Hundreds Chart Shake-Out Here’s a quick and easy activity for your class, small groups, or individual math students. Use your pocket chart with individual hundreds cards (as you can see from the picture, I have had to re-create a few of mine over the years). In front of your students (they love this part), invert yourRead more
Learning how to take notes is an essential academic skill, yet is often falls by the wayside as teachers struggle to cover a large amount of content in their subject areas. Who Should Teach Note-Taking? It is unclear who should teach note-taking skills – is it the responsibility of English teachers, or does it fallRead more
Number Line Cooperative Group Activity Here is a low-prep math activity that will get your students working together and talking about math. It is a great way to set the tone for your math class. While the math work itself is very easy for most students, it will provide a great challenge because it isRead more
Growth Mindset for Kids By now, most teachers have incorporated some aspects of “Growth Mindset” into their classrooms. Students are taught to take strategic steps to build up areas that are harder for them. Students are given positive language to use when tackling challenges. But students don’t live in a bubble. They watch kids and adultsRead more
Dice Place Value Activity (Value of a Number) Here is an easy and low-prep group or solo activity for 2nd – 6th grade. I used this with a 5/6 combo class as a quick place value review. It is super easy to differentiate and the kids had a great time playing. Give each group ofRead more
Why Do People Homeschool? After working with homeschoolers for a 20+ years, we have encountered many types of children and families. Homeschooling is not a rare or strange occurrence anymore – it is mainstream and here to stay. Some of the reasons we have heard for homeschooling are wonderful, and some leave us wondering. OfRead more
Homeschool parents and teachers who work in unique settings often are faced with the challenge of teaching children of various ages in the same block of time. This challenge stretches the teacher to provide quality instruction, engage all students regardless of their age, and effectively assess the learning that has taken place. Here are aRead more
Tens and Ones Bean Sticks Activities Small-group or whole-class activities with Base-10 materials are both meaningful and essential to understanding the place value system. Here are some great activities you can do with your students in order from easiest to most difficult: What’s My Number? The teacher using the bean sticks to create a numberRead more
Tens and Ones With Bean Sticks Anyone who teaches place value to little ones knows that creating hands-on learning experiences is absolutely essential. Base-10 materials are often expensive or hard to come by (or both), but here is an easy and inexpensive way to make your own tens and ones. There are a lot of cuteRead more
Interactive Math Notebooks Beginning to use interactive math notebooks in a secondary math classroom is difficult. There are a lot of concepts that need to be taught and adding additional tasks sometimes seems impossible. But, if you incorporate interactive notebooks into the daily routine, they can start to become an integral part of instruction andRead more