Multiplication Grid Makeover

The teaching community on twitter has been a daily source of inspiration for me over the years. I follow a variety of educators and # but I particularly enjoy and use ideas from the maths teachers I follow. This image is courtesy of @the_chalkface, a high school maths teacher in the UK but that doesn't put me …

Last Counter Game

I try to create a playful atmosphere in my maths classroom but I'm not a big fan of maths games. I find the students are too caught up in winning to notice the maths. I think that comes down more to the way I structure the lesson rather than the value of the game itself. …

Factors & Multiples

Why is it that students always seem to get factor and multiple confused? In my search for an activity to reinforce these terms I came across a hundreds chart (as featured in the excellent TEDtalk by Dan Finkel). It is taken from the game Prime Climb made by the guys at math4love. The chart goes up …

Steps Inquiry

 

Fractions Assessment

I love using proofs as quick assessments be it formative, summative or a quick check-in. These students worked together to prove the statement is false using several methods - a range of manipulative is always on hand and the students are able to use them in flexible and often ways not intended by the manufacturer. …

Multiplication prompt

Flags Inquiry

I love this flags inquiry for digging into area and perimeter. The biggest challenge set was: Can I draw a different design with the same ratio of pink to yellow?

2D shape prompt

I slightly adapted this prompt for my grade 4 class by removing one of the shapes. The questions and comments generated kept us busy for a couple of weeks and by the end of the inquiry pretty much all the required benchmarks, and more, were ticked off.

Area Prompt

This inquiry prompt lends itself to be being used in a  number of different ways. The first time I used this prompt I used both images and the statement. The second time I just presented one image. The first kept the inquiry focused on area - the second left the inquiry far more open but eventually came …

Division prompt

Questions and comments: I think 42 x 14 is the same as 84 x 7 because if you split 84 you get 42 and if you split 14 you get 7. Why does it say that 42 x 14 = 84 when the answer is really 588? I think the answer to 42 x 14 …