SamizdatMath

What goes better with equivalent fractions than CHANUKAH! Hanukah Harry is carrying a fraction in his bag; surrounding him are equivalent fractions that are missing a numerator or denominator. Alas, one of them is NOT KOSHER and cannot be completed! For example, if there is a fraction 1/3 and ?/5 is one of the choices, it can't be completed, because 3rds can't be turned into 5ths. SO MUCH FUN your kids will love it finding treif fractions! Customer Tips: How to get TPT credit to use on future p

This is the same as Number Logic Puzzles Silly Creatures with a Chanukah holiday theme, which should really motivate your students! This is a fun little booklet that your students can put together in about 3 minutes and we’ll really give them some fun working logically - and because this is something you purchased from me, your kids will also have a chance to make their own puzzles to share with one another. Ain’t that cool? Comes in b//w and color booklets - the color booklets have been forma

This is a set of 9 Christmas/Holiday themed math mystery puzzles. As you know, one of the things I have always advocated is giving children math problems that are interesting and challenging. I know, I know, this flies directly in the face of “well, if we give them hard things to do, then they’ll get discouraged and think math is hard.” Well, the truth is this: math is hard! And let me say another thing: anybody, young or old, experienced or not, is either lying or has never done “real math” if

This is a collection of 8 different Christmas/Winter Holiday Themed "matrix addition" puzzles which use funky symbols as clues to figure out the answers. They were designed for 2nd graders, but you could use them with advanced first graders, or just throw them at some third and fourth graders to see how they react. They're sort of algebraic puzzles that you can have a lot of fun with and who doesn't like fun? Comes in color and b/w for your printing pleasure! What makes this really cool is th

This is the same as Number Logic Puzzles Silly Creatures with a Christmas holiday theme, which should really motivate your students! This is a fun little booklet that your students can put together in about 3 minutes and we’ll really give them some fun working logically - and because this is something you purchased from me, your kids will also have a chance to make their own puzzles to share with one another. Ain’t that cool? Comes in b//w and color booklets - the color booklets have been for

This is a winter themed variation of Silly Creatures Number Logic Puzzles, a fun little booklet that your students can put together in about 3 minutes and features 2 kinds of objects to decipher. This version involves three different objects to interpret, which will really give them something fun to do and most likely fry their brains by working logically - and because this is something you purchased from me, your kids will also have a chance to make their own puzzles to share with one another.

This is a set of 9 winter themed (no holidays) math mystery puzzles. As you know, one of the things I have always advocated is giving children math problems that are interesting and challenging. I know, I know, this flies directly in the face of “well, if we give them hard things to do, then they’ll get discouraged and think math is hard.” Well, the truth is this: math is hard! And let me say another thing: anybody, young or old, experienced or not, is either lying or has never done “real math”

As you know, one of the things I have always advocated is giving children math problems that are interesting and challenging. I know, I know, this flies directly in the face of “well, if we give them hard things to do, then they’ll get discouraged and think math is hard.” Well, the truth is this: math is hard! And let me say another thing: anybody, young or old, experienced or not, is either lying or has never done “real math” if they think it is “easy.” In this activity, I’m pushing you to cha

This activity is based on Linda Booth Sweeney & Dennis Meadows “Harvest” from The Systems Thing Playbook, a collection of wonderful exercises and simulations for guiding children (and adults) through the process of thinking about how interconnected systems work together. It is a thoroughly wonderful book, and this mathematical investigation would not be possible without it. The basic idea is this: the students in your class are divided into groups, each of which represents a fishing boat. Each

A pilgrim chases a turkey around a board of hexagons trying to catch 3 escaped turkeys. To move around the board, the players select a card, decide if it can be solving using the "counting on" subtraction strategy (for example, 12 - 10 is "counting on" because you can say "11, 12, the answer is 2....) Comes in color & glorious black/white, 4 different sets of playing cards for different levels.

"STOP THAT ZOMBIE! is a truly "hands on" approach to working with addition and subtraction, with links to algebra, patterns and problem solving. The basic puzzle is simple: using the numbers 1- 6, distribute them around a triangle so that each side adds up to 9 (thus, trapping the zombie in his cage!) Where it gets really cool is this: you can arrange those same 6 numbers to add up to 10, 11, and 12 on each side. But the fun doesn't end there: you can differentiate this by using the numbers 2 -

What goes better with equivalent fractions than ZOMBIES! And what goes better with zombies than Valentine's Day? Each of these ghouls represents a fraction; surrounding them are equivalent fractions with heart-shaped zombie brains that are missing a numerator or denominator. Alas, one of them is a ZOMBIE and cannot be completed! For example, if there is a fraction 1/3 and ?/5 is one of the choices, it can't be completed, because 3rds can't be turned into 5ths. SO MUCH FUN your kids will love i

This is a collection of 10 candy corn puzzles that you can print in color, cut out and put onto plates. The student takes the indicated number of pieces of candy corn and distributes them on each character so that the the sum of two adjacent characters comes out to the arrow connecting them. For example, if there is an arrow pointing between mummy and witch, and it says "4," then you can either place 4 on the mummy and 0 on the witch, 1 on the mummy and 3 on the witch, 2 on the mummy and 2 on t

Tragically, Maryam Mirzakhani passed away on July 15, 2017. As a tribute to her work, I am now making this permanently free to all who will spread the word about Maryam's astonishing achievements. This is an original article I wrote about the 2014 Fields Medal Winner Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to win the award. The article is 5 paragraphs and is designed for readers from grades 4 - 8. There are 2 pages of questions; one page focuses on math questions ("How old was Mirzakhani when she wo

This may be the wildest activity you EVER do in your classroom with a SmartBoard...... Load this into your SmartBoard, enter a fraction, and hit the "lump o' coal." Instantly before your eyes 6 fractions with missing numerators or denominators will appear! Your students have to figure out what those missing numerators and denominators are, but be careful: one of them can't be completed (it's the lump o' coal!)

Equivalent Fractions! Equivalent Fractions? Equivalent Fractions ---- Equivalent Fraction Practice / Equivalent Fraction Problems..... Okay, I know this appears to be a shameless attempt to cash in on the Christmas Holiday, but I am deeply concerned that many of you loved the idea of your students knowing when they can and when they cannot make an equivalent fraction. Why you need this activity: many of our students do something peculiar when they learn a new skill - they apply it to every case

Addition Puzzles that Practice - Complete with SmartBoard Module! Note: this is a "zip" file that contains both a PDF and SmartBoard file: when you expand it, you will end up with two separate files, one with the PDF of "Reindeer Rescue" for you to print and use, as well as a SmartBoard "notebook" file that you can use interactively. "Reindeer Rescue" is a truly "hands on" approach to working with addition and subtraction, with links to patterns and problem solving. The basic puzzle is simple:

"Trap That Turkey" is a truly "hands on" approach to working with addition and subtraction, with links to algebra, patterns and problem solving. The basic puzzle is simple: using the numbers 1- 6, distribute them around a triangle so that each side adds up to 9 (thus, trapping the turkey in the pen!) Where it gets really cool is this: you can arrange those same 6 numbers to add up to 10, 11, and 12 on each side. But the fun doesn't end there: you can differentiate this by using the numbers 2 -

Okay, I know this appears to be a shameless attempt to cash in on the Thanksgiving Holiday, but I am deeply concerned that many of you loved the idea of your students knowing when they can and when they cannot make an equivalent fraction. Why you need this activity: many of our students do something peculiar when they learn a new skill - they apply it to every case they see, whether they can use it or not. In this case, I've seen students try to turn the fraction 1/4 into 7ths, even though ther

What goes better with equivalent fractions than ZOMBIES! Each of these ghouls represents a fraction; surrounding them are equivalent fractions that are missing a numerator or denominator. Alas, one of them is a ZOMBIE and cannot be completed! For example, if there is a fraction 1/3 and ?/5 is one of the choices, it can't be completed, because 3rds can't be turned into 5ths. SO MUCH FUN your kids will love it finding zombie fractions! Customer Tips: How to get TPT credit to use on future purch