One component of math instruction that is often overlooked is having teachers nurture creative thinking in students. By encouraging students to create their own meaning and solution strategies rather than just "fill in the blank", depth of understanding is cemented. This is true for many math concepts, but is often overlooked when teaching using number line activities. Check out this post for ... Read the Post
Blast from the past….Number Lines
Well...it's time to start thinking about upcoming units in my fourth grade studio--and I wanted to share with you something I have been doing more and more of this year with great results. I challenge you to think about how you can incorporate this simple strategy into your math instruction over the upcoming months. As you all know, number sense is critical for students as we work to ... Read the Post
Number Sense with Number Lines
As I do every year, I start off with really trying to wrap my head around where my students are with their understanding of "number". We start by talking about composing and decomposing small numbers, we make sure we understand the concept of "equal", and a number of other foundation concepts that are critical for later learning. Number lines and place value thinking Not much later, I ... Read the Post
What is number sense?
Do you ever hear people talk about terms in education and wonder, "Hmmm...I THINK I know what that means..." or "That isn't what I THOUGHT that was..."? Me too. I hear people say "reader's workshop" and I wonder if they define it the same way I do. I hear people say "project based learning" and "formative assessment" and "close reading" and I wonder if I really know what they mean. ... Read the Post
Number Sense with Number Lines!
Why number lines? A solid understanding of number sense and place value is absolutely critical as we move our students forward in their mathematical thinking. We often expose them to numbers in a variety of ways…using manipulatives, using 100’s charts, and so on. One area that is often overlooked is the building of understanding of how numbers relate to each other and how they ... Read the Post