MathStuff

Hi All, I had a colleague I taught with for years. She was a passionate second grade teacher with a lot of solid experience. A parent once asked her, "What is the most important thing you can teach a child?" I was thinking that's a tough question. Maybe, to treat others like you would treat yourself? Her immediate reply was, "Place value." Ha, ha! She was a real math maven! Place value is important though! Here's one fun partner activity that gives kids practice with calculators (which they need in standardized tests as well as real life), place value, number recognition, and number words. It's motivating because most kids love to get their hands on calculators and as teachers and parents we're usually telling them, "No calculators!"   1. Each player gets a calculator and a recording sheet. The lead player decides on a number, inputs it into his calculator, writes it down on the record sheet, says it aloud, but does not let his partner se...

  Hi All, This is a very simple hands-on activity that kids love. Provide the class with a pile of coins and/or ask them to gather some from home. Each student should also have some dark crayons like brown, blue, black, and purple.  Give each students some thin paper. Tracing paper is the best, but notebook paper and even white tissue paper also works. Have a student select a coin and place under the paper. Then using the crayon, rub it gently across the surface leaving an impression of the coin underneath. Gentle pressure provides a better image than pressing hard. Kids enjoy the process and it focuses their attention on the attributes of the coins such as size, images, and words. As students do their rubbings and are really focused on their coins have them also complete the attached coin chart pdf to help them solidify their coin identification skills. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P3dBMXXsYqAJVlvai_3bi6WeKuni2M5g/view?usp=sharing   Try to provide as many different c...

  For the past five years I've been working in collaboration with the WNET/Channel 13 and the game development folks at Fablevision to help create Cyberchase Fractions Quest. It's an online game to help kids in grades 3 - 5 learn fractions. Those of you who know me, know I love teaching fractions and I love Cyberchase, where I work as math advisor to the program. A lot of my excitement for and what I know about fractions learning I was able to channel here in this new game. It's great for in-class or remote learning and works well with individuals, partners, or whole class instruction. The game structure features leveling, scaffolding, and a multi-game story adventure context. I'm sharing this now because three of us presented a webinar this week on Cyberchase Fractions Quest and it includes a free trial that you might want to check out. Here's a link to the webinar. On the first page you come to set up an EdWeb account which is free. They have lots of other profes...