Rental Car Blues in Salmon, Idaho!

April 26, 2016

Ok, here is a new one!  Had a super workshop yesterday in Missoula, Montana.  We had never been here and just loved the people and the town!  We were looking forward to a great drive from Missoula to Boise.  Rental car blew up and we limped into Salmon, Idaho.  Waiting for Alamo to drive a new rental car from Missoula to us as there are no rental car places here.  Lessons in patience!

After being in several classrooms recently and watching students in grades 3-5 struggle with concepts of rounding numbers, it seems important to talk about why this occurs and what can be done!  It often feels that the rules of rounding numbers are just procedures that are taught without recognition of the prerequisite skills required that are essential in the development of number sense.

I have long suggested a simple routine of practice that can be established in the classroom with students grades 1-5 that will ease the understanding of rounding.  It all begins after students have learned the multiples of ten.  I introduce the multiples of ten by playing a game called “The Roller Coaster” game.  Chairs are moved to create 4 rows of 2 chairs.  One student is asked to sit on the roller coaster.  Students are asked, “What do you want to do on a roller coaster?”  They will gleefully respond, “Whee,” and throw their hands in the air.  The mathematical question is one person on the roller coaster, how many fingers in the air?  This introduces the idea of _____ groups of _____ = _____ .  Many of you who have been at my workshops know that this is an important visual that is a part of all the mathematical content that we teach in elementary grades.

Once students have the practice behind multiples of ten, the teacher will have each child tear a piece of adding machine tape the length of their arms from fingertip to shoulder.  They will label the left with a mark for zero.  (The academic name for zero is point of origin.)  On the right they will make a mark and label that 100.  They will bring the two marks together and crease.  They will mark that with 50.  The students will then put in the multiples of ten between 0-50 and 50-100.  Now this tool is ready to be used with my Random Number CD 0-100.  The teacher will turn on track 2.  Students will hear a number and touch about where that number falls on the number line.  Two to three minutes of practice is important.  Students can also write the number on the number line! 

Look for more helpful hints on rounding readiness soon including a new game!

Mathematically yours,

April 13, 2016

Had an opportunity to speak about math fact fluency at the NCSM Conference in Oakland held this week prior to NCTM Conference in San Francisco!  What a great conference!  It is getting to that time of year where our thoughts are centered on test scores and the limited time left in the school year.  It sure does fly.

It sure was fun creating a new class on proportional reasoning with fractions.  Packed it full of meaningful ways to supplement the “dry” chapters on fractions in the math textbooks.  One of my favorite lessons with upper grades is based on the book, If the World Were a Village by David Smith.  Makes percents easy to think about and understand as an extensions of fractions without calling them percents.  Every time I have done the lessons with classrooms of fifth graders the discussions are so meaningful!

Have you seen my new Bump It! book?  The games will change your classroom!  Watch the new game going up this week as a freebie!

More in a few.  Off to watch my Golden State Warriors go for the record number of wins tonight, making history!!!  Steph Curry for President!

Spring Update!

Had an opportunity to speak about math fact fluency at the NCSM Conference in Oakland held this week prior to NCTM Conference in San Francisco! What a great conference! It is getting to that time of year where our thoughts are centered on test scores and the limited time left in the school year. It sure does fly.

It sure was fun creating a new class on proportional reasoning with fractions. Packed it full of meaningful ways to supplement the “dry” chapters on fractions in the math textbooks. One of my favorite lessons with upper grades is based on the book, If the World Were a Village by David Smith. Makes percents easy to think about and understand as an extensions of fractions without calling them percents. Every time I have done the lessons with classrooms of fifth graders the discussions are so meaningful!

Have you seen my new Bump It! book? The games will change your classroom! Watch the new game going up this week as a freebie!

More in a few. Off to watch my Golden State Warriors go for the record number of wins tonight, making history!!!  Steph Curry for President!