I saw a post on Facebook this week about “Common Core Math.”  The idea of the post was if you add 4 apples and 5 oranges you will get an orange haired monkey.  Sigh!  There is not a perfect curriculum and I don’t believe we will ever know the motivation behind the standards, but they are […]
Mathematics
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Opinion, School Improvement
The Importance of Solidifying Basic Math Facts
Each Friday, I run my class through timed math facts tests. I give my kids five minutes to get through 100 facts. I assess my first through sixth graders on addition and subtraction; my third through sixth grade on all the facts of multiplication and division and my first and second graders on each set […]
Posted inElementary School, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics
Getting Your Hands On Math: Multiplication
I watched my three year-old, Monkey, coloring with colored pencils this morning. He was testing out the white pencil even though it was on white paper. I knew what was going to happen and I had to resist the urge to tell him not to do it. But I bit my tongue and watched him […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics
Addition and Subtraction of Fractions
For many topics in mathematics teaching the concept before the algorithm can lead to deeper learning. Teaching addition and subtraction of fractions with different denominators is one such topic. Using pattern blocks for this topic gives students a visual representation that they can translate to the algorithm for this topic. You may want to review […]
Posted inElementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics, Uncategorized
Introducing Equivalent Fractions
Teaching equivalent fractions is often a difficult task. In this article I am going to show several methods that should make this task a bit easier. I previously posted an article for using patterns blocks to teach parts of a whole. In order to provide some consistency with that article the first method I will […]
Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics
Fractions – Parts of a Whole
Fractions can be one of the most frustrating topics to teach to elementary school children. Linking the experience of your students with fractions in their daily lives to fractions in the classroom can make this task easier. Young children have early experiences with the concept of fractions when they want to share a sandwich with […]
Posted inCommon Core, Instruction & Curriculum, Mathematics, Uncategorized
The Difference Between Calculation and Mathematics
This piece originally ran on Bluffcityed.com on July 29, 2014; In mid-July last year, I was ready to try something completely different. I had previously taught Algebra I, but I was moving to a new content; geometry. I’d taught it before under the old Tennessee state standards but had left the course feeling like the kids […]
Posted inClassroom Management, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics, Special Education
Learning Disorders in the Math Classroom
The combination of Common Core standards, especially in math, and placing students with learning disorders in the least restrictive environment possible has become a conundrum for teachers and students alike. Neither common core nor least restrictive environment is going away any time soon so we need to find a way to actively engage all of […]