Recently in a Gr 3, 4, 5 classroom we gave the students this question: Students are learning about insects. They discover that an ant has 1 body, 2 antennae and 6 legs. They each make a model. How many bodies, antennae and legs will they need for 5, 10 and … More Ants! Ants! Ants! »
Recently I had the opportunity to work in a Grade 6 classroom as they began a unit on division and multiplication. The teacher gave the students the following problem from the Ministry support guide (division) to begin. The purpose for that day was to see what the … More Proportional Reasoning – Division »
Explicit teaching must take place in the consolidation part of the shared math lesson when working with EQAO type thinking questions. To be most effective, teachers need to know the learning goal. As Dr Marian Small says the learning goal should be connected to understanding and less about doing. When … More Explicit Teaching – Timing is Everything! »
I just finished making brownies (from a box) with my granddaughter Charlotte who is in Junior Kindergarten. I was reminded about all of the ways both math and literacy can be injected into a fun time. I baked with my own children when they were young but I know … More Tasty Math Homework »
Recently in a Gr 5-6 classroom the teacher gave this question (see photo) to his students to solve in pairs. Some students had different numbers to work with. This is an example of a thinking type question found yearly on EQAO. These questions are the most difficult for … More EQAO Thinking Questions »
I love games that require very little preparation and materials but really focus on important math concepts and skills. Here is one that will allow students to identify different coins and understand their value. In addition they are developing an understanding of equal groups and unitizing … More Money Race Games »
How often do we make assumptions about students’ mathematical understanding in the younger grades because they are able to compute equations such as 5+7 or 12-7? In a Gr 2-3 class we asked the students to independently solve the following question: 8 + 4 = _ + 5 Just … More What does = mean? »
“In mathematics the art of proposing a question must be held in higher value than solving it.” (Georg Cantor) The art of proposing a question is critical in our math classes because as educators we want to promote thinking and reasoning. Some questions posed by adults can be very closed … More Everybody Has Questions! »
