Tag: elementarymath

When you think about Math instruction, what tools do you think about using? … You’re probably thinking about paper, pencil, calculators, white board, markers and even manipulatives. But what about your voice? Yes, your voice! We are usually thinking about ELA when it comes to talking about your work. You may have to present a project for Social Studies or explain your thinking in Science. But in Math, you solve a problem, show your work, you may briefly talk about it with a partner. They may or may not have the same answer and then you move on. However, let’s talk about the importance of explaining your thinking in Math. 

Math is more than just arriving at a correct answer, the how to get there is equally if not more important. Being able to explain your thinking allows collaboration on different levels. Here is where math talk comes in. This is actually different from number talks. What’s the difference? Math talk is a conversation about a math topic to promote deeper understanding. Number talk is more of a mini-lesson that supports computational fluency. Math talk can happen at any time. But here are a few sentence stems and questions that promote the math conversation.

Sentence Stems

• I agree/disagree with you because…
• I solved my problem by..
• My first step is…
• I chose this method because…
• I am confused by…
• What I heard you say was…

Questions

• Can you explain this to me?
• How did you solve it?
• How else can you solve it?
• How did you know your answer was right?
• How did you…?
• What if…?

These sentence stems can be used in both adult to student and peer to peer conversations. When you talk about the math, students get to 

• See other’s thinking 
• Clarify their own thinking
• Justify their work
• Build confidence

Remember never silence the student voice during math. What are some ways you encourage math talks in and out the classroom?

If you are a parent or guardian of an infant/toddler/preschooler, you probably spend a lot of time making sure your little one knows how to count, recite ABCs, colors and shapes just to name a few. I am a mother of an imaginative 2-year-old. As an educator, I am guilty of all of this and there is nothing wrong if you do or if you don’t. But we all know that the ultimate goal is for your child to read. But what about preparing for Math skills? What can you do? Here are 5 Math tips to prepare your child for school. 

1. Counting/recognizing/writing numbers – So your baby can count! Now let’s try recognizing written numbers. Show them the numbers as you say it. Count objects. Have them practice writing numbers. It’s common for them to write numbers backwards for a while. (I saw it in 3rd grade) Just correct them when it happens. 
2. Recognizing/ Drawing shapes – Look at street signs together and see if they can say the shape. Play I SPY with shapes while you are driving or at the grocery store. Draw shapes or recognize shapes while coloring. 
3. Spatial Reasoning – Did you know that being able to tell a location is a Math skill? The ball is UNDER the table. The book is ON the shelf. Mommy is BEHIND the tree. Emphasis the use of these words by playing games and narrating what you do. Do you know what else helps with Math and spatial reasoning…LEGOS! Studies have shown that kids who play with legos have a better understanding of Math in school.
4. Comparing – Big, bigger, biggest. More than, less than are all words to practice during conversation. “This tree is bigger than ours but that tree is the biggest.” “Which bag has the most jelly beans?” My toy car is faster than my toy bike!” Encourage this dialogue as much as possible.
5. Simple adding and subtracting – No, you do not have to see equations to add and subtract, but saying things like, “If I give you one more book, how many will you have?” definitely introduces addition and subtraction. Ask questions at the store and include your child with you while cooking in the kitchen. Those are fun ways to introduce kids to simple Math.

Make learning Math fun, don’t become frustrated if they answer incorrectly. It’s a learning experience. Math is all around us. It’s never too early to introduce Math to your kids!

-Liz

When some people think of math manipulatives, they automatically think of elementary students, probably K-3. It almost seems like people will look at you funny if you try to use manipulatives if you are older than 10 year old. (Math manipulatives are any physical object that you can touch used to help students with math i.e. counters, shapes, spinners, etc.) Manipulatives give students something to touch, feel and manipulate. Kinesthetic learners thrive on learning through touch, so why should they suffer as they get older? Well I’m here to say that there is NOTHING WRONG WITH USING MANIPULATIVES AT ANY AGE! I know that some schools do not have the budget for manipulatives, but if you can count it, it can become a manipulative. 

Why are manipulatives frowned upon?

There are a few answers to this question that I will address. The first is that some look at this as playing with toys, therefore it is childish. There is nothing wrong with playing with toys at any age. Isn’t a video game a toy? However, manipulatives are not toys but learning tools to help gain mathematical understanding. People of all ages play with them so there shouldn’t be a problem with touching items to understand them. This makes math more concrete and assists different types of learners to conceptually understand math skills. 

Another reason is some teachers were not trained to teach with manipulatives. Thinking about my college training, math instruction was a short class and we definitely were not using manipulatives. It wasn’t until my math endorsement  classes where I remember intentionally using manipulatives. They were encouraged to understand the concepts from geometry to fractions. They were encouraged from K-12. It definitely makes a difference when you are able to apply math to real life situations. 

Some teachers are afraid of manipulatives because they are afraid to relinquish control or do not have the classroom management to deal with students with manipulatives. Procedures need to be set in place in order for manipulatives to work. Yes, you may deal with students throwing, playing, losing or putting manipulatives in their mouth depending on the age group. However, setting procedures help to remedy a lot of this. I had procedures for everything from sharpening a pencil to going to the bathroom. Students thrive off of structure so they are waiting for guidance from you. 

What type of manipulatives are suggested?

(We do earn a small commission if you buy from these links.)

• Counters are helpful for all ages, K-12. You can use them for all operations. You can use the foam or plastic versions.
• Base ten blocks or place value discs for place value understanding
• Fraction tiles for grades 3+
• Teddy bear counters for Pre-K- 2nd (my 2 year old loves these!)
• Linking cubes for K-12 

What are your favorite manipulatives that you use in your classroom? Leave a comment below.

-Liz

So I remember the Summer of 1991 between 2nd and 3rd grade (I’m dating myself) when my mom had me go up  to the upper level of our Detroit bungalow everyday to memorize my multiplication facts. I couldn’t come down until I studied for an hour in this steaming hot room. (No need for you to call for help, I’m an adult now lol)  I was so frustrated but it felt like a right of passage. I worked hard and learned my facts before I even knew what multiplication really was. By the time I got to 4th grade, I noticed the fruits of my labor as math was easier to me. Multi Digit multiplication, fractions, long division (and more) all required knowledge of multiplication facts. If you didn’t know how to do the work, you were kind of…stuck. 

How do I feel about learning math facts?

There has been some debate about math drills and learning math facts. Is it important for students to memorize basic facts? Based on my experience as a student and a teacher, yes. Learning basic facts in 3rd grade prepares kids for the years ahead. 3rd grade common core standards only require students to know up to 10×10. 

I have seen a big dip in standardized Math test scores between 3rd and 4th grades. This is due to students not knowing their facts. However what I am realizing is the issue isn’t with memorizing facts, it’s with not knowing the why behind it. I memorized my facts before I even knew what multiplication was. The way that they teach multiplication in third grade now gives students who don’t know their facts options on how to reach the answer. 

They now begin teaching multiplication with the how. They teach with arrays, groups, and multiplication sentences! This allows students who don’t know it to at least figure out a way to get to the answer.  When I was younger, it was either you knew it or you were embarrassed. Now I definitely don’t think that students should be ridiculed for not knowing it, but as an educator, it can be painful watching how long it takes a 5th grader who does not know the basic facts to try to do long division. 

So students should have a toolbox of strategies to help them to get to the answer as a backup. Some kids have math stamina and will persevere until they get, but there are quite a few who do not. No, it’s not a race, but let’s think about it…multiplication and division is going nowhere after third grade. It is in everything.

What about math drills?

I know several people where timed tests give them anxiety. This includes timed multiplication drills. I personally have test anxiety but I know that assessments aren’t going away. Math fluency is a focus of common core standards. But what does being fluent mean? According to Oxford, the definition of fluent is “able to express oneself easily and articulately.” I always told my third graders, if I ask you a multiplication problem, I want you to know it as quickly as if I asked you to tell me your name. When you encourage kids, they will do what is asked. Math drills may cause controversy but if kids can learn cheat codes to video games and dances to TikTok trends, why can’t they memorize multiplication facts? 

Tell us how you feel below

-Liz

Here’s a free multiplication chart we created in our TPT store!

The calm before the storm…

Let me set the scene… It was around 2010 (I began teaching in 2008 in Detroit). I was teaching 3rd grade and students had to take the MEAP test every October.  All we had to worry about was making sure students were being taught GLCE’s (Grade Level Content Expectations). GLCEs were simple statements where we could say a student got it or they didn’t. Here’s an example… “Add and subtract fluently two numbers through 999 with regrouping and through 9,999 without regrouping.” Now granted it was about 44 GLCE’s in 3rd grade Math alone but what the students were asked to do was simple. 

At this time, we were starting to hear the buzz of this “new math” that was coming to us. The word on the street was “There’s some new math in town and it’s hard, it doesn’t make ANY sense.” Slowly but surely, the new math appeared. GLCE’s disappeared, curriculum changed, teachers were scratching their heads because this was NOT how they were taught. Now the fore mentioned GLCE was translated into the new math language and sounded more like, “Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.” Strategies? Algorithms? Properties? Why can’t they just borrow and carry? What do you mean within 1,000?” I could go on and on about “unpacking” this standard to tell you statements within these statements but that’s another blog post… Here I introduce to you…Common Core Math.

Why did they switch to Common Core?

So let’s refer to this “new math” by its government name from here on out. Common Core (CC) was introduced because the education system realized that the grade level expectations were different from state to state. Some were very simple and some were more complex resulting in discrepancies across the country of mathematical understanding. The hope was to at least get the US children on the same page in Math and better prepare them for the workforce as adults. Kentucky was the first state to adopt Common Core.  As of 2022, 46 states have adopted CC in their school systems. (Texas, Alaska, Nebraska and Virginia never did.) 5 states have repealed CC (Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona, Indiana, South Carolina). Minnesota partially adopted. However 11 are currently trying to repeal (Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Maryland.) 

My feelings about CC

Here’s the thing, whenever you are used to doing something a certain way, and then you change, there’s always going to be a learning curve. Take this for example: I’m used to working on Mac computers and have been for years (I used to work as a Mac Specialist before I became a teacher) but if I have to work on a PC, I’m going to stare at it for a while to figure out how to do the things I need to do. I’m not going to get it right away. It’s going to take time, but eventually I’ll get it. 

I might get some side eye but the truth is I LIKE COMMON CORE MATH! Before you click off, here’s why… CC really focuses on the why and the how versus this is the right answer and that’s it. It allows people to think the way they feel comfortable. I remember when I received a low grade in Math one year (Elementary School) because I didn’t do it the way the teacher wanted me to do it. She didn’t understand my thinking so it was wrong to her even though we had the same answer. That scarred me for a while. Common core allows real life application and strategies versus tricks which we don’t know the reason why it works we just were told that it works.. When a person has number sense (conceptual understanding), it makes Math easier to learn. The foundation is laid in elementary school and it builds as learning continues through the years.

Now What?

Now where I feel people go wrong is when they are teaching the strategies. Each curriculum goes about teaching the standards differently.  My philosophy is we are not teaching curriculum, we are teaching the standards. Some people really get caught up in it has to be done this way. I always relate strategies as a tool in a tool box. You learn how to use them and pick the right tool at the right time. I’m not going to choose a hammer to screw in a screw. Learn the strategies and pick what is best for you. Some people were not trained on how to teach common core standards. Remember I said most of us weren’t taught this way so it’s like asking me to teach someone how to use a PC when I’m trying to learn it myself. 

This website will help you to understand these strategies to prepare your tools in your toolbox. Am I trying to persuade you to love CC? No…but I do want you to understand it…and maybe, just MAYBE you will grow to LIKE it (Love is a strong word)

-Liz

Welcome to the first blog entry of Xtra Fly Math! My name is Liz. (One half of the Xtra Fly duo). I have been an elementary educator for almost 15 years. My passion is Math (K-8 Math Endorsement) but do you want to know something that I have learned over the years…Math is definitely not every elementary educator’s passion. In fact, several teachers have admitted to having a math phobia sometime during their life. But you know who started that phobia? THEIR OWN ELEMENTARY TEACHER!! Yes you heard me…these phobias start as a student and haunt many adults as they get older. And most teacher preparation programs do not spend a lot of time on elementary math. But wait, I’m not done…let’s not forget our parents who are also living with this fear. So now we have a cycle of adults that may be scaring students away from Math…We have to stop this cycle somewhere!

During the pandemic, several math insecurities were exposed with Math being taught virtually and parents being forced to show their child how to do the Math. You probably saw this common core math and thought… “WHAT IS THIS MESS?!?! What happened to carrying and borrowing? Why can’t they just multiply with the placeholder? I’m just going to show you this trick that I learned when I was kid”…Stop me when this sounds familiar…

I’m here to tell you that you are not alone. The purpose of this blog is to provide tutorials and advice as we are trying to remedy the learning loss that occurred while attempting to teach Math over Zoom. Let’s be real…that was NOT easy. With different learning styles (visual, audible, read/write, kinesthetic) some students were left out. So now we have classrooms moving forward with instruction like a whole 18 month set back didn’t happen and you may be a teacher or a parent trying to figure how to close this gap. 

What can you expect…

• Ways to bring back (or introduce) excitement in Math!
• Fun Math topics
• New topic every week with a video tutorial on a math strategy (Feel free to suggest a topic)
• Monday’s Math Misconceptions with a common math mistake that people make.
•  Honest and healthy conversation with advice.

Our opinion is Math is fun! This is the one universal language. No matter where you go in the world, 2+2=4. I look forward to learning with you!

We’re not going to lie, Math is XTRA FLY!

-Liz