Math Teaching Resources

Spring is the perfect time to use math games with your students. Either you are finished with testing and the kids are restless, or you still have testing ahead of you and your kids are restless! Math games will motivate your students, keep them on task, and also help them review important skills ... while giving them the chance to put some of that restless energy to good use.

Like most kids, my students were intimidated by word problems, so I decided to integrate calculator skills into our problem-solving lessons. I quickly discovered that learning to use a calculator had a tremendous positive impact on my students' mathematical thinking. Furthermore, because I still taught computation skills, I didn't see any detrimental impact on their ability to solve basic problems without a calculator.

Students often fear math, especially problem solving, and feeling intimidated by math keeps them from being able to relax and apply their knowledge to the task at hand. The resulting brain freeze serves to reinforce the idea that mathematics is scary and difficult. Standards keep getting tougher each year, and students are expected to become even more proficient at solving complex problems. Fortunately, there are many tools and strategies you can use to show your kids that math isn't all that scary after all.

Who doesn't love a game? In the math classroom, games offer an engaging alternative to worksheets, allowing students to work with others and have fun while learning. They’re perfect for practicing new skills or reviewing previously-learned content. Math games are extremely versatile and can be used in cooperative learning teams, in small group instruction, or in math centers.

Tara from the Math Maniac blog explains how she teaches her students to divide using the partial product model. This technique enables her students to move from concrete to abstract models of division.

Need a quick way to introduce new content that will grab your students' attention? You can be sure that at least one of these five engaging strategies will be perfect for your lesson!

Last week, while in the midst of teaching a lesson on cuboids, I quickly realised that I had to do something drastic to get the attention of my most easily distracted student. I mean, there I was feeling all proud of myself for having everything I needed, I had my examples and non-examples for the students to handle, observe and compare attributes. My classroom was buzzing with excitement; hands were fervently flying up during Q & A time as I selected students to answer questions.