Blog

Using Poetry to Explore Math My current favorite book to teach math is Ten Times Better by Richard Michelson (Marshall Cavendish, 2000). This book of poems stars an interesting cast of animals who use poetry...

A Conversation with Kathy Seckington, Poway Teacher Why is listening an important habit in math class? I recently posed this question to my friend and colleague Kathy Seckington. Kathy is currently teaching fifth grade in...

One of my current favorite online math resources is the Talking Math Slide Deck from Illustrative Math IM Talking Math. For teachers who are teaching virtually or face-to-face, this resource makes for a perfect math...

Using Children’s Literature to Teach Number Sense One of my favorite books that help children think about reasonableness and number magnitude is A Million Fish…More or Less by Patricia C. McKissack (Scholastic, 1992). McKissack is...

When students are engaged in a lesson they are actively involved, motivated, and focused on learning. Engaging students is one of the most important aspects of our job as teachers, and it has been one...

Kids love math games that involve playing cards. The mystery of shuffling and then anticipating which cards will appear is part of the fun. And games that require students to make decisions and use their...

This week my friend and colleague Melissa Han invited me to Zoom with her second and third graders. When I logged on, her 24 students were just getting settled in, waiting for Melissa to finish...

“English learners develop science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) knowledge and language proficiency when they are engaged in meaningful interaction in the classroom and participate in the kinds of activities in which STEM experts and...

Tips and Activities for Starting the Year By Rusty Bresser and Andrea Barraugh “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”   —Leonardo Da Vinci We spent last week searching for what is working in a variety of virtual...