Many children's books contain puzzles that encourage mathematical thinking. Some are written with teaching math in mind, while others simply refer to math when it is part of the story. Either way, using fiction in math class is a powerful way to motivate students, start them thinking about mathematical questions, or invite them to connect reading with math.
Your students will enjoy exploring the commutative property. At the same time, they will create colorful images that will help them recall math facts. This activity works with both addition and multiplication. Students who investigate the commutative property are better able to decide which operation to use when solving word problems. These activities also give students time to practice math facts, use academic vocabulary, and develop that elusive quality known as number sense.
Is it possible to use skip counting to multiply fractions with whole numbers? Yes! Let your students skip count to multiply fractions with whole numbers. It's a great way to introduce multiplication with fractions.
Folding paper fractions to make a display along the length of a shoestring is a memorable activity that provides students an easy way to think about fractions.
My guess is that most of us employ evidenced based techniques when we teach and would like to stay up-to-date when it comes to learning about new research and testing those ideas in our classrooms. With this in mind, here is a list of strategies proven to be effective in education.
Your students will enjoy creating these squiggly designs to show multiplication facts. Have them check to make sure that each of the vertical lines crosses the horizontal squiggly lines. Students should circle each time the squiggle and the straight lines meet. Finally, they should write the multiplication fact shown by the squiggly design.
Easy to Play Imagine a game, that your students ... Continue Reading
Call it anything you want: Two Truths and a Fib, or Facts and a Falsehood, the math version of this game is just as fun as the original. Students will love to practice math facts with Two Facts and a FAKE. Keep your entire class engaged playing this fast paced, find the facts, fix the fraud type game.
The fun parts of this game are thinking of new and exciting ways to describe what you want to bring, and evaluating the ideas of others. So, you can carry on playing even after it is very clear that everyone knows what sort of thing to bring. In fact, playing the same game for a while gives your students plenty of time to think up loads of expressions that meet the criteria.
Make Language Games into Multiplication Practice Many of us ... Continue Reading
