• From Rockets to Polygons! A Geometry Experience for Grades K-2

    Published On: August 28, 2024•By •7.6 min read•Views: 1858•Comments Off on From Rockets to Polygons! A Geometry Experience for Grades K-2•

    Mathematician Marcus Du Sautoy once said, “The power of mathematics is often to change one thing into another, to change geometry into language.” His quote reminds me of one of my favorite math experiences that...

  • Performance Tasks: What are they? Why are they important?

    Published On: August 12, 2024•By •9.4 min read•Views: 29548•Comments Off on Performance Tasks: What are they? Why are they important?•

    A respected colleague once reminded me of an old saying, “You can’t fatten a pig by weighing it.” She was a classroom teacher and exasperated by all the testing she had to do with her...

  • Ten Apples Up on Top!

    Published On: June 4, 2024•By •6.3 min read•Views: 4414•Comments Off on Ten Apples Up on Top!•

    Launching a Math Lesson with Dr. Seuss Choosing a book by Dr. Seuss to launch a math lesson made me reflect on the author’s contributions to children’s literature. Although Theodor Seuss Geisel is immensely popular,...

  • Teaching Plus One & Minus One Within 10

    Published On: January 8, 2024•By •8 min read•Views: 2688•Comments Off on Teaching Plus One & Minus One Within 10•

    Engaging Experiences for Transitional Kindergarten Recently, I sat in on a professional development session in which Math Transformations consultant Elba Ozakcay shared some of her favorite lessons with a group of transitional kindergarten teachers. Watching...

  • Helping Students Make Sense of Subtraction

    Helping Students Make Sense of Subtraction

    Published On: October 17, 2023•By •7.6 min read•Views: 15972•Comments Off on Helping Students Make Sense of Subtraction•

    The other day I was reading an opinion piece about teaching subtraction, and although I didn’t agree with some of the ideas in the article, it really made me think, talk to colleagues and friends,...

  • One is a Snail Ten is a Crab

    One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab

    Published On: October 2, 2023•By •5.3 min read•Views: 12979•Comments Off on One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab•

    Literature-Launched Lessons for Grades K-3 One is a Snail Ten is a Crab by April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre is a children’s book all about feet, and it’s my current favorite. Did you know...

  • Is It Fair? A Dice Game for 3rd and 4th Grades and Beyond!

    Is It Fair? A Dice Game for 3rd and 4th Grades and Beyond!

    Published On: September 18, 2023•By •6.2 min read•Views: 5381•Comments Off on Is It Fair? A Dice Game for 3rd and 4th Grades and Beyond!•

    An Intriguing Game for Kids and Adults Earlier this year I was having dinner with my nephew Brandon, and his partner Patty. While we were eating, the topic of mathematics came up (Patty is a...

  • Teaching Teen Numbers in Kindergarten

    Teaching Teen Numbers in Kindergarten

    Published On: February 10, 2023•By •7.2 min read•Views: 6843•Comments Off on Teaching Teen Numbers in Kindergarten•

    For students to gain foundations for place value, the Common Core Content Standards call for kindergartners to compose and decompose numbers from 11 to 19 into ten ones and some further ones, using objects or...

  • What do Eggs and Probability Have in Common?

    What do Eggs and Probability Have in Common?

    Published On: August 22, 2022•By •6.9 min read•Views: 2531•Comments Off on What do Eggs and Probability Have in Common?•

    I love it when I break an egg and a double yolk appears. It’s like nature’s magic at work. That’s what happened the other day when I was making breakfast. After that little surprise, I...