by Sherry McElhannon | Sep 15, 2017 | *Early Intervention, *Numeracy, Audience - Lower Elementary (K-2), Audience - PreK
Kids can look at a digit and recognize it as an 8, but they often don’t understand what’s behind the digit. Yes, the symbol means 8, but 8 could be 4 and 4, or 5 and 3, or 6 and 2. In some countries, they teach letters last and the sounds first. If the student doesn’t...
by Sherry McElhannon | Sep 8, 2017 | *Curriculum, *Math Manipulatives, *Multiplication, Audience - Upper Elementary (3-5)
Today, schools seem to place so much pressure on students to be able to do “fast facts.” Schools are giving out awards and incentivizing the memorization of facts with things like ice cream parties where students are only allowed to get a certain amount of ice cream...
by Sherry McElhannon | Sep 1, 2017 | *Announcements, Audience - Teachers
I’ve walked in to dozens of different schools around the country (and outside of it!) in the last month. In fact, I’ve been working with teacher for the last 14 days in a row, and I see the prep that goes into the school year. Teachers pour hours and dollars into...
by Sherry McElhannon | Aug 25, 2017 | *Fractions, *Intervention Strategies, *Math Workshop, *Number Talks
Fractions are hard. There are few kids (or even teachers!) who would say they love fractions. I recently found an excellent book that presents strategies to help teachers develop fraction sense in their students! Fractions have become a big focus in our project...
by Sherry McElhannon | Aug 11, 2017 | *Technology, Audience - Teachers, Audience - Upper Elementary (3-5)
If you thought Desmos was just for middle/high school students (like me!), you would be wrong! I recently developed a whole new appreciation and excitement for using this amazing tool in elementary school! I learned about Desmos from a colleague, Emily Kappel...