Free Math Ideas for the Duration! Starting with THE FRACTION MUSEUM

Hi All,

To try and help folks out in a small way during our current Coronavirus circumstances, I thought I might share some free math ideas with any teachers, parents, and/or kids who are looking for good problems, projects, and activities to do.

Some of you may know me as having been an elementary teacher, curriculum developer, math coach, and supervisor in the West Windsor-Plainsboro Schools in Princeton Junction, NJ or as an author of math books for Scholastic. I try to develop problems and activities that are interesting, fun, and challenging.

I plan on posting a piece every couple of days. I'll give you a brief description of the activity and then attach a pdf you can download and print.

Today, as an introduction, here's a link to an activity called The Fraction Museum. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/videos/teaching-content/fraction-museums-bob-krech/ This is a video of me teaching the lesson with a third grade class.

You can do this activity with any age from K-8. You don't need any special manipulatives or a pdf for this one. Use whatever you have around the house, anything you can break or cut into equal parts (ie; paper, cardboard, chocolate bars, etc.) or form into sets or groups (coins, paper clips, buttons, etc.)

I hope you find this helpful. Stay safe. God bless! And may the math be with you! 😀
All the best,
Bob Krech

Comments

What Does Not Belong?

Hi All, "What Does Not Belong" is such a great little concept and can be applied to so many different areas of math as well as other content areas. Great little game when you are waiting, like for buses to be called or for the day to begin. Also a great game for long car or bus rides where if there are no written numbers or pictures you really have to do the mental math. Present a group of numbers. Start with maybe six. Say, 10 56 17 122 4 98 Ask the players to identify which number does not belong and have them explain why. We want players to look at the characteristics of the numbers and compare them to try to find the selection criteria or "rule" so they can determine which does not belong. For example, we have a mix of 1, 2, and 3 digit numbers, so it's not the "rule" is not the number of digits. We have five even numbers and only one odd number. That's it! 17 does not belong,...

EGG BOX SHAKE! IT'S WHATEVER YOU WANT IT TO BE.

Hi All, Shake it up! Egg Box Shake is noisy and fun! That's a big plus right there for most kids. Students like to create and keep their own math tools, and this is a great opportunity to do that as well. And, teachers can adapt the game to fit any level or mathematical operation. Win. Win. Win. Egg Box Shake originated as a coin identification and addition game for grades 1 – 3. I had students bring in an egg carton from home and then provided them with play money or coin stamps, ink pads, and card stock. They stamped out pictures of the coins onto card stock, front and back images, and then cut out the pictures. Students glued these pictures into the bottom of the twelve sections of the egg carton. Each player would get two beads, beans, chips, marbles, or any other small manipulative. They put these into the box and closed it. They then shook the box. When they stopped they opened it and saw where the beads had landed. Players added those two coins o...

Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum? No! FIDDLE, FADDLE, FLOP!

Hi All, Ready for another great game? Ready for Fiddle, Faddle, Flop? It's a great game for place value, mental math, and number work. You can play anywhere at any time. All you need is a pencil and paper or board and markers. Tell students that you are thinking of a number. Explain that it has two digits. Invite them to guess the number. You will respond to their guesses by saying one of four words: Fiddle, Faddle, Flop, or Correct. Here is the translation for those words: Fiddle: one of the digits is correct, but is in the wrong place Faddle: one of the digits is correct and in the correct place Flop: none of the digits is correct Correct: both digits are correct For example, if you are thinking of the number 17 and my guess is 68, you would say Flop since none of the digits is correct. On your next guess, if you were to say 76, I would say, Fiddle, because one of the digits is correct, but in the wrong...

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