mathcoachconnection

So excited about this collaboration!! If you haven’t already, check out the QuestRead app!!

Author Partnership! 👩‍🏫

We are excited to share we have teamed up with mathcoachconnection to add more books to our QuestRead Library!

Carnival Counting was written by Melanie, from Math Coach Connection, who is a certified math coach.

Learn how to count by twos at the carnival with Carnival Counting! Now available on the app!

✨Let’s talk about ℚ𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘✨

✨Being intentional with questioning is so important for helping students build understanding. I feel like funneling questions have gotten a bad reputation, but to be honest, there are definitely times when funneling questions are appropriate. If my goal is to have my students practice the area model, then this funneling question is useful. But if my goal is to have students build independent problem solving skills and make decisions about a variety of strategies we’ve learned, then the focusing question is more appropriate. As a general rule, try to use more focusing questions than funneling questions but know that there is an appropriate time for both types of questioning.

✨No matter what type of questions you are asking, be intentional. Pre-plan your questions as much as possible (and be flexible as needed), to scaffold your students towards your learning target for the lesson.

✨How do you feel about focusing vs.funneling questions?

✨ 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝟙𝟚 𝔻𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕞𝕒𝕤✨

✨There are officially 12 days until Christmas, so if you haven’t gotten in the holiday spirit yet, now is a great time to start! Keep in mind that not all students celebrate the same holidays at this time of year, but here’s a little fun way to keep elementary math students focused and engaged in math class while also having a little “Mathmas” fun! You can sing the song to students and each day you can build up to doing all 12 things, or just do one each day and check them off as you go! (You will likely have to do more than one each day to finish before break and that’s okay)—or you can split students into partners/groups and assign one “day” to each group! GRADES 1-6!

✨1st: play “ways to make” where students make as many expressions as they can that equal 3! Encourage different operations and multi-step problems! Story problems work too!

✨2nd: focus on 2-digit numbers—students can practice different options with 2-digit numbers, or simply represent 2-digit numbers using base ten blocks or manipulative a!

✨3rd: encourage students to solve a problem using 3 different visual models (think number lines, arrays, counters, base ten blocks, hundreds charts etc).

✨4th: Give students real-world problems that are appropriate for your grade level!

✨5th: think STAR MODEL! Solve a problem in 5 different ways!

✨6th: do 6 different short number talks or a number talk with 6 parts in a number string!

✨7th: split students into rotating partners and have them discuss their thinking on a math problem with 7 other students.

✨8th: give students 8 different balanced equations problems or 8 different expressions and see if they can match them to each other to create balanced equations!

✨9th: This one is a brain break just for FUN! Have students create various numbers using their bodies while you play festive music. Challenge: give students a problem (such as 3 + 4) and have them show the answer using their bodies to make 7.

10th: focus on the number 100! Use a number chart, base ten blocks, multiplication, exponents, measurement conversion in metric system etc. to show this important number!

More in the comments!

✨ Let’s talk some more about 𝔻𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟✨

✨Yesterday I posted an IG PD with some easy-to-use strategies for differentiating your math instruction! If you didn’t get a chance to check it out, you can check out my story highlights! Don’t have time for PD? No problem! I summed up some of the main points for how to differentiate ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤 right here in this post!

✨ 𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕙 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕔 𝕆𝕣𝕘𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕫𝕖𝕣𝕤 can take many forms, and this is just one example! They are super helpful with scaffolding student understanding of math story problems and can take many forms. This is just one example!

✨Changing the ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕞 𝕥𝕪𝕡𝕖, 𝕟𝕦𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕡𝕤, or 𝕟𝕦𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕤 are also great ways to differentiate! Just make sure you’re being intentional with the way you change the problem! Always stay focused on the standard that you are teaching and use that to guide your differentiation 👍🏻

✨Use the .math 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣 𝕄𝕠𝕕𝕖𝕝 to make concepts more accessible or more challenging. See my post from yesterday for more ideas on how to implement this!

✨Differentiation is critical to student success! What are some of the ways you differentiate instruction in your math classroom?

𝔻𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 in instruction is critical to student success ✨

✨I LOVE the .math Star Model for Mathematical Representations from Principles to Actions! I explained the many ways that it can be used for differentiation in my insta story (also on my saved stories under Differentiation)!

✨This is a powerful tool for showing students the many different ways they can represent a math problem. It can be used to scaffold student understanding as well as extend it and challenge students to think in different ways!

✨If a student is truly proficient in a standard, then they should be able to show their thinking in all five ways and start at any point in the star model and move flexibly throughout it! Check out my story for more ideas!

✨What’s your “go-to” to for differentiating math instruction?

✨𝔽𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝔽𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕪!✨

✨THIS feedback is why I do what I do! Being able to have a real impact on student lives through MATH!? That has always been my goal and it is so exciting to see that these students developed an appreciation for their parents’ hard work through my math project!

Such a great way to start my Friday! Hope everyone is having a great Friday too! ❤️

𝕊𝕨𝕚𝕡𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕘𝕖! ➡️

✨ 𝕎𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕔𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕤 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖!✨

✨This message is so critical to building growth mindset, not only in math class but in all aspects of life! We all learn in different ways and have different backgrounds which shape who we are as learners. Some of us need more movement to learn, while others like keeping lists or visual models. None of us are exactly the same so we shouldn’t all be expected to learn in the same way.

✨When differentiating math instruction, this message is critical. It explains why some students may need more small group time, or why others might be using math manipulatives more often, why some students go to a challenge group, why other students need more time to complete an assignment etc.

✨In order for students to truly believe that they can grow as learners and thinkers (which they CAN), they need to believe that it is OKAY to not learn in the exact same way as the person next to them. ✨

✨How do you support students in building a growth mindset in math?


✨Side note: I would have loved to use students in these pics but I don’t support using student pictures on Instagram, or anywhere. So I used my kids 😆 It would be cool to make a poster like this for your classroom with your students holding the posters though!

ℍ𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕪 ℍ𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕪𝕤✨🚨 READ POST FOR SOME IMPORTANT HOLIDAY INFORMATION 🚨

✨December is here which means it’s “officially” the holiday season for many of us! It’s time for peppermint mochas, candy canes and all the festive things. But before you get too wrapped up in the magic of the season, it is important to take a step back and remember that not all of your students celebrate the same holidays at this time of year.

✨For example, did you know that is being celebrated right now? The students who celebrate Hanukkah don’t always have a big long special winter break to celebrate their family holiday if it doesn’t happen at the same time as Christmas. Or that already happened before Thanksgiving this year?

✨Of course, there are many families that celebrate more than one holiday (and also there are more Winter holidays than even the ones I included on this list). But as teachers, we must be sensitive to our students’ family values, cultures, religions and celebrations.

✨But how on earth do I incorporate being culturally sensitive into my math classroom at the holidays? Shouldn’t I just avoid the holidays altogether and focus on generic winter math activities? This is a tough question and it completely based on your beliefs and the rules within your school. However, it is my belief that it is important to incorporate the holidays (the non-religious traditions) into math class to acknowledge that we are all different, and our celebrations are all valued!

✨I’ve already done the research and work to create easy-to-use math resources that celebrate a variety of Winter holidays! All of the holidays included in this post are included in my Holiday Math Story Problems and my Holidays Around the World Math Projects! Check them out now for some engaging, culturally sensitive 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade math resources to use this holiday season!

ℂ𝕪𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕪 ✨❄️

✨2021 has been a YEAR…so you all deserve an awesome sale on great math resources to help get you through to the new year and beyond!

✨My Math Mysteries, Winter Math Holidays Around The World, Winter Party Projects and more are all 25% off today and tomorrow if you use the code CYBER21!

✨Want even more of a discount? Hop on TPT and review all the amazing products you’ve purchased recently for credits towards your purchases!

✨Happy Shopping! Are you more of a Black Friday or a Cyber Monday shopper?