Enhanced Visual Instructional Plans
A Visual Instructional Plan is a set of step-by-step visual prompts that provide an outline of what a student is expected to do. I'd like to propose an adaptation that also includes a thinkingprompt.
Connecting to Math in Real Life
It's easy to connect to the real world in math class with online collections of real-world math activities, math activities with a specific real-life focus (including natural disasters), online data sources, portals for collaborative math and science projects, and more.
What Is Math?
It is worth pursuing a clear understanding of the meaning of math so we might provide students with a richer learning experience and help them more fully appreciate the beauty and power of mathematics.
Convince Me
When, instead of passively receiving and believing everything we tell them, students become hungry to convince and to be convinced, they become active learners. They are doing a mathematician's work.
Psst! Have You Been to an NCTM Conference Lately?
There's something for every preK-12 math educator at an NCTM Annual Meeting. Here's one teacher's view on what to expect, why it's worth attending, and how to get the most out of the experience.
Winter Math
Whether you live in an area that sees lots of snow or one that never feels a flake, you and your students can enjoy the fun and fascination of mathematical snowflake explorations.
Writing About Math
Writing about math can be a positive learning experience. Here's a look at some of the benefits; a variety of writing categories and topics; and suggestions for creating a positive environment for writing about math.
Twenty Questions for Math Class
The challenge of Twenty Questions increases exponentially if you place a mystery math word on the back of each student and let students wander about with the goal of trying to figure out "What am I?"
Math Magic
Math magic tricks can create a sense of wonder and curiosity about math. Not only that, math magic creates a new context for algebraic reasoning as students go beyond "What's the answer?" to explore "What's the trick?"
Even Teachers Make Mistakes
Last year, when a student caught me in a math mistake, I said, "This is the first one I've ever made!" From that point on, students took it as a friendly challenge to catch the math teacher making another math mistake.
Functions in the Real World
When we introduce students to functions, we typically bring the concept to life through the idea of function machines. But functions will really begin to come to life as our students find uses for functions in the real world.
Halloween Math
Halloween is a time for math fun -- for measuring pumpkin waistlines; for drawing spiders with coordinates and discovering the math woven into spider webs; for categorizing costumes; and for graphing candy counts.
Fall Math
Fall presents opportunities for bringing math to life in meaningful ways, as students observe and quantify changes in the world around them. Discover a windfall of math activities related to leaves, weather, and seasons.
Math Heroes
How much richer an appreciation our students might have for mathematics as a living science if we share with them the budding of new ideas in math heroes past and present! It all begins with "I wonder…."
Growing a Summer Math Garden
Will the long summer yield a “math drought,” an occasional “math drizzle,” or a flourishing “garden” of math skills for your students? Activities to help their summer math garden grow.
Springtime Math
In springtime, you and your students might like to explore math in the great outdoors. Wendy Petti offers a number of creative ideas for teaching math outside the classroom.
A Student-Led Math Family Fun Night: The Logistics
Wendy Petti provides a rough road map for student-led Math Nights, and the hope that these tips might prove useful as you begin to think about planning a student-led Math Family Fun Night at your school.
A Student-Led Math Family Fun Night: Learning from the Planning Process
A Math Family Fun Night planned and led by students presents wonderful learning opportunities for students (and teachers, too!). Take a peek as fourth-graders prepare for their school's first Math Family Fun Night.
A Math Toolbox in Every Home
As teachers, we know the value of hands-on exploration with math manipulatives. Extend that sense of discovery into students’ homes by helping them assemble math toolboxes to be enjoyed by the whole family.
