I enjoy spending time with my grandchildren and I look for ways to engage them in activities that promote their math and literacy skills. In anticipation of our days summer days together, I made a trip to the dollar store for materials to build with. I came home with a … More Summer Fun and Learning »
There are 10 Easter baskets lined up in a row. The Easter bunny puts 1 egg in the first one, 2 in the second, 3 in the third, 4 in the fourth. The bunny continues to fill all of the baskets like this. How many eggs were used to fill … More The Easter Bunny Needs Your Help! »
I was not planning on writing a post on Easter Sunday, but some real-life math occurred while preparing for dinner. I am sharing here what I posted on my Math Motivator Facebook page. My ham is 5.49 kilograms. The instructions say to cook it 12-15 minutes per pound or … More Easter Math »
When engaging students in problem solving and I hope you are doing so often, it is important to think about the types of tasks you give them. Which of the following two will give you the most information about your students? Example 1: (closed) Nathan finds 6 pink eggs, 1 … More Easter Egg Tasks »
Recently I was in a Grade 6 classroom and the teacher gave this problem to her students to solve. Mrs. M is planning on cooking a turkey. She read online that it takes 20 minutes to cook 500 grams of turkey. The turkey weighs 9.75 kilograms. About how long will … More Proportional Reasoning – Time For Turkey »
Some of you who were involved in the EQAO Primary Assessment last year may remember this question. There are 24 students in Mrs. Lowe’s class. She divides the class into 4 equal groups. Make a drawing to show the 24 students divided into 4 equal groups. One of these groups … More The Library Problem – Fractions »
Working one-on-one with students who are demonstrating a fragile sense of number are opportunities I greatly value. I always approach these times from an inquiry perspective, looking for clues to help me understand their struggles. Often they are demonstrating many strengths in some areas, but something is keeping them from … More Understanding Relationships Between Quantity and the Patterns Within Our Number System »
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 received the following question from a Kindergarten educator: Why do I get the feeling that natural materials are better than commercial ones for math? I do the exact same activity with materials we have in the classroom. Do the students actually learn more about math through the natural … More Natural vs Commercial Math Materials »
It is hard to believe that I am coming up to the first year anniversary of my official retirement from full-time teaching. It has been a wonderful year despite my husband having an accident in April resulting in a broken ankle and torn rotator-cuff. It could have been much worse … More Anniversary Reflection 2015-2016 »
