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Fractions: Understanding the Whole

Fractions: Understanding the Whole

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Getting students to understand fractions begins with an understanding of the ‘whole’. Take a look at the three designs in the photo. Begin with the question, “What do you notice?” Students will say obvious things like, “There is one hexagon and two trapezoids in the first design”, or “The center design is the largest.” Accept and encourage all these responses as they will help students build confidence. If no-one offers the idea that each design is half red, prompt them…

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Big Dice for Little Kids – Practicing Number

Big Dice for Little Kids – Practicing Number

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How do we get our young children comfortable with numbers? We count things with them. Lots and lots of things. We count the number of forks on the table, the number of grapes on the plate, the number of pennies in our pocket. Counting just becomes something we do. Here’s a fun, hands-on project that turns counting into a game. You’ll need: -1-2 empty “cube” tissue boxes (the boxes are not exactly cubes, but close enough) -colored construction paper -glue…

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Pocket Chart Sorting and Classifying in Grades K-1

Pocket Chart Sorting and Classifying in Grades K-1

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Got lots of left-over greeting cards? Here’s one fun way I found to use them with kindergarten and first graders. I sort the cards into two categories and the students try and figure out my rule. In the example above, I sorted the cards into pumpkins and hearts. It was pretty easy for students to figure that one out. But, after that, they can get pretty tricky and student really need to look carefully for similarities within groups: cats vs…

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Adding Coins: How Much is Today Worth?

Adding Coins: How Much is Today Worth?

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Here’s a great way to give students practice adding coins. Use the date as their target number and then have them come up with all the different combinations using pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. To turn this into a problem-solving activity, ask them to prove that they found all the combinations. A good way for students to learn how to organize their work is to have them use a table. At first, most kids fill in the table haphzardly which…

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