Have you ever wondered if there is a better way to understand and remember mathematical order of operations than PEMDAS, BIDMAS, GEMA, or any of the other happy mnemonics that only go so far? It’s been a bugaboo for so many teachers over time. During a recent work trip to St. Croix, USVI, I realized I hadn’t written my thoughts about it in my book. So I wrote a chapter all about it. If you’d like to read the chapter, wonderful! Just sign up to my email list, and you’ll get a link to download it for free. Don’t forget…
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A common problem educators face is to make fractions fun and intuitive, especially if their own education was lacking in this respect. One activity I developed that helps with this, and can be done with children of a variety of ages, is Fraction Jacks. What are fraction jacks? They are not the game with the bouncing ball and the funny-shaped pieces, though I’m sure something great could be developed with those. Instead, they are a physical activity that uses kinesthetic intelligence and mind-body connections to understand fractions. Here is how to do them. If you or your students have figured…
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Ever since I heard this story, I’ve been working to change my communication with children about what is important. I think this comic says it better than my soapbox speeches. And you can substitute anything else for math, but I chose math because I hear that all the time. *If you’re stuck on helping your child with a concept, try khanacademy.org or other sites like mathplayground.com to refresh your skills and make learning fun for both of you. For more on why this is important, see this Scientific American article titled The Secret to Raising Smart Kids. It has some citations to research showing…
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I’m pleased to report that an independent non-profit organization, EdReports.org, is reviewing new Common Core math curricula. I sometimes get asked about my opinion about the different options, but it’s hard to respond when there are so many new materials that I haven’t seen, and I am only one person. While the reviews don’t address every curriculum, they do address many of the available Common Core options. If your district is considering adopting a curriculum, please consider the detailed reports here. They also have a graphic that shows the alignment in a visual format. Click the thumbnail to view it.…
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Yesterday, an exciting package came in the mail: the first two published modules of the Common Core math curriculum for Grade 2, complete with my name on the inside! Even though it was only listed for Grade 2 (I’m writing on the Grade 5 team too), it was nice to see my name on another publication. While all of the modules can be downloaded and printed for free from NYSED, it may save money and time for schools to buy the printed books. Print editions are available from Great Minds, or you can order individual books for homeschooling, enrichment, or preview from Amazon.…
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Here is a list of websites and apps demonstrated during my session at NYSCATE 2013. EngageNY.org: where you can download the full curriculum modules for free. commoncore.org: access Eureka, the interface for the full math curriculum modules. Number Pieces (Free): Virtual Base 10 blocks and whiteboard AL Abacus ($1.99): Virtual abacus, sometimes called a Rekenrek 10 Frame Fill (Free): Basic ten-frame game/app. Virtual Manipulatives! (Free): Fraction, decimal and percentage tiles Teaching Table ($2.99): Smartboard-like manipulatives and interactivity for math presentations Number Bonds: Addition & Subtraction to 99 ($1.99): Number bonds app for composing and decomposing numbers Bugsy Kindergarten Math ($2.99):…
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It’s been a while since my last post on iPad apps, and in the meantime a lot has happened. For one thing, I have downloaded and tried quite a number of math apps. I’m going to start a round-up of some of the most useful apps as I have time. First up: exciting news! The Number Bond software, that I lamented being only on Mac or PC for so long, is now ported to iOS. As far as I can tell, having downloaded only the addition/subtraction version, it’s pretty much exactly the same as the computer version. This has its…
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In August 2010, Achieve.org produced a report comparing the Common Core State Standards with the Singapore Math syllabus. I found the report interesting, as it showed that there are many similarities between these standards and Singapore’s syllabus, though in some ways, the CCSS document is clearer in its expectations. Also, Singapore uses the British system of O-level and A-level achievement. Their O-level high school curriculum is slightly less rigorous than ours, but their A-level curriculum is more rigorous than our standard high school curriculum. I drew the conclusion from reading the report that adopting Singapore Math could be a positive…
