Embrace the ‘M’ Word

Embrace the ‘M’ Word

I want you to imagine a world without math.  What would that look like?  Think about that for a moment.  No math. How would you know what time it was?  How would you know how much money you had?  How would you bake a cake?  How would you build a tree house? We learn math because it’s useful.  It makes our lives easier.  And it helps us understand the world we live in.  Math is critical to the success of…well,…

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Family Math Night What Do You Notice? Poster

Family Math Night What Do You Notice? Poster

The Common Core State Standards in Mathematics is really emphasizing number lines in student work with numbers.  So I thought I’d include one on a What Do You Notice? Poster at last night’s Family Math Night event.  But in order to reflect both the primary and intermediate grades, not only did I include the counting numbers, but I marked the fourths, as well. Some students noticed the color pattern I used – even numbers are blue and odd are red….

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Family Math Night What Do You Notice? Poster

Family Math Night What Do You Notice? Poster

So for this What Do You Notice? poster, I decided to tie in rectangular arrays with prime and composite numbers.  That said, whatever math-y thing students notice is totally acceptable.  For example, one student noticed that the “buildings” had square windows.  Great.  That’s a little bit of geometry.  Another student noticed that each set of colored rectangles included the same number of squares.  Again, great, as that required some counting and comparison.  Just like the student who noticed that there are…

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STEAM Family Math Night Collaborative Projects: Soccer Ball

STEAM Family Math Night Collaborative Projects: Soccer Ball

Get kids excited about science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) with this fun hands-on collaborative project. Typically done during a Family Math Night event, this project can also be done in the classroom. The best part is, each person is individually represented in the final product! Students will learn what makes a soccer ball through an introduction to 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional geometry. The lesson plan includes the mathematical background and useful vocabulary along with a link to the video…

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