Category Archives: Teacher Content
The Progression of Early Number and Counting
If you’re not a pre-k, kindergarten, or 1st-grade teacher, you need to find one and give them a hug after watching this video. They do the work of an army and many times their work goes unnoticed. There’s so much happening … Continue reading
3-Act Task: A 5th-grade lesson captured
A while back I shared a kindergarten lesson and I was really happy with the way it turned out. The 5th-grade lesson below, not so much. The students did great but there are definitely some things I need to improve. We recently finished up … Continue reading
Posted in 3-5, 3-Act Tasks, 6-8, Estimation, Fractions, Intellectual Need, Math Progressions, Modeling, Teacher Content
10 Comments
I’ll Rip Your Face Off: The Art of Defacing Manipulatives
It’s our fault. We have no one to blame but ourselves. We unknowing pigeonhole student thinking with the manipulatives we use. Take fraction tiles for example. Much to my disappointment, they come with labels and it kills me. Manipulatives that … Continue reading
The Task Graveyard
It’s where my ideas go to die. But like the mighty phoenix, I have one idea for a task that keeps rising from the ashes. It just won’t die. If Bruce Willis was a math task, I’ve seen his face. … Continue reading
Conservation: The more things change, the more they stay the same
Every once in a while I stumble across Piaget’s 7 Conservation Tasks and then I move on. This week was different because my thoughts around conservation won’t go away. In a recent meeting with kindergarten and 1st grade teachers we discussed the importance of students being able to … Continue reading
Posted in counting, Estimation, K-2, Making Math Accessible, Strategy Development, Teacher Content, Teaching in a Context
Tagged conservation, decomposing, Piaget, unitizing
5 Comments
The Progression of Division
Last month I posted The Progression of Multiplication hoping that a couple of friends and parents would find it helpful. Well, here’s my stab at the progression of division. I understand that there’s lots of ways to model division and this is only … Continue reading
Take it to the Bank
It’s never been a secret that Superman fears Kryptonite. But I think the same can be said for many 2nd grade teachers and the way they feel about teaching money. There’s no way around it…teaching money to students is hard. With … Continue reading
The Progression of Multiplication
There’s a lot happening in elementary mathematics and it’s really tough for teachers to keep up with it all…let alone parents and administrators. I keep reminding myself that the turtle won the race. It’s my hope that in creating and … Continue reading
Beginning a Unit with a 3-Act Task
I’ve recently spent a lot of time visiting 3rd grade classrooms as they begin to dive into division. Here’s what I encountered on one of my first visits which was a crippler for everyone involved. Saw this today & was crushed. For … Continue reading
Get Your Model On: Modeling in the Elementary Grades
Dan Meyer’s work on mathematical modeling has been instrumental in shaping my own understanding. I’m super thankful for Dan’s commitment to SMP #4 over the years. So when he recently posted that he was shifting gears, I was bummed. It was like … Continue reading
