December Resources 2018
December themes include winter solstice, starry nights, the Boston Bruins, the holidays and more! Over the years, we've published a number of blogs with problems-of-the-week, resources and other insights.
Math Website Resource Recommendation of the Month
from Steve Wyborney
Bring ESTIMATION to life in your classrooms with this new resource Esti-Mysteries from Steve Wyborney:
“Introducing Esti-Mysteries!Each image invites students to wonder what number is represented by the image.As you click through the each Esti-Mystery, clues will appear that will allow the students to use math concepts to narrow the set of possibilities to a small set of numbers.In the end, the students will need to call upon their estimation skills to solve the mystery and find the missing number.”
Math Book Recommendation of The Month
by Steve Leinwand
“In Developing Numerical Fluency, Patsy Kanter and Steven Leinwand take a fresh look at a commonly-asked question: “How do I teach number facts so my students know them fluently?” They apply their decades of experience teaching mathematics to rethinking effective fluency instruction.”
"This is a must-read book for any teachers of math."
—Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University
More about 'Same But Different Math'
One of the reasons students struggle in math is that they fail to make any connections. For some children (those lacking grayscale thinking) every concept they learn is its own entity without any connection to the larger network of mathematical ideas. Just like the young child who only likes his trucks, someone who has poorly developed number sense might see each number as its own thing, and not part of the larger number system. Ask a young child where they can find 8 on a number line to 10. If they don’t race towards the end of that number line knowing it’s near ten, but instead start at one and make their way up the number line, that could be an indication that they are lacking a systematic understanding of the counting system.