Over the past few weeks, I have immersed myself into learning more about 3 act math tasks. I have spent hours reading Robert Kaplinsky, Graham Fletcher, and others to develop my understanding of these tasks. I plan to write an extensive blog post sharing what I’ve learned and ways you can use these tasks, and […]
3 Act Math Task – Football Read More »
Anyone who has spent time teaching math has experienced assigning students a word problem and watching them “solve” the problem without even thinking about which operation(s) to use, why they should use that operation, or the meaning of the problem. When I first noticed this, I began teaching key words, and they worked. Usually. However,
Numberless Word Problems Read More »
I don’t know that it’s possible to overstate the importance of empathy in the classroom. It is pure joy for me to watch children who are naturally empathetic work with their classmates. I watch them carefully weigh their words and actions as they think about how those words and actions will make their classmates feel.
Six Methods for Teaching Empathy Read More »
This Christmas escape room activity is so much for students and teachers! I love any and all Christmas related activities. I also love escape lessons in the classroom, so I decided to combine two of my favorite things to create a Christmas Escape Room activity that is perfect for upper elementary students. This is not
Christmas Escape Room Activity Read More »
After I finish my place value remediation lessons, I begin my lessons for subtraction and addition remediation. I always begin with addition, but I do intermix fact families as I teach addition. This allows subtraction to become a more natural form of computation for students. These lessons begin very easy, but they build a conceptual
Addition Remediation Read More »
Place value interventions are essential for students with difficulty in math. There is a very big difference between getting place value questions correct on a quiz or being able to identify the place value of value of a digit in a number and truly understanding place value. When I begin remediating students in math, I
Place Value Interventions Read More »
Finding a high quality math intervention program is a bit like finding a magical unicorn. It’s not an easy task! In almost any elementary classroom, there will be at least one student that needs math remediation. Remediation is the process of providing assistance to students who are experiencing difficulties so that they can understand the
Math Intervention Program Read More »
I don’t know if this is true everywhere, but in the two schools where I’ve taught, I’ve found that things start to get a little crazy in October. My personal life is busier. My school calendar is bursting. And my students get oh-so excited about every single holiday that will occur in the next few
Halloween Ideas and Resources Read More »
I cannot tell you how much my students and I LOVE completing math escape rooms. These escape lessons are some of my favorite activities of the entire school year. Now that I have a little experience and practice, it’s a cinch for me to prep and set-up, even when using the activity with three groups
Multiplication Escape Rooms Read More »
Reading comprehension strategies are the focus of my first reading unit. Even though not all of these reading comprehension strategies are specifically mentioned in state standards, they’re still an essential component to reading instruction. It doesn’t matter how good of job we do teaching complex skills such as main idea and integrating information from multiple
Reading Comprehension Strategies Read More »
