessments to do. Today I did another version of a math workshop format that I designed to free me up for a good hour to pull kids for assessments. It worked! First of all, I taught my main lesson and made sure to keep it short and sweet. I picked today's ... Read the Post
FUN with computation? Really?
OK...I have to admit. I feel I have worked soooo hard at getting my students secure with their larger number addition and subtraction but I STILL see lots and lots of computational errors. I decided that I needed to create a way for students to practice--and also wanted something that would be usable over and over...would be differentiated by student need...would be fun...and could be ... Read the Post
Monday Made It!
It's time for another MMI--and I have missed the last one or two due to utter craziness! This time I am just going to share out some of my recent accomplishments...some more impressive than others! Some days I feel my creative juices are better than others...and with the chaos of life over the last weeks, some things have had to go! So here goes--some recent creations! We do ... Read the Post