• How Much is a Thousand? A Million? A Billion? Investigating Large Numbers Through Inquiry

    Published On: April 20, 2021•By •6.7 min read•Views: 5172•Comments Off on How Much is a Thousand? A Million? A Billion? Investigating Large Numbers Through Inquiry•

    I was at a math workshop one summer and the facilitator showed us a number line and asked us where one million would go. At first, I was stumped. My initial instinct was to place...

  • Teaching What It Means to Measure

    Published On: April 13, 2021•By •6.3 min read•Views: 2070•Comments Off on Teaching What It Means to Measure•

    What does it mean to measure something? What decisions do we have to make when we measure something in the real world? The following questions and decisions are ones that we want children to ask...

  • Math Guessing Games…Kids Love Them!

    Published On: March 24, 2021•By •8.2 min read•Views: 9569•Comments Off on Math Guessing Games…Kids Love Them!•

    There’s something intriguing about guessing games. The mystery of not knowing the answer and having to use clues to figure it out has always been something that motivates children. All I have to do is...

  • Number Strings: A Different Kind of Number Talk

    Number Strings: A Different Kind of Number Talk

    Published On: March 3, 2021•By •4.6 min read•Views: 6563•Comments Off on Number Strings: A Different Kind of Number Talk•

    When I first started using Number Talks in the classroom, I would randomly choose problems for students to solve. I would ask them to think of different strategies for solving the problem, discuss with a...

  • Using Dice Games to Develop Math Reasoning and Computational Fluency

    Published On: February 9, 2021•By •9.6 min read•Views: 4063•Comments Off on Using Dice Games to Develop Math Reasoning and Computational Fluency•

    Dice have been around for a long time. In fact, dice are the oldest gaming implements known to humankind. There are various claims for who actually invented dice. For example, Sophocles said that dice were...

  • Ten Times Better

    Published On: January 27, 2021•By •4.4 min read•Views: 2135•Comments Off on Ten Times Better•

    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...

  • Helping Students Become Better Listeners During Math Class

    Published On: January 12, 2021•By •4.9 min read•Views: 4228•Comments Off on Helping Students Become Better Listeners During Math Class•

    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...

  • A Picture Can Elicit a Thousand Words: Using the IM Talking Math Slide Deck, for Grades TK-Grade 5

    Published On: January 5, 2021•By •4.6 min read•Views: 2601•Comments Off on A Picture Can Elicit a Thousand Words: Using the IM Talking Math Slide Deck, for Grades TK-Grade 5•

    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...

  • A Million Fish….More or Less

    Published On: December 15, 2020•By •3.9 min read•Views: 2364•Comments Off on A Million Fish….More or Less•

    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...