Math

Common Core, Math

Interactive Math Notebooks: Why and Getting Started

Interactive Notebooks are not new, but in recent years they’ve become more and more popular. Interactive notebooks are used to allow students to express their creativity as they are learning throughout the year. They can be used for class notes, practice, and to show mastery of concepts, but the key part of interactive notebooks, and why they are so useful…

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Intervention, Math

Hairy Money: An Intervention Tool for Counting Coins

When I first started teaching, the New Jersey standards required my first graders to learn to count coins up to 99 cents. It was always an extremely difficult concept because it require a lot of skill at once (skip count by different amount, identifying coins and remembering their value, addition etc) Thankfully, the standards have since been revised, and new…

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Common Core, Math

How to Respond to Parents Who Question “New Math”

Have you ever had a parent point to the fact that their child was struggling on “new math” or questioned the “crazy” or “illogical” ways that their child is learning? What about a parent who just doesn’t understand why the kids can’t learn how to do things the “normal” way, like they did when they were in school? I’ve been there…

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Intervention, Math

Dab & Learn Number Sense Math Activities

I don’t know about you, but my favorite learning activities are those that normally the most simple. They’re typically my students’ favorite activities as well. Today I want to share some simple activities to that will help your students build their number sense in a fun and engaging (and simple) way. If you’ve been reading my blog, following me on…

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Classroom Management, Math, Writing

Early Finishers: 5 Simple Ideas for Your Fast Finishers

“I’m done!” I don’t know about you, but that is one phrase that I really, really don’t need to hear in my classroom. We all have those students who finish their work early, and then of course need something to occupy their time. Today I’m going to share some ideas that are simple to implement, will add value to your…

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