When you teach upper elementary math, teaching addition and subtraction can be….awkward. Generally speaking, your students already understand the concept. Whether you want them to or not, they know and use the standard algorithm. Of course, there are some students who have not yet mastered the algorithm, and those students need small group instruction. But […]
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There are so many fun and engaging place value worksheets, resources, and lessons to incorporate into the classroom that it’s hard to find time to squeeze it all in. In this post, you can learn more about supplemental place value worksheets and activities that can be added to your place value unit. Emoji Place Value
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Rounding to the nearest whole number is one of those math topics that is instinctive and easy for some students, while incredibly difficult for others. There’s typically a handful of students who initially appear to “get it” but continue making the same errors, due to the fact they’ve just memorized a procedure. Typically, students who
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Have you ever read a standard where you had to read, reread, and reread again, and you were still completely confused? That’s how I felt when I first read 4.NBT.1 Recognize that in a multi-digit whole number, a digit in one place represents ten times what it represents in the place to its right. While I understood
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Most teachers begin the year by teaching place value. That isn’t a coincidence. We begin with place value because it lays the foundation of all additional math concepts. Unfortunately, teaching place value can be tricky, and it’s easy for students to fake understanding. That’s why it’s so important to slow down and teach for a
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Last week when my students walked in the classroom and saw the escape boxes set-up, they started bubbling with excitement. I was asked no less than 100 times, “Are we going to do an escape today?”. I let the suspense build until they just about couldn’t take it anymore, and then I affirmed that we
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Teaching students how to explain their answers in math is not an easy task. At the beginning of the year a student’s typical math explanation looks something like this, “I added 120+230 and got 350.” Sometimes I even have students write, “I did it in my head.” I’ve even seen, “I just knew it” as
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It’s hard to think of a math concept more important to upper elementary students than teaching fractions. Unfortunately, many students, even adults, have a difficult time understanding fractions. For many students, fractions are where they begin to struggle with math. The concept of fractions seem strange and contradictory when compared to their early work with
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The only thing more fun than a math project is a Christmas math project! It combines two of my favorite things. You can find this Christmas math project here. You can read about my Christmas Fraction Project here. In this activity, students are invited to enter a house in a holiday decorating contest. Some students
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Several years ago, I used my Christmas Geometry Project as a multi-day math project before Christmas break. When I changed grade levels, I wasn’t been able to use the activity, because I hadn’t taught geometry. I LOVED the math project so much that I turned the Geometry Project into a new Christmas Fraction Project. After I
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