Teaching students to justify their answer in math can be difficult, but thankfully it doesn't have to be. I want to share with you some ideas for teaching students how to justify answers in math, as well as some of my favorite resources for providing much needed practice with math tasks and word problems. 1. Create an anchor chart with clear examples and your ... Read More
Solving Multi-Part Word Problems {Freebie Printable Chart}
Solving multi-part math constructed response tasks is such a tricky skill for my students. Not only is the actual solving of the problems tricky, but students often struggle with organizing their responses and their work. This post will share some tips to help students solve multi-part word problems strategically AND ways to scaffold their responses and ... Read More
Constructed Response Freebie {Math is Real Life}
For this month's Math is Real Life, I am writing about a few of our recent trips to the lake. On the way back from the lake, my mom texted me and asked me how much gas we used on one trip. After telling her about 1/4 of a tank and that the tank held 32 gallons, I realized this was a good example of using math in real life. Fast forward to the next trip to the lake when we ... Read More
FREE Snow Day Fraction Word Problems
I don't know about where you live, but there is something about snow in the South that has people getting bread, milk, and measuring tapes! We recently had a pretty good amount of snow for North Georgia (although it was melted within two days...womp womp). All over Facebook, people were posting their measurements of the snow. I took this opportunity to make a fraction ... Read More
Differentiated Fraction Tasks {And FREEBIE Computation Challenge}
If any skill will be the death of me, it is definitely Fractions! They are so hard for 5th graders to wrap their heads around. And the standards for 5th grade? Gah, I remember learning some of these standards in middle school! But, unfortunately, they must be taught. In order to make Fractions a bit more tolerable, I created Fraction Tasks and Challenges ... Read More
Solving Word Problems & Math Constructed Response Tasks with LOVE
Word problems and math constructed response tasks were always a struggle for my students. It was like pulling teeth to get them to write more than just the answer. Almost three years ago, I created a new acronym to help my students think through, represent problems, and show all of the work when they are solving word problems and math constructed response tasks. Keep ... Read More
Using Word Problems in Interactive Math Notebooks (Regularly Incorporate Word Problems Into Your Math Instruction)
Can we be real about something for a minute? My first year teaching, I rarely did word problems. As a first year teacher, I wanted my students to succeed in math. But, I didn't really feel confident about what to do when they struggled with a problem. So, yes, we did word problems, but they were not a huge or integral part of my daily instruction. Thankfully, for my ... Read More
Multiplying Mixed Numbers: Free Printables
When teaching fraction skills, I always try to make it as applicable and real-world as I can. I will admit that when I got ready to teach the skill of multiplying mixed numbers, I was a bit stumped about how to make this relatable. The focus of the first few multiplying mixed numbers lessons that I teach on the computation process and the conceptual process. ... Read More
Teaching Math Through Cognitively Demanding Tasks
Once a week, I do a cognitively demanding math task lesson to expose my students to rigorous word problems and allow them to learn from each other. I do this with the skill we are working on (if most of the students have mastered it) a review skill, or even to introduce a new skill. 90% of the problems are word problems so the students have a context to deal with and not ... Read More
Halloween Math Constructed Response Practice
You guys, I got super smart this year and tied some of our Halloween Math with some extra constructed response practice. The kids never knew they were preparing for an assessment with these fun problems! This year, our district is having students take constructed response assessments on a few of the fraction common core standards (multiplying fractions by a whole, ... Read More
