Posted inElementary School, How to Fix Education, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics

Teaching Fractions, Piece By Piece

Ugh. Fractions. I love to teach math, but fractions-blah. So like with any challenging unit, I like to bring in something tangible. Remember, kids were designed to manipulate items and are tactile learners, some on into ten and eleven years of age. This activity is great for all ages and will teach several different concepts […]

Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics

Decomposing Fractions: An Alternative for Converting Improper Fractions to Mixed Numbers

I, like many elementary teachers across the nation, have found myself teaching math concepts to 4th and 5th-grade students that were once taught to middle school students. Truth be told, when I first began teaching these skills I must admit I was very skeptical about teaching multiplying fractions and whole numbers to 4th and 5th […]

Posted inElementary School, Featured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics

Dear Elementary Math Teacher: I Need You to Know…..

Dear Elementary Math Teacher, Teaching math can be a rewarding experience because elementary teachers mold students’attitudes towards math that will last well beyond the elementary school years. Trust me when I say, I know sometimes it can be difficult to teach math to students who do not have the number sense or the prerequisite skills […]

Posted inFeatured, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics

Integers: Adding and Subtracting the Easy Way

Teaching integers can be very frustrating to students. Early in my teaching career I found that many of my students found adding and subtracting integers to be very difficult. I tried teaching the rules and learned that everyone (including me) was frustrated. I began to realize that one problem was that for most children, negative […]

Posted inCurrent Events in Education, Elementary School, Instruction & Curriculum, Instructional Strategies, Mathematics

5 Do's and Don'ts for Teaching Elementary Mathematics

Have you ever heard math content specialists say that elementary teachers have poor math content knowledge, but they  have great instructional strategies? While this may be seen as harsh but for the most part it is true. Through not fault of their own colleges did not prepare elementary teachers to specialize in mathematics. When a […]