A Month of Games: First Up, Division!
Many of you are knee-deep into division units during this time of year. Several years ago I came across a division lesson by Marilyn Burns (one of my math idols). I have used this lesson with my own students as well as a modeling it in other teachers' classrooms. Every time I play it the kids have fun and deeper their understanding of division. I start out by reading aloud the picture book, The Doorbell Rang. If you don't have access to ...
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Number Cards
I have three kids of my own and I'm a teacher. I have always been the mom that sort-of, kind-of works with my kids at home on numbers and letters while they're in preschool, but nothing over the top. I'm talking show the Letter Factory videos and doing one-to-one correspondence counting when I'm doing something myself around the house. I may even get a little froggy and throw in some puzzles with letters and numbers. When my middle child, now 8, ...
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How "SMART" Are We???
Some of you know I am volunteering with two third-grade classrooms in the building where I used to teach. We have spent the first part of this year working on understanding the concepts of multiplication and division. We've built equal groups with counters, skip-counted on a number line, built area models and arrays, learned how to use a number bond to show the relationship between multiplication and division, created visual models, and ...
Read MoreWhat the Heck is a Rekenrek???
Hi friends! This is Emily, and I am excited to join Kristin on this journey of helping to improve math instruction and share ideas with all of you. For my first post I wanted to share an idea with you that I started doing last year with my class during the first week of school. If you make rekenreks with your class I would love to see pictures and hear what your students think about them. Feel free to post any pictures or comments! Are you ...
Read MoreWelcome Back!
I have enjoyed getting to know so many of you this summer through conferences and in-school trainings! To my faithful followers from last year, welcome back! How did it get to be August already??? As I have shared with many of you in person, my personal goal for this year is to get better at writing blog posts. Remember to send me your questions and/or suggestions and I will be sure to put up content that you are looking for throughout the ...
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