The most visual, most fun way to learn decimals is with decimal squares. We use decimal squares we bought from https://decimalsquares.com several years ago. They show decimals in tenths, hundredths and thousandths, and the equivalencies are obvious. (see below) The website has fun interactive games, too, but you need to download the Shockwave app to
Teaching Decimals with Decimal Squares Read More »
Word doc: Quiz 3 1. Fractions. Yay – we’re getting this! Multiplication plus subtraction with borrowing. Example 3 below is one of the few with a mistake, and its last step is correct, it’s the first step that’s not. THIS problem, however, lead us into the pit of confusion. Only the last example below is
And Quizzes? How are we doing? Read More »
Recent Homework assignments: (mostly available as Word documents) HW#1 HW#2 HW#3 HW#4 HW#5 HW#6 HW#7 HW#8 Solution Keys: HW_keys#1to#8 What are our main goals in assigning homework? Provide thoughtful practice, not drill. Hopefully in an independent setting, without help, so we can see how the learning is going. To allow for long periods of
Homework: Goals and Structure Read More »
We’ve heard so much about 3-Act activities. Here’s this week’s experiment, with our verdict at the end. Day 1… Does $1 million fit in a briefcase? Show this GIF: Ask… “Would $1 million fit into a normal briefcase, and if so, could an average adult carry it? Assume the bills are all 100s. When students
Experimenting with 3-act Activities Read More »
In our last blog, we asked, “How do we humans react to confusion and difficulty?” Amelia claims grumpily “I don’t get the multiply and divide by 10 thing.” She tends to get grumpy when confused. Michael withdraws into silence. “Shall we get the blocks for this, Michael?” Silence. “Which part is confusing?” Silence. Sigh. Tomas
Part 2 of “What Does Remediation Look Like?” Michael’s silence. Plus Exploding Dots. Read More »
How do we humans react to confusion and difficulty? Amelia claims grumpily “I don’t get the multiply and divide by 10 thing.” She tends to get grumpy when confused. Tomas minimizes his struggles. “I’m fine now. I was just confused on yesterday’s quiz. I’m good now.” Nicole writes notes to us on her quiz. “I
What Does Remediation Look Like? Aka “Bring Your Knitting” Read More »
Quiz 2, Trimester 2, as a Word Document: Question #1: Fractions. Everyone was able to solve this problem correctly! This is huge. Fractions matter.
Looking at Quizzes- Part 2 … How are we doing? Read More »
Quiz #1 as a Word Document: Question 1, Fractions. It’s Payoff Time! We’ve been having students draw fractions only for weeks now. Weeks! We are gradually increasing the difficulty of the questions, to cover addition, subtraction and multiplication of fractions. We assign about 1 problem a day. And… drumroll…90% got this problem right now. It
Looking at Quizzes- Part 1 … How are we doing? Read More »
Learning is an emotional pursuit. A teacher’s most powerful ally is success. Students who can see (“feel”!) their own progress will bring up the perseverance needed to master each new concept. However, there are times when math should just be fascinating. When we should all step back and say “Wow”.
Galaxies, Pennies and Grains of Rice Read More »
Activity #1: Moving digit cards There was still confusion after the activity described in our last blog. Normal, but corrigible! We had students draw a Place Value Chart on an 11 x 17 piece of paper. Something like this:
Group and Independent Practice: Multiplying and Dividing with Powers of Ten Read More »