Purposeful Learning Resources

These are hands-on games and activities designed to be done one-on-one with a student or in a small group of students. These go beyond typical worksheets and encourage students to make the math their own with games and activities that can only be done offline. To teach this concept, we will focus on two concepts: a) any number over itself is equal to 1 (for example, 2/2, 3/3 or 4/4) and b) any number over 1 is equal to that number (for example, 2/1 = 2, 3/1 = 3, and 4/1 = 4). We will introduce t

These are hands-on games and activities designed to be done one-on-one with a student or in a small group of students. These go beyond typical worksheets and encourage students to make the math their own with games and activities that can only be done offline. To teach this concept, we will focus on the idea that fractions from the same sized whole that are the same size are equivalent. So, ½ = 2/4, because two quarters are the same size as one half. The idea is introduced with a guided paper fo

What is a Math Journal?A math journal is a safe space to work out open-ended meaningful math tasks. The point is not to ‘get the right answer’ or even to ‘follow the right steps’. The point is to grapple with math in a meaningful way. Emphasis on ‘grapple’. Math journals allow students to make the math their own by explaining in their own words why it works. This may be a struggle for some students, but striving is the most human endeavor and we must all practice doing it well. There is no answe