SamizdatMath

This is a set of 60 puzzles (20 at each level) of "Square Knot" Puzzles focused on practicing problems solving for early learners (K - 2nd grade) using addition. Why you should try these: One of the things that we should be emphasizing from the very earliest of ages is mathematics as problem solving. This is more than writing a bunch of word problems: problem solving is about using various techniques for finding the correct answer. In this set of puzzles, students have to arrange four numbers so

Sforno is a game I designed to help children learn about different types of attributes. The game is similar to dominoes in that students take turns putting out a "connector" card based on the number of similar or different attributes and then placing a "creature card" that connects it to another creature. There are also 21 different puzzles that use groups of Creature Cards connecting to one another. Sforno is a fun game that is exciting for grades 2 and up.! Comes with full teaching instructi

This is a set of puzzles where students work independently to estimate how many cubes it will take to cover a digit or a written number, then cover it with rods of different lengths, and re-organize them on a grid to show how many orange and white rods it is equivalent to. The student then reads the number as tens and ones and writes it down. This is a fun activity for kindergarten and first graders, because it helps students to develop estimation skills, and then carry them over to other number

This is a collection of 9 different colorful Cuisenaire Rod "make the road" puzzles which challenges your students to cover a path using exactly one of each rod. Each one has a different colorful background. This is a great activity that your students can do independently during a work time or placed in a math center. There's a handy chart you can fill in with your students' names to keep track of which puzzles they've completed, with fillable form fields. There is also an option for students

This is a set of activities that focus on helping first and second graders memorize the doubles from 1 - 10, with special focus on the "hard doubles" of 7, 8 and 9. There are two different games, and 20 different puzzles involving "number searches" where students find a number and its double nearby. Students also practice writing doubling and halving equations. There is also a set of "locate and calculate" assessments where students locate a doubling equation and then record it.

This is an activity which extends the TERC Investigation "Peas and Carrots," which is a very nice investigation, but ends way too soon. So I upgraded it by turning it into a detective game: students take a stack of cards which use different number combinations of the same two items (11 beans and cornbreads, 10 platypodes and penguins, etc.) Students take the stack of cards, remove one from the deck, and then look at the other ones to figure out which one is missing. Along the way, students lear

These are a set of 20 different "addition tower" puzzles where students place digits on 4 different addition towers to get the correct sum for each tower. This is designed for students who are just beginning to add more than two numbers together, so the first set uses only the digits 1 - 6 twice (that is, 2 1's, 2 2's, etc.) The second set of ten puzzles uses the digits 2 - 7 twice. What's good about this setup is that you can cut out a set of cards and leave them at a math station for students

Great for math centers! This is 20 different "addition tower" problems: it combines Basic Set of Addition Towers and adds 10 more puzzles that use various combinations of digits to make the totals located at the base of each tower. Cut out the digit cards and place them directly on to the puzzle sheets until they get a solution and then record them on the answer sheet. Includes recording sheets so that you don't have to print up individual sets for each student, and a "DIY" sheet so that you

Here's a cool idea: give kids a set of numbers 1 - 10 and have them place them in columns so they add up to a number at the bottom of the tower. Great for practicing addition fact combinations, as well as developing problem solving skills. This is a basic set of 10 puzzles that is appropriate for K - 2nd graders. Great for math stations! Not so good for "scoot," because different kids will need different amounts of time to solve. Includes solutions AND a "do it yourself" template so you & your

This is a collection of 33 different Cuisenaire Rod "Truck Puzzles" that you can print, laminate and set up as math stations: they can be printed in groups of three to a page or individually. Degree of difficulty ranges from 2 to 3 to 4 rods to make a solution. Beautifully designed, fun to use with those Cuisenaire rods that are probably sitting around with no place to go and nothing to do.

10 different puzzles, from Easy Peasy to Ouch My Brain Hurts: print out the puzzles, cut out and attach to paper plates, add beans (or whatever counter you like) and set your kids loose! Develops addition and subtraction skills as they look for combinations of beans that go together to make a total between the two pans. Easy to make and store, includes instructions and solutions, as well as a recording sheet AND a "DIY" sheet so you can make more of your own. EVERYBODY NEEDS THESE IN THEIR CLA

What are your students going to make their dads for Fathers Day? Yet another pen holder or a photo mouse pad? I'm a father, and I can guarantee you that those won't fly. Why not make dad a puzzle that he can patchka around with for a few months or years? This is a "threefer" activity: it gets your kids to work on solving geometry puzzles, which they then make into a Fathers Day gift for that special father in their life, AND it is a "clue game" where kids classify shapes according to their att

Sum-o (which is a take-off on the word “sum,” in case you didn’t notice) is an addition practice game which provides young children with the opportunity to investigate different strategies to optimize their play. Like chess, it involves practicing addition and subtraction skills among the two players, and requires them to anticipate the future moves of their opponent. At the same time, there are definite outcomes that can be anticipated in the easier games which grow more complex as the numbers

What you’ve just purchased is a very decent alternative to “tangrams” and “pentominoes.” Please allow me to introduce you to the wonderful world of “Van Hiele Tiles.” Actually, these have nothing to do with the great educational theorists Dina van Hiele Geldorf and her husband, Pierre van Hiele (but it does, which you’ll see if you continue reading.) This puzzle originated in Germany with the Anchor Stone Company, which made building blocks and geometric puzzles using an artificial “stone” made

This is an attempt to straighten out an important misconception while teaching young children how to sequence the basic numbers from 0 through 9 (also known as "digits"), and then extend that to 20. Wait, did I miss something? As a matter of fact, I didn’t, and that’s because it is everyone else who is missing something: the basic numbers are not 1 through 10; they are, in fact, 0 through 9. The number 10 is not related to the numbers 0 through 9, because these are the “single digit numbers” an

Comparing Numbers, Pre-K, Kindergarten, First Grade, Second Grade Take a number tile from a bag: is it a moose or a squirrel? This activity is a fun and lively way for your kids to practice comparing numbers and classifying them as larger (moose) or smaller (squirrel.) The fun never stops: you can start with just placing the tile on the activity sheet in the correct column, or your students can use the moose/squirrel stamps provided to cut and paste the animal into the correct column. A third

Take a number tile from a bag: is it a moose or a squirrel? This activity is a fun and lively way for your kids to practice comparing numbers and classifying them as larger (moose) or smaller (squirrel.) The fun never stops: you can start with just placing the tile on the activity sheet in the correct column, or your students can use the moose/squirrel stamps provided to cut and paste the animal into the correct column. A third variation asks students to state how far the numbers is from the co

Ah yes, nice to see you back again. This is a number comparison activity I developed for my first grade teacher, but I've also used it with my kindergarteners and pre-k. It's cute, but not cutesy. Students take a number tile and place it on the game sheet at the top. They then take additional number tiles and decide whether it is an "elephant" (bigger than the number at the top) or "mouse" (smaller than the number at the top) and paste the correct stamp in the second column. A second version i

This is an attempt to straighten out an important misconception while teaching young children how to sequence the digits from 0 through 9. Wait, did I miss something? As a matter of fact, I didn’t, and that’s because it is everyone else who is missing something: the basic numbers are not 1 through 10; they are, in fact, 0 through 9. The number 10 is not related to the numbers 0 through 9, because these are the “single digit numbers” and 10, if you’ve looked at it closely, is a 2 digit number.

Greetings friend & fellow educator, Here we go again: just when you thought you had everything fixed up and all your ducks lined up in a neat little row, I’m back to give you some straight talk about place value, because, as I’m fond of saying, you’re teaching it wrong. Not only are you teaching it wrong, but you probably don’t even understand much of it yourself. Oh, you thought you knew everything, just because you bought a few games and did some random stuff with those silly “foldables” th