Karyn's Blog

What Do You Notice? Number Theory

March 30, 2018 Karyn Comments 0 Comment

Skills:
K-2: counting, skip counting, patterns, even/odd numbers
3-5: even/odd numbers, patterns, multiples, factors, multiplication, common multiples, prime/composite numbers

When students learn to skip count* they are reciting the multiples of the number they started with. It’s a great early introduction to multiplication. This poster is a horizontal representation of some of the multiples for numbers 1 – 23 which are represented by different colors. For example, multiples of 1 are magenta; multiples of 2 are yellow; 3 are green, etc.

Factors are the numbers multiplied together to arrive at another number. For example, 2 and 3 are the factors that, when multiplied, result in the product 6. This poster shows the factors of each number vertically. The factors of 6 are: 1 (magenta), 2 (yellow), 3, (green), and 6 (blue).

1 x 6 = 6 and 2 x 3 = 6

Power Packs and Math Homework

December 15, 2017 Karyn Comments 0 Comment

Everyone loves to play games. They’re engaging, motivating, and fun. And from an educational perspective, they can be a powerful learning tool. Here’s what games can do:

reinforce skills learned in the classroom
develop mental math skills
encourage strategic thinking
foster mathematical communication
build confidence
engage parents

But one of the best things about games is that they offer meaningful practice in a way where kids actually want to do math. That’s because games, by their very nature, are fun. It’s not too hard to entice a child to play a game. And because of that, games offer important practice in a way that worksheets can’t.

Developing Math Passion

January 19, 2015 Karyn Comments 0 Comment

I was talking to my youngest son over the winter break about the college courses he had signed up for this next quarter. What he answered surprised me. “I signed up for US Constitutional Issues. I’m SO excited to take this class. The professor is amazing! I took his American History Pre-1865 class last quarter and loved it. He’s so passionate about the material and makes it exciting because he tells it as a story. Plus, he relates it to…

Pocket Chart Concentration – A Game for K-1 Students

March 22, 2012 Karyn Comments 0 Comment

I used a bunch of left-over stickers I had to make the cards. The first time I played it w/ them, I had only 4 rows and 6 columns. They need to say the letter first followed by the number (getting ready to read the X axis and the Y axis). If students win a pair, they hold on to it and we move on to the next student. Super FUN! .