SamizdatMath

To quote Charles Dickens (from The Pickwick Papers) “What fresh misery is this?” This is what happens when you have time on your hands and you’re thinking to yourself, “well, how can I bring bles’sed torment unto my students this week?” Many (many) years ago I had a student in my sixth grade class (you probably had them) who would respond to any “do now” problem with a quick look and the brag “oh, this is so easy!” And then after fumbling his way through 3 or 4 methods, all featuring a lapse of

This is a set of 90 puzzles (30 at each level) of Advanced "Square Knot" Puzzles focused on practicing problems solving for 1st through 3rd graders using addition and subtraction. The format is the same as other square knot puzzles, with larger numbers. 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

This is a set of 90 puzzles (30 at each level) of "Square Knot" Puzzles focused on practicing problems solving for early learners (1st - 3rd grade) using addition and subtraction. 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 arran

Think about it: the average American eats over 40 slices of pizza a year; if you live to be 80, and assuming you start at around 5 years old, this is 75 years of pizza x 40 slices per year, or 3,000 slices in your lifetime! Since this delicious food is such an important part of our life, doesn't it make sense that we understand everything there is about the economics of buying pizza? This is a series of activities that examines the economics of pizza in several different ways. First, it shows

This is a collection of classic and soon-to-be classic math and strategy games that can be played by students in grades 1 - 3. Each one has been beautifully layer out with gorgeous typography and NO CUTESY DRAWINGS! This is serious math for serious kids. Not really, but there’s a lot of playful stuff here that will challenge and entertain. Included in this collection: The Golden Apple Game The Rotten Apple Game Westbury: A strategy game where you make numbers from toothpicks. Sumo: A game w

This is the most complete guide you will ever own that answers each and every one of the questions you have ever had about teaching subtraction from grades K - 6. I mean, EVERY SINGLE THING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT TEACHING SUBTRACTION FROM Kindergarten through 6th GRADE. How can this possibly be? Because it's over 75 pages long! This massively documented booklet includes EVERYTHING, including: • Why you should model subtraction beyond "SOAR" * What are the essential properties of subtr

From the same wiseguy who brought you "Fractions: You're Teaching It Wrong," "Multiplication: You're Teaching It Wrong (and you really don't have to...), among other deals, I now present unto you, "Division: Take My Word For It, You're Teaching It Wrong." It's 62 pages long! Okay, half of those pages are printable "division facts reminder & practice cards, but still, that's a lot of division for you to digest. 13 concrete techniques that you can implement into your classroom tomorrow, or, even

I can guarantee that you will teach and assess multiplication facts more efficiently after implementing the recommendations made in this packet. You're probably teaching and assessing the same way you learned when you were a kid: flash cards, mad minutes, repeat until learned. However, the way we teach and assess multiplication facts denies the fact that neuroscience has found that memorizing and recalling multiplication facts is done in the region of the brain associated with language. This

Multiplication seems like such a simple topic to teach: we show our students a few examples, like 6 plates of 5 cookies, and next thing you know, we're moving on to memorizing the multiplication facts. Bad Idea. Multiplication is one of the trickiest topics we teach in mathematics, and the things we leave out mean that our students will pay later when they struggle with topics like ratio, proportion and other types of problem solving in their later years. You must prevent this from happening, a

These are among my favorite "hands on" puzzles to have my kids learn addition facts, or do remediation for those who are having problems "catching on." There are 10 different "bean puzzles" which can be cut out and glued to a paper plate. Number them 1 - 10 so kids can keep track of which ones they've completed (1 is the easiest, 10 is the most tricky.) Students complete the puzzle by taking dried kidney beans (or bean shaped counters) and distributing them in each pan so that two pans add up to