It’s mid-September…the honeymoon is over. The excitement of the school year has worn off and Thanksgiving seems like an eternity away. If your school is anything like the one I visited today (a few kids having meltdown, a few kids visiting the sensory room…). This is the perfect time to revisit social stories! Read More >>
Pedagogy
Understanding Number Quantity vs Memorizing Digits
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 know what sound the K makes, there’s no point in looking at the symbol and knowing its name. The same is true of math. Read More >>
Master Multiplication in Nine Weeks!
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 or toppings based on the groups of facts they know. Read More >>
Let Your Light Shine! Words of Encouragement for a New School Year
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. Read More >>
A Case for Developing Fraction Sense (and a Resource to Help!)
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! Read More >>
Math Workshop Series: Math with Tools/Tech/Problem Solving
The focus of this station in the Math Workshop is higher-order thinking and concrete application of math skills. This will be developed differently in each grade level.
Math Workshop Series: Math with a Teacher
Our first stop in the Math Workshop rotation is Math with a Teacher! Read More >>
Math Workshop Series: Overview and Organization
You’ve prepared, copied, pulled manipulatives and packed the dish-tubs for your math centers, and the result is Pinterest-worthy (nobody has to know how long it actually took!!). Read More >>
Fraction Game: Uncover/Cover
One set of materials – three games – happy students and happy teacher! Read More >>
Happy Numbers: Online Companion to Eureka Math for K-2
If you’re using Eureka Math/Engage New York and you teach Kindergarten (or 1st or 2nd Grade), this post is for you! Read More >>