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Free Number Sense Boosters
Could your students’ number sense use a boost? These quick and simple activities improve number sense while engaging your students.
Latest from the Blog
Word Problem Strategies for All Students
You have probably received mixed messages about teaching your students to understand word problems. Should you use tape diagrams or number bonds? Should your students draw pictures or should you tell them to only draw circles? Should you teach the arithmetic before asking students to apply that math to a
Line Plot Lessons that Work!
When you think of teaching graphing, hands-on might not be the first idea that comes to mind. You can teach line plots with or without fractions by using hands-on material to boost meaning and understanding for all of your learners. These ideas for line plot lessons will help all of
Fraction Vocabulary: It’s Critical!
Naming fractions comes so naturally to some of our learners but to others, especially our kids with speech and language needs, naming fractions can be really difficult! One reason why this is such a difficult skill to teach or to learn for some of our kids is that not only
Multiplying Fractions by a Whole Number
Fraction concepts are taken up a level in 5th grade and many of the topics are very abstract and difficult for students to understand. Multiplying fractions by a whole number doesn’t need to be one of these difficult concepts! By using the CRA (Concrete-Representative-Abstract) framework your students will link what
Subtraction With Regrouping for ALL Learners
It’s about that time of year when 2nd grade students begin to delve into subtraction with regrouping. Right off the bat, I want to mention that the standard algorithm is NOT a part of the second grade standards! That being said, so many of the programs that we use expect
3 Common Misconceptions When Teaching Fractions On A Number Line
When it comes to gaining an understanding of the count sequence for fractions, there are fewer more powerful tools than asking students to place fractions on a number line. For primary students, it is important for students to not only know how to count from 1-10 but to also understand
Teaching Fact Fluency
A portion of the links and recommendations in this post are affiliate links. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase. I have personally read each of these books or used these tools and would not recommend them
Understanding Comparision Word Problems
Why is it that comparison word problems are particularly difficult for elementary school students? There are several challenges present in these specific types of word problems that we don’t have to contend with when we are doing more simple problem types such as put together, take apart, add to, or
Adding Fractions with Unlike Denominators
How do you add fractions with unlike denominators? Find common denominators of course! You know, however, that I’m a big proponent of students understanding why they are using a strategy. If our students don’t know why they are using a strategy so many of our learners don’t know when to
Teaching Math Strategies that Stick!
How to Teach Counting On Addition So the Strategy STICKS! We know that when we teach procedures in math that many of our students lack the ability to generalize those procedures and apply them when it’s appropriate. How often have you heard this description of a struggling student: “They have