• your child’s classroom
• Math books
• Prek to 2nd grade ideas
• 3rd to 5th grade kid ideas
• Middle school kid ideas

Math Teacher Gift Ideas for Christmas

1 Base Ten Block Magnets These are perfect for modeling addition and subtraction in primary grades.

2 Mavalus Tape The ONLY tape a teacher needs. This tape is WELL worth the money.

3 Perimeter, Area, & Volume Book Every teacher needs more books, so why not add a great math book that can be read aloud or independently!

4 Your Elastic Brain A read aloud to help students build growth mindset, a must have in the math classroom.

5 3D shapes with Folding Nets Teachers can use these with 1st graders when identifying shapes and the folding nets help with surface area for our middle schoolers!

6 Measurement Set This set can help students visualize liquid measuring.

7 10 Frame pop-its Pop-its are well loved by all and these are no different. Perfect for small groups for grades K to 2nd for addition and subtraction.

Math Books for Teachers and Families

1 Maryam’s Magic Biography of a brilliant, Iranian female mathematician. An inspiring story of a mathematician all children should know!

2 I Can Do Hard Things While setting a math classroom culture and math norms students will need to develop a mindset that hard things are a welcome challenge and they are capable. This book is a great place to start.

3 The Magical Yet The pictures and rhyme of this book make the message even more special. This book is a must read in every classroom community as you develop your culture of growth and perseverance.

4 I’m Trying to Love Math This picture book is perfect for all ages, even middle schoolers. The illustrations and humor make it a love-able and practical book for every classroom!

5 Thanks for the Feedback Is a favorite for introducing how to respond when students get feedback. Includes great thinking stems about both positive and negative feedback and ways to respond. Use with elementary and middle school students.

6 Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super Soaking Stream of Inventions What kids don’t love water guns & inventions? This biography of Lonnie Johnson is inspiring and exciting. A must have in every classroom! Check out more mathematicians your children should know here.

7 Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain A true story of an inspiring woman in the 17th century solving unbelievable math problems. Let’s change the narrative that math is for boys by surrounding our students with stories of all types of mathematicians from all the ages!

These are all teacher gift ideas for Christmas (or any holiday). Your child’s teacher would be so grateful to receive any gift, but especially a book!

Teacher Gift Ideas for PreK to 2nd Grade Kids!

1 Montessori Counting Pegs A great open ended math tool for helping children develop number sense and explore quantity. Perfect for at home family play or your child’s teacher!

2 Proportional Sized Number Blocks These blocks have so many possibilities from stacking to addition. What makes them unique? They are proportional– meaning the 10 is double the size of 5. Stack up the 2 and the 3 to equal the same height as the 5. This is a toy your kids will play with for years.

3 Number Blocks Stampoline Park If your child hasn’t watched this show you gotta go now! These brilliant, short (5 minute) episodes make learning quantity & math fun. This toy is a stamp set that is sure to be the highlight of art time, but also give some real fun math practice!

4 Magnetic 123 & ABC writing practice This magnetic board gives just enough resistance to help students practice with the “pencil” properly. While the number size has room to represent problems and draw models to match. Must have for traveling or preK and kindergarten fun at home practice.

5 Tiny Polka Dot has 16 easy to learn games inside that tiny box! Numbers up to 10 represented with ten frames, dot patterns, dice patterns… making subitizing (don’t worry if you don’t know that word) practice easy and fun!

6 Number Block Transformers are a BIG hit in our house. They are fun to play with and make numbers part of play without the pressure to “do math”.

7 Kids Learning Locks allow you to introduce numbers, written numbers, and quanitity while practicing fine motor skills. I can only imagine what kind of trouble kids can get into with their imagination and a set of pad locks!

Teacher Gift Ideas for your 3rd to 5th Grade Kids!

1 Fraction Measuring Spoons are perfect for your holiday baking and giving kids real life examples of fractions. Buy these for your kid, then use them as you cook & bake!

2 Montessori Multiplication & Division Board is perfect open ended game or learning toy to use with your child. No rules or “must dos”, instead just explore and notice patterns. Practice your facts and challenge your child to make arrays to match equations.

3 Fraction Measuring Cups a must have for real world math. Use these in the kitchen with your child as you bake and cook to help them visualize fractions. Also these make a great gift for your child’s classroom!

4 Multiplication Table Pop-It Everychild wants a giant pop-it, so why not get them one that’s useful too.

5 Adsumudi game A mental math game for all four operations. Easily modify this game to meet the needs of your child. This game is a perfect way to make practicing their math facts fun and build fluency with no tears!

6 Proof! Game Ages 9 to 99 will enjoy this game of mental math. The whole family can play and work on not only fact fluency, but providing mathematical reasoning as justification!

Teacher Gift Ideas for your Middle Schooler!

1 Prime Club is a game where you’ll master multiplication, division, factorization and prime number concepts… while having some family fun! Seems worth it to me.

2 Rubiks Cube the classic toy has made a come back, or maybe it never went anywhere. The middle schoolers at my school have backpacks full and take them everywhere they go. Your middle schooler wants one!

3 Shashibo is a foldable cube fidget. We all know kids love fidgets, but this is one you’ll find the adults playing with too. Configure it into tons of different shapes. Tons of colors and patterns to choose from.

4 Absolute Zero Card Game is a family card game where you combine positive and negative numbers to find the value of zero. Bonus, it was created by a math teacher!

5 Blokus is a family friendly game of strategy and spatial reasoning. Playing this game your child won’t even know they are using their brain, but will be having fun “blocking” out the other players.

If you have questions about the teacher gift ideas for Christmas for your children drop them below.
Or you can follow me on Instagram at @HelloMonaMath to see how I use these in my own home and classroom.

The post Teacher Gift Ideas for Christmas for YOUR own Kids appeared first on Mona Math.

Today we have the pleasure of hearing from expert in real life math, Alice Aspinall of @EveryoneCanLearnMath. If you follow Alice on social media you will see her beautiful pictures of real life math and practical tips on how to use opportunities in our everyday life to incorporate math! I knew having a guest blog post from her would be super helpful as we start our year. This blog post if FULL of great ideas that you can use at the beginning of the year to get your students talking about real life math!

Introducing… Alice Aspinall of Everyone Can Learn Math

Alice Aspinall is a Portuguese-Canadian secondary mathematics educator in Ontario, Canada. She is a strong advocate of the growth mindset and is continually looking for ways to build young people’s confidence in math and to make math fun, challenging, and satisfying. Alice is also a champion for females in STEM by encouraging girls to pursue science and mathematics both in high school and in post-secondary education. Alice believes everyone can learn math and she is on a mission to prove it.

A Guest Post by Alice Aspinall: Starting Math Class with Real-Life Math

Starting the year with Real Life Math Examples

As the beginning of a new school year quickly approaches, we need to consider how we are going to build a positive math culture in our classrooms. I believe that every math class can be inviting and exciting for our students if we are intentional about creating joyful experiences. One of the key features of an engaging math class in the elementary grades is providing real-life math opportunities.

Math is visible all around us – if we are looking for it! When we are in a classroom with our students it might be more challenging to find those math moments, but we can bring the real-life math to the classroom using photos and math talks. I love a good math talk. I don’t necessarily structure my math talks in any specific way because I like to see where students go with their thinking and their questions.

Real Life Math Talk – Strategy #1

Years ago, my good friends Kyle and Jon over at Make Math Moments introduced me to one of my favourite ways to start a math talk from a photo. Present a photo to your class and simple pose the two questions:

What do you notice?
What do you wonder?

I tell students there are no obvious “noticings” and no wrong “wonderings.” This introduction to a math talk is non intimidating and allows for entry by all students, no matter their level. This also allows for some funny and non-math related answers – but this is all part of the fun! If students are not leading to the math you want to talk about, start guiding your questions toward the topics you want them to discuss. If you hold math talks often, students will start to catch on to the “math” part of the talk and will naturally look for the math.

Real Life Math Talk – Strategy #2

Another way to start a math talk is by posing a very open-ended question. For example, I first learned this technique from Christopher Danielson who poses a collection of items and asks:

How many?
How did you count them?

The photo for this questioning could have multiple different kinds of items, eliciting different answers from students depending on what they choose to count. Or the photo might have items arranged in a way that allows for subitizing in multiple ways, provoking a variety of methods to count the items.

I have chosen two photos to demonstrate how to use a real-life photo to start math talks in your classroom. For each photo, I am going to offer specific prompts I might use to get students talking about the math in the scenario. Consider using the notice/wonder questions before starting with the specific prompts to get students engaged and intrigued by the photo first. I like to give everyone a chance to participate if they want to and the notice/wonder questions are a good way to begin.

Real Life Math Example- Arrays

Possible topics: counting, repeated addition, skip counting, multiplication

Arrays are powerful in helping students learn to count items. They can cover many different topics and lead to subitizing. Arrays are found in many everyday scenarios and the arrangements make counting items faster than counting one-by-one.

 Consider the following photo taken at a local playground: 

For this math talk, my goal as the educator might vary depending on the topic/grade level of my class, but ultimately, I think we are looking for the total number of tires in the photo. It is how we get there that allows for differentiation.

Before getting to a final answer, estimating is always a good entry point. I would first ask my students to estimate the number of tires in the array. Take down their estimates to make everyone’s response feel valued.

Then, I would move on to discussing the number of rows and columns. Once this is established, I might continue with, “There are 4 rows and 5 columns. Which is the easier way for you to count the total: 4 groups of 5 or 5 groups of 4? Why?”

I might prod further to ask how they calculated the total number of tires, “Did you skip count? What number did you count by? Did you multiply? Is this a multiplication fact you know?”

If I had a younger class, my goal might simply be to have the students count the tires with correct one-to-one correspondence. If some students bring up skip counting, I would explore that further by asking the student to explain or by helping the whole class through it.

Estimation in Real World Math Talks

Possible topics: number sense, logic and reasoning, number ranges

Estimating is a necessary skill for students to develop. Good estimation skills can help in many real-life situations including purchasing enough items, putting out enough food at a party, gathering enough materials to build something, and many more. The objects and the quantities you ask your students to estimate will depend on their age level. You want to start with small quantities in the younger grades and work toward larger, more difficult quantities in older grades.

Consider the following photo taken at a local farm:

Questions that I might ask to get my students estimating include (but not limited to):

How many cows do you think there are?
How many ears?
How many legs?

At first, the estimating of how many ears and legs might seem like a straightforward calculation, but the estimating comes from the number of cows in the photo. It is impossible to count the exact number of cows that you can see, so we must estimate.

If I had an older class, I might take a strategy from Andrew Stadel and ask students to first develop an estimate that is “too low” and “too high.” This can be done as a whole class discussion or in small groups, but the key is to discuss why an estimate might be too high or too low. The purpose of this discussion is to create a reasonable range for the estimates.

Here is an example of how this thinking might go: I know there are at least 10 cows because I can count 10 definite cows in the photo. This number can be used to calculate “too low” estimates for the number of ears and legs in the photo. I know there are no more than 40 cows because I think I can count around 20 cows, and I don’t think there are twice as many as that in the photo.

If students are too conservative with their “too low” and “too high” numbers, challenge them to narrow the range a bit using some reasoning like the example above.

When students are ready to give their final estimates, write them down to acknowledge their responses. I think this goes a long way in a math classroom to show that every student’s thinking is valued. In this case, we don’t know the actual answer and that doesn’t matter. It is the thinking and reasoning in the math talk that is important here.

If I had a younger class, I might just stick to the four most prominent cows and use the photo to focus on counting and skip counting.

The Big Picture- Real Life Math in the Classroom

The important thing to remember when doing math talks is that they should be natural and not too forced. What I mean by this is that memorizing a script of questions will not necessarily produce the results we want as educators. With practice (by you and your students), the conversation will begin to flow, and the questioning will become more organic. What matters is that we are trying to present these everyday scenarios to our students so that they know that math is all around them and part of their lives beyond the classroom.

 Arguably, the best part about math talks started from a real-life photo is that the outcome will always be different. Each photo and each class will produce a different conversation. This might make some of us uncomfortable, but beautiful things arise from discomfort. Imagine being able to pick a math concept out of a photo that one of your students provides. Unplanned and going with the flow, together with your students, talking about the math you see and trusting that strong thinking will result from it. To me, this is a powerful, productive, and positive math culture to have in any classroom.

A bit more about Alice…

Alice Aspinall

Twitter: twitter.com/aliceaspinall, twitter.com/everyonecanmath

Instagram: Instagram.com/everyonecanlearnmath

Facebook: facebook.com/everyonecanlearnmath

YouTube: youtube.com/MrsALovesMath

Website: everyonecanlearnmath.com

Alice Aspinall, B.Math(Hon), B.Ed, is a Portuguese-Canadian secondary mathematics educator in Ontario, Canada. Alice has written several children’s math books inspiring a love of mathematics through growth mindset, perseverance, and real-life math exploration. Her books have sold all over the globe and are highly rated and recommended by educators and parents. They are available at most online bookstores including Amazon: bit.ly/aliceaspinall 

Math Discussion… Let’s Keep Talking…

Check out this blog post to Engage your Students in Math Discussions 

Or this blog post about how I use problem of the day to engage students in math discussions.

Increase Engagement with Problem of the Day for Math

Engage Every Student in Math

Grab a FREE copy of my ebook that includes 5 practical tips on making your math class student centered. You’ll learn how to engage every learner in discussion and deep math thinking. The ultimate goal is to ensure all students are empowered to love and understand math deeply.

Are we friends on social media?

Twitter: @LocalLearners

Instagram: @Local.Learners

The BEST math teacher facebook group around! Check out this group for free trainings and a group of like minded teachers like you!

The post Real Life Math: 2 Simple Strategies for Joyful Math Talk appeared first on Mona Math.

In my classroom Problem of the Day for math is an instructional routine that helps students achieve deeper learning through inquiry and exploration of mathematical ideas. Okay, so real talk– it’s a routine we use everyday so kids can THINK deeply about math. The routine is simple, but the potential is insurmountable.

Problem of the Day is based on the research of Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI). CGI is a student-centered approach to teaching math. It is based on the assumption that children already have a lot of intuitive number sense & problem solving capabilities. This approach is responsive to students through listening closely to their thinking, asking questions, and engaging them in sharing their thinking with peers. The goal is always deeper learning through expanding their mathematical understandings. 

Well, to be honest with you it took me a while to be convinced to give Problem of the Day a try. It went against everything I had previously done in math– one problem vs. multiple practice problems, a lot of time for students to talk (even if they are wrong), not directly teaching students how to solve. However, once I finally took the leap of faith and tried Problem of the Day I almost immediately noticed a change in my students. Students were engaged, excited, and willing to participate. Math quickly became everyone’s favorite part of the day. 

In my second year of implementing Problem of the Day my students made 2 and 3 years worth of gains in their math scores on the standardized test. Nothing beats the smiles on faces of kids that just surpassed a growth goal in June they had no hope of meeting in August. Disclaimer- standardized tests are not the only way (or even the main way) I help students track their growth. Almost every year my students are so validated as they click through the test questions with confidence that they can solve any and every problem. 

The post Increase Engagement with Problem of the Day for Math appeared first on Mona Math.

Problem Solving Definition

Let’s form a common definition. My training and research comes from a book called Children’s Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction. This training opened my eyes to my problem solving definition. So here it is,

Problem solving to me isn’t just an approach that works in math, it helped me develop lessons that allowed me to plan lessons where students could drive the thinking in every subject.

Problem Solving Process

The problem solving process in my classroom is by far the best part of the day – in my opinion and my students. In fact, on the days we don’t do problem solving I hear groans and moans. It’s actually quite beautiful to see their love for math.

On a typical day of problem solving most of our learning happens in a circle. Read about why I love circles here. We use circles to send the message that every single one of us is vital to the problem solving process. You see, this isn’t a routine just for each child to push themselves, but it is a way for us to work together to collectively gain understanding. This process is just as much about our community working together to develop an understanding as it is for the individual.

launching the task

We start in a circle with launching the task. I make strategic moves to help students envision the math problem as a story. We don’t zoom into key words, instead we work toward a total comprehension of what the problem is asking.

grapple time

Next we move onto independent “grapple” time. This time allows students to get up close with the task and challenge themselves to persevere for only 8 minutes. I have found this is the perfect amount of time for most tasks and for most grade levels. During this very quick amount of time I observe. I look for how students are solving, really trying to get inside their thinking. I don’t use this time to one-on-one teach or coach students.
By giving students this time to grapple we show them that they have the ability to do hard things.

share and discourse

Then, we come to the carpet for select 2-3 students to share. I select these students based on what I see students’ current level of solving. The goal is that students will learn from their peers and be nudged along the trajectory toward more advanced models and strategies. 

Steps to problem solving

My problem solving routine is a total of 25-28 minutes. We do this every day within our math block.
And yes, I also teach fluency and my curriculum addressing all math standards. Here is the time break down for each step.

Launch Task (5 minutes) 

Grapple Time (8 minutes) 

2-3 students share (5-10 minutes) 

Student led discourse driving toward deep understanding of students’ shares. (5- 10 minutes) 

As I’ve said before this is the best part of our day and worth every single minute.

If you would like even more details on how I do this, grab my eBook titled
5 Steps to a Student Centered Math Classroom: Empower Students to Love & Understand Math

Problem Solving Examples

Check out this video in my actual real life classroom. Please know this is not perfect example, but it’s a good idea of how you can empower students to have ideas and think in math without directly teaching math strategies.

Another example of what this looks and feels like in my classroom is located here. I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.

Problem Solving Techniques

These teacher moves are something I will be perfecting for the rest of my life. Isn’t that exciting? I have found a teaching practice that not only helps students learn, but also helps me learn!
Leading a discussion, listening, and questioning are the key skills I’m working to be a better facilitator. 

There is a long list of skills we can teach our students. For example; how to start solving a problem, how to get over a road block in solving, how to analyze a solution of others, and so on. That’s all for another time!
Hint… look for a teacher training designed just for you/with you this summer!

Ready to Implement?

Are you ready to give this a try in your classroom? Or maybe you just want to see how all the pieces fit together? Grab the lesson plan below where I will walk you through each part of how I go about teaching my favorite math routine!

The post How Problem Solving Changed my Math Teaching appeared first on Mona Math.

If you’re like me you’re teaching during this pandemic – virtually, hybrid, in person and then swiftly back to virtual you are STRUGGLING with math lesson planning. And after months, do you still feel like you have no idea what you’re doing? You’re not sure if your math lesson plans are right. Let me reassure you YOU ARE DOING AMAZING WORK.

Seriously, take a moment to reflect on where your students started and what they can do now! You are leading students through a pandemic, teaching them in news ways, and supporting their social emotional needs. 

And that’s all amazing, but you’re still struggling with finding what to plan and how to plan for all the things in a sustainable way. Yup. YES! Uh Huh.
I’ve compiled the common questions and answers from teachers all over to help us share some knowledge on how to make planning sustainable and enjoyable while delivering high quality lessons to our students no matter how they join our class.

How do you know what to put in your math lesson plans? 

Prioritize

Prioritize. Your math lesson plans should only include the highest priority content.
How can you find the high priority content to add to your math lesson plans?
Start with the “critical areas” for your grade level and then implementing some high yield routines. First, go to the CCSS website and find your grade level introduction to the standards. (Here is 3rd grade- just click on your grade level on the right side). There you’ll see an explanation of the critical areas for your grades math (it’s only about 1 page of reading & very useful). Use that to help you pick and choose the units you will cover this school year. 

Add: High Yield Math Routines to your Math Lesson Plans!

Add routines to your math lesson plans. High Yield Routines for Grades K-8 by By Ann McCoy, Joann Barnett, Emily Combs defines high yield routines as an “easily implemented routines that will provide teachers with opportunities to enhance the content knowledge and mathematical practices of their students.” Routines provide a safe and predictable structure for your students that allow them to go deep in their math understanding & practice essential mathematical skills (like attending to precision & making sense of problems and persevere in solving them). Routines are quick & easy to plan, but avoid drill & kill and surface level work, and instead drive toward deep conceptual understanding of math concepts.

#1 Routine: Math Warm Up

I suggest you add 2 types of routines to your math lesson plans.
First, a warm up routine. This could include any of the high yield routines such as quick images, number of the day, which one doesn’t belong, or alike & different. These routines function as a spiral review while also giving students time to develop math meaning through exploration and discussion.
I have several for all grade levels listed here for sale.

#2 Routine: Problem Solving

Second, add a problem solving routine to your math lesson plans. Develop a simple problem solving routine that will allow your students to develop their conceptual understanding through grappling and discussion. Start by launching the problem, then let students grapple independently, finally synthesize the learning with a share and discourse.

Other Ideas for your Math Lesson Plans:

Add some winter fun to your math classroom!

I know the next thing you’re going to ask me is, where do I get the problems? Start with your curriculum. Are there any high quality math tasks in your lessons? Illustrative math (6-8) & EngageNY (k-5) are open source curriculums that both have problems that work well for problem solving! Or you can grab the 5th grade problems pictured on my TPT shop.

How do you plan for virtual live classes? 

Weekly Template of Slides for Math Lesson Plans

Anyone else TIRED of making slides?
My math lesson plans are done in a weekly template of slides. Then, I can easily repurpose slides by swapping out new problems for each week. 

An Opening & Closing

Add an opening and closing to your math lesson plans. This will help you welcome your students in within the first 5 minutes. Consider adding a discussion prompt to get students engaged in the chat as soon as they join the live meeting. I have also recently added a quote from a famous Mathematician to my opening slide. I ask students to reflect on the quote and insert tidbits about the person’s life and career. 

The RIGHT Tech Tools for your Math Lesson Plans

I reviewed my top 3 favorite tech tools to help you find one that will work for you. Read my reviews here.

What are your math lesson plans for asynchronous days? 

Projects.

Your math lesson plans need Projects.
To be honest, my students aren’t motivated to complete practice problems on the days between our live classes. When they do complete them the work is low quality. However, when I engage them in relevant project based tasks students are engaged and completing work.

My 6th graders loved our most recent project- Ratio’s Cookbook Project. With 80% participation and an increase in office hours participants, I’m calling projects a win. In live class we spent 5-10 minutes sharing work, asking questions and discussing the project. We ended the project with a culminating “recipe party” where students shared recipes in breakout rooms. My students were motivated and excited to complete the project. Here’s what they had to say about the project vs. practice problems. 

I’m not the only one who thinks your math lesson plans need projects. My friend, Kristen from “Moore Than Just x” write about how Project Based Learning can get your real results!

What do you do when students don’t do work or come to live lessons? 

When students don’t come to school I worry about them. I designated time in my math lesson plans to connect with families. It honestly only takes 5 minutes to call a family.

I reach out to their family out of concern. By approaching the absence from a place of concern and support it lowers any defenses and helps families see that my main motive is to help. I have found when I reach out this way families are often struggling with technology, internet, or family crisis. I suggest you make a phone call. Don’t send an email or a text, but reach out with concern and willingness to help. Your students and their families will appreciate your compassion.

How do you plan for virtual assessments ?

This is yet another thing about virtual teaching that feels unfair and impossible. I get it. But we owe it to our students to ensure they continue to make progress and have the proof of that progress. Assessment is one of the best ways to show students the incredible gains they are making!

My math lesson plans include daily exit tickets. The exit tickets ask students to explain their thinking in addition to the multiple choice questions. This allows instant feedback from the multiple choice. The extended response allows you to understand their thinking and assess what additional supports are needed. Exit tickets are a majority of the data I gather.

Summative assessments were more of a challenge, but required. Some things I did were: 

• Made them available only on the live. 
• If students missed class they had to take it during office hours (live) 
• Students cameras had to be on. 
• Students solved on paper and submitted a picture of their work as a part of their assessment. 

Things I couldn’t control for, the use of a calculator or someone sitting off camera helping them. I continue to teach my students about integrity and the purpose of the assessment. After that, I just hope for the best.

But what about the kids who still aren’t doing anything? 

I know, it is frustrating and we feel like our hands are tied and we could be doing so much more if we could see them in school more often. I continue to make my math lesson plans high quality. So, when student DO show up they are getting quality instruction.

Other things to try:

*reach out to the social worker
*ask their friends to call, text, or chat them on their video game.

What other questions do you have about Math Lesson Plans (or anything else)?

Are math lesson plans still overwhelming you? Put your burning questions or the questions that are keeping you up at night down below! I’ll reach out to my network and continue to gather resources and answers for all of our questions. It might just be a Top 5 phrase of 2020, but “We’re in the together”, after all.

The post Math Lesson Plans in a Pandemic are TOUGH… but so are you! appeared first on Mona Math.

Are you looking for winter math activities, but keep the rigor bar in place for your math students? Here are 3 simple winter math activities to achieve more engagement through increasing joy but maintaining rigor.

Math Hunts

Math hunts are simple, yet such a great way to help students see the math that is all around them! This is the perfect winter math activity, or really for any time of year.

Here’s how you play…

1. Look around your community, classroom, school, or living room for MATH. It could be a ruler showing fractions, a pattern, an array, or an interesting spiral. Math is all around us. This drives home the point that math is literally everywhere and oh so valuable, while having fun with students and even practicing a bit of math. 
2. Then, talk about it. Maybe take a picture or sketch it in a special notebook. Create a display in your classroom of student’s findings.

I have my students play a version of the popular morning meeting game scavenger hunt, but “Math Scavenger Hunt”. They love to find items around their house to show in their Zoom screens!

Real Life Mathematicians

Introduce your students to the people who have developed ROCKETS and even a football player mathematician. Get students excited to learn math by showing them what it looks like to make math a career. After all, we are teaching our next doctors, engineers, and innovators… let’s make sure they know what those jobs look like! 

It’s not too early to teach Black History. In fact, if you’re waiting until February to teach your Black History books and resources, don’t. I mean, yes when February comes around DEFINITELY teach Black History, but also know that you can (and should!) add diverse resources including biographies of famous Black mathematicians into your classroom materials now.

I use these one page biographies and close reading graphic organizers with my 5th & 6th grade students. However, when teaching 2nd, 3rd, or 4th these biography mini books are perfect!

But you might want to start with a lesson about what is a mathematician?! I share here how I have that conversation!

Math Warm Ups for Winter! (aka Routines)

You can use these at any point in your class, but the point is they are routine. Students know what to expect and you can drive to a specific math concept to discuss and practice. I currently use math routines with my 5th & 6th graders virtually, here is exactly how I do it.

Math Warm Ups are open ended and allow for students to grapple and explore while developing their own mathematical understanding, without direct teaching a procedure.

In 10 minutes you can greatly increase both engagement and understanding. Students feel like they are playing a game while you are strategically building in math concept practice and deepening their understanding.

I use Alike & Different with my students. They learn to compare & contrast, while considering deep mathematical concepts.

Other Ideas and Ways to Bring Joy to your Math Classroom:

5 Math Activities for Winter Season

Winter Poems!

The post 3 Winter Math Activities to + Joy! appeared first on Mona Math.

Lesson 1: What does a Mathematician Look Like?

Build a positive math mindset by dispelling misconceptions

Do you know what your students think of when you say mathematician? Do they think of themselves?
The first step to ensuring students see themselves as math people is to be sure they don’t have a misconception that all mathematicians are old dudes that look like…. this dude.

So, the best way to make sure of that and make sure they see themselves as a mathematician is to ASK THEM!

This is my most EPIC lesson to do just that. But… Why is it EPIC?
Because it is:
*Low/no prep
*Quick
*Engaging & FUN (involved drawing and talking!)

Here it is… Lesson Plan for “What does a mathematician look like?”

Grade Level: Any & All!! Adults – Kindergarten

Objective: Help students develop the understanding that they are EACH a math person & dispel misconceptions about what a mathematician is.

Materials: Graphic Organizer- Grab it here & A picture of each student printed.

Duration: 15-25 minutes (really, however much time you have you can make this work!)

Procedure:
1. Ask students to draw what they think a mathematician looks like. Encourage students to add thought bubbles, speech bubbles and clothes to express the persons whole identity. You can use the prompt, ”What does this person say/do/think?”
2. In small groups have students share about their drawing.
3. Move to a whole group share. I suggest you listen into small group discussions and choose 3-4 students to be prepared to share with the whole group. Select these students based on parts that you want to highlight. Such as, misconceptions about mathematicians- they are boys, they are fast & smart, etc.
While you facilitate this conversation you can ask questions such as “I see you have a speech bubble that says, “I’m as fast as a calculator. Do you guys think you have to be fast to be a mathematician?”
They all might say yes. In that case, you can tell them some of the greatest  mathematicians were slow thinkers. Then, you’ll need to think about ways to SHOW them these misconceptions are wrong- through tasks, biographies of mathematicians, etc. (That’s for a later lesson). Be okay with the students having misconceptions and voicing them. Keep them in your mind and start preparing a plan for addressing them!
4. After the discussion, print and attach a photo of each student.
5. Display on a bulletin board. Share with parents. Make this a big thing! Help your school see that each of us is a mathematician!!

Lesson #2: What is a Mathematician?

Build a collective definition to lay the foundation for a positive math mindset

Alright, now that you have dispelled any misconceptions on mathematicians now it’s time to think about what a mathematician IS. We need to write a new definition that we all agree on.

This leads so perfectly into forming your classroom math norms, if you haven’t done that already. If you have, great time to revisit them!

Here it is… Lesson Plan for “What is a mathematician ?”

Grade Level: Any & ALL!

Materials: Graphic Organizer to make a web. Grab it here

Objective: Help students develop the understanding definition of what a mathematician is, contextualized for their grade level.

Duration: 15-20 minutes (really, however much time you have you can make this work!)

Procedure:

1. Ask students to describe using words what a mathematician is on their web. You could contextualize this for your grade level– What is a 3^rd grade mathematician? What do they do/say/think?

2. Next, ask students to share in a small group (at their table). Listen into these conversations. Ask probing questions about why they think that or if others agree. Refer back to your conversation about “What Does a Mathematician Look Like” if needed.

3. Bring the students together as a whole group & create an anchor chart where you are working on a class version. Ask students to share something they wrote on their web. Check with the class for consensus or input and then add to the anchor chart.

4. This could be an ongoing formation of a definition- just have them keep it in their math folder. Then, each time something new comes up in math- add it!

• Solve a problem in small groups– Add “Works with others to solve problems”
•   Find a pattern in models– Add “Looks for patterns”
•   A student discovers the lights are in an array– Add “Observes carefully.”

5. Celebrate when you notice students embodying these definitions of a mathematician. 6.Use this definition to form your math norms. Don’t have any? It’s all good, now is the time to start! Well, after this lesson. I talk all about my math norms here. Or grab the ones I use here.

Ready to try it? Grab the Graphic Organizers right here for just $2

Still wondering or want to see this in action?

Reach out! I’m here for you. I’m happy to answer any and all questions, any time!

locallearnersandco@gmail.com

The post Positive Math Mindset: 2 Epic Lessons appeared first on Mona Math.

Tip #1: Consider your own Math Mindset

Teachers set the tone for the classroom.
You are 100% normal if you feel like you aren’t a math person or math just isn’t your thing. Let’s face it we were taught in a system that failed to help us see the beauty and artistry in math. Instead, we were taught that if you weren’t fast at the procedures then you just weren’t cut out for math.

I spent my entire life (until 5 years into my teaching career) convinced I wasn’t a math person. I would deliver the math lessons from the curriculum and watch the clock just counting the minutes until it was over. Then, I discovered that math is not about procedures and speed… and my mindset changed.

I discovered a style of teaching that allowed students to be in the driver seat- where they did the thinking and explaining. I listened and crafted the questions and set the conditions for students to discover a deep conceptual understanding. This style of teaching is based in the research found in Cognitively Guided Instruction. It is my passion and I would love to share more with you… more to come on that!

A Teacher’s Math Story…

I encourage you to spend time thinking about your math story. Even write it down or share it with a colleague.

Here are some prompts to consider:

• What are your memories of elementary math?
• How did your early experiences with math form your high school and college experiences?
• When did math feel good? When did it feel bad?
• What helped you learn math?

Knowing your own math journey and how your mindset for math was formed will help you develop a classroom that ensures students can fall in love with math.

Tip #2: Real Life Math Role Models Build Positive Mindset for Math

Math is everywhere in the real world. Students need to see the people who do math everyday in the real world. Often when we ask our students what does a mathematician look like they have no idea. We want them to see themselves. We want them to see people that look like them- women, Latino, Black, gay, disabled, and so much more. Everyone needs a role model.

I want students to see ALL the math people that have come before them so they can actually see themselves as the math person they are. In order to do that, they must have models that look like them. It is my goal to show my students the greats that have come before them that achieved brilliance in the math field.

Every single one of our students already is a math person. SAY IT AGAIN!
Every single one of our students already is a math person.
So, let’s create the classroom where each child see themselves and people that look like them as math people!

These posters make the perfect display for your classroom. This is a growing bundle, grab it right here on TPT!

My students and I use these biographies* to start our conversations about what it means in the real world to be a mathematician. Their mindset shifts from “I don’t need math” to “Wow, if she can maybe I can?” or “Wait, building rockets is math?”

*These biographies are designed for 4th-8th graders. However, there are also primary biographies and graphic organizers designed for 1st-3rd graders.

Tip #3: Lessons to Build Math Mindset

Reflect on Math Mindsets

Teacher Reflection:

What does a 3rd grade mathematician look like at the end of the year? (Insert the grade you teach).
What do you want these little ones to be able to do?
What will their mindset for math be at the end of the year?

Take sometime to think about this. I encourage you to write down 5 things you want your mathematicians to be by the end of the school year.

By considering what you want the end product to look like, sound like, be like, you’ll be able to develop a classroom culture to foster the necessary learning.

Student Reflection:

Survey to Assess Math Mindset

At the start of the year I use this math survey to build my understanding of each student’s math history and mindset. I write more about how I use the survey in this post.

What is a mathematician?

Ask your students to consider what a Mathematician is. Have each student create a web or a list of all the things they think a mathematician can do.
I like to contextualize this for the grade I am teaching- so “What can a 3rd grade mathematician do?”

Having a positive mindset toward math is all about dispelling the lies that we hold about math. Like… speed is important or there is only one correct way to solve a problem. When we help our students develop a full description of a mathematician’s qualities we help our students see they already have many qualities of a mathematician.

In this activity above, I ask students to make a web of what a mathematician is to them. They start by adding phrases and words. Then they keep this in their math folder and we add to it.

• When we work in groups to solve a challenging problem we get out our definitions and add “work in groups”.
• When we see a pattern that makes a problem type easier to solve we get out our webs and add “finds patterns”.
• When we work on a problem over multiple days that is hard to solve, we add “persevere”.

This is ongoing formation and revision of our definition of a mathematicians demonstrates to students that our mindset is ever changing.

If you’re interested in trying this activity with your students grab it from my little shop on TPT along with detailed lesson plans for only $2.

Make a display to Build Math Mindset

Math Teaches Us To…

If you’re like me, you like EASY & cute bulletin boards and displays. I created this “MATH Teaches us to…” display for my door. It was a huge hit with students, staff, and families. This display started lots of important conversations. I love this type of open ended display because it leaves room for us to build our definition together. It actually turned into something we added to for months.

I’d love to gift this beauty to you. Drop your name and email address here to download your free copy!

Math Affirmations to build a Growth Mindset

I use these affirmation posters to build my students math mindset. I usually create a space in the room where I hang them all. Then, we will refer to them through out the year in different ways. We use them to reflect, goal set, etc. Read more about how I use them here. You can also grab the math affirmations I use in my classroom from my little shop on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Math Norms Display to build Math Mindset

I think my math norms are one of the best ways I build a math growth mindset with my students. I believe these phrases to my core. I use them to frame every single conversation we have in our classroom.

If you don’t have norms, I encourage you to consider adding them to your classroom. Not sure where to start? Start right here!

Did you get what you need?

If you’re looking for more a help with building your ideal math classroom culture and helping students develop a growth mindset in math… I CAN HELP! I have my favorite 10 ways to develop classroom culture in math that I would love to share with you. Leave your name and email address here & I’ll email it to you!

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The post Math Mindset: 3 Tips to Build Positive Math Mindset appeared first on Mona Math.