October has a funny way of making an ordinary math lesson compete with pumpkins, costumes, candy, and approximately seventeen conversations about Halloween. Meanwhile, you still have standards to teach and skills your students need to practice. This is when low prep October math activities can make your teacher life much
Have you ever looked at your lesson plans for the first week of school and wondered how you are supposed to fit everything into one math block? Your students are returning after months away from the classroom. Many need a refresher before they are ready for new learning. At the
The first week of school always seems to fly by. Between teaching classroom procedures, learning names, organizing supplies, and answering a hundred questions, it can feel impossible to establish meaningful academic routines. While all of this is going on, many of our students are walking in with summer learning loss,
As summer approaches, many of us start asking a similar question. How can we help our kiddos maintain their math skills without turning summer break into summer school? After spending an entire year building confidence and mastering new concepts, it can be discouraging to watch our learners return in the
A surprising part of teaching 3rd grade measurement is realizing your students understand the math when the skills are isolated, but everything changes once it shows up inside a word problem. I remember watching my students confidently measure objects, compare liquid volume, and solve elapsed time problems. But when those
You finish modeling a regrouping problem, ask your students to try one on their own, and within minutes, the room splits. Some students are ready to confidently solve these problems independently. Others are still trying to remember where that “extra one” comes from. On top of that, it’s April. The
