Stinky Feet is arguably one of the best math review games and if you’ve ever played Stinky Feet in your classroom… you already know the chaos I’m about to describe 😂 Kids cheering. Kids groaning. Kids suddenly VERY invested in math review. Now imagine that same energy… but with cookies. It’s a math review game …
When I sit down to lesson plan… it’s a mess. Like an actual physical mess. I pull out every planner I’ve ever owned, I have TPT open in one tab, Pinterest in another, our school’s curriculum pulled up, and a file folder of paper resources that were passed down to me from a retired teacher… …
In upper elementary classrooms, it can be challenging to find a balance between rigorous math practice and engaging activities. Traditional worksheets often lead to 😴🫠, while some “fun” activities lack the rigor needed to reinforce key skills. Enter Answer and Earn Math Crafts 🖍️✂️ These activities not only reinforce math concepts, but also tap into …
If you’re gearing up for STAAR review season, you know how overwhelming it can feel to cover everything before test day. But before diving into practice tests and problem sets, I love to start with an activity that gets students thinking, talking, and recalling everything they’ve learned throughout the year… Tour of Knowledge! This strategy …
Measurement and measurement conversions are tricky for everyone…adults included…I’m the worst when it comes to ordering groceries and not paying attention to the size of what I’m buying 🙈Ever bought the world’s smallest tube of toothpaste?! Or the biggest container of dish soap that exists? I have 😂 When it comes to teaching measurement conversions, …
Teaching students how to convert improper fractions to mixed numbers can feel like teaching a foreign language…numbers that are part whole and part-part?!? But just like with everything else we teach in math, we want to bring it to life and make sense of the math, not just teach a quick trick. Let’s talk about …
How to Teach Improper Fractions to Mixed Numbers Read More »
Let’s talk about a problem solving strategy that’s all about modeling the problem-solving process in a way that gets students to think deeply—like, really think—before they solve. It’s called the “Think Along” strategy, and it’s one of my favorite strategies for teaching problem solving. By slowing things down, students can actually take their time, analyze …
Think Along Strategy: Modeling Problem-Solving for Student Understanding Read More »
There is one thing I had my students do every single week that made a HUGE difference in their multiplication fact fluency… Multiplication Charts—Every Week! Starting about a month into the school year, I taught my students how to make their own multiplication charts. And guess what? Once they got the hang of it, we …
In part one of how to teach multiplication, we discussed introducing multi-digit multiplication using base-10 blocks and moving students from concrete strategies to pictorial, and then to abstract. It is crucial to make connections along the way! Keeping that theme going we are moving to expanded and standard algorithm. Since the last strategy we focused …
This is a step-by-step guide on how to teach multi-digit multiplication to 3rd and 4th grade. In this blog we will focus on multiplying 2 and 3-digit numbers by a 1-digit number. Moving from concrete, to representational (pictorial), to abstract is key! And making connections between the progressions is absolutely crucial! The first thing we …
It took me way too many years to figure out that my adding and subtracting decimals unit was also the perfect time to introduce profit to my 4th grade students! Introducing profit now gave my students much needed practice at adding and subtracting decimals, while also spiraling in those pesky financial literacy TEKS. I felt …
Coming up with an end of year gift for my students is sometimes a daunting task. I love them dearly, but I’m drained, tired, and ready for summer. I also don’t want to spend a ton of money on some cheap-y gift I know will be broken or lost within a week. Here are my …
At the end of this post, you will find a FREE 10-day end of year math review plan for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. BUT WAIT!!! Don’t scroll just yet. There are a few things we need to talk about first. Each day includes the TEKS and topics covered, as well as 2-3 activities to …
If you’ve been following me for anytime, you know I love a good room transformation! Especially when paired with test review! Test review can be dry and boring, so I love to bring test review days to life with a fun theme! This Jeopardy math review game is absolutely perfect for doing just that! State …
Geometry is one of my favorite units to teach! There are so many opportunities to get crafty and creative! These engaging geometry projects, games, and worksheets will have your students classifying 2D shapes in no time! These are the best geometry activities for elementary students. Geo-ART-metry I almost always start my geometry unit with some …
Welcome back for part 2 of comparing fraction strategies and activities. Click here if you missed part 1! In part 1, we talked about using food as a fun introduction to comparing fractions. From here, let’s move into using fraction tiles (or other concrete fraction manipulatives) to compare fractions. I choose comparisons that guide us …
I have a confession…my very first year teaching I tried teaching comparing fractions to my 4th grade students the “right” way, and my kids just weren’t getting it. So, I just taught them fraction war instead…butterfly…cross multiply, whatever name you want to give it. Whewwww! My own understanding of fractions wasn’t deep enough to know …
Comparing Fractions for 3rd and 4th grade – Part 1 Read More »
Teaching students to read and understand word problems is one of the most difficult challenges math teachers face. Many of these word problems are multi-step…and often times not grade appropriate. What’s a teacher to do?!? Here’s some math problem solving resources that have been game changers for me when helping my students learn to be …
The biggest complaint I hear from 4th and 5th grade teacher is “They don’t know their facttsssss!!!” I know it can be quite a challenge to teach students the skills they need to know in 4th and 5th grade (multi-digit multiplication, long division, etc.) when they don’t know their multiplication facts. Buuuuuut I’ve also taught …
Let’s talk about ideas for math station activities and games! First and foremost, keep it simple! I truly believe that students thrive on routine and knowing what to expect. This is even more important when you are expecting students to work and function while you do small group math instruction. Click here for 5 tips …
