Math Maven Mysteries

Here is a site that combines literacy and numeracy. It is from Scholastic. Basically there are little math stories, which can be read aloud (there are audio links, so this is optional, not a necessity).

The stories also come in pdf format so they can be printed off for classroom use, (just in the case of the odd situation where your school or classroom is having computer issues).

Try enjoying the Math Maven Mysteries right now!

P.S. - There are varying degrees of difficulty, which will obviously depend on your own students' language and math proficiency. If i had to indicate a grade range i would say the easiest problems can be solved by late primary students with the more challenging ones appropriate for the high junior/low intermediate level.

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

Here is a neat website that i may or may not have shared already. It is full of virtual manipulatives that students can use when working in math or just looking for something fun to do. Obviously you need to have the computer handy, so it could be good as an assistive device for the few hands-on learners in your class OR a way for students to explore math problems at home, WITH MANIPULATIVES, where there normally aren't manipulatives on hand.

Please experiment with it and provide feedback for the rest of the district by posting a comment.

Click here to visit the Virtual Manipulatives site.

Interactive Hundreds Chart

Here is a helpful site to have kids learn patterns and other number concepts (prime vs. composite, etc.) in an interactive way. Give it a try!!

Interactive Hundreds Chart

***Mrs. LaForme commented that this would be very helpful for those students who have difficulty colouring or working on a physical hundreds chart. The click of a mouse is an easier small motor task for some of our students.***

Illuminations Math Site

Here's another website to try. There are lessons from K to 8, with some games that might be good to try with younger students. It is from NCTM.

Caribou Contest Results

Congratulations to our grade five and six students who competed in the Brock University Caribou Mathematics Competition. We had 9 students compete amongst 384 students in all of Ontario. Here is how the nine students ranked:

72nd, 87th, 93rd, 124th, 151st, 187th, 210th, 257th, and 273rd.

Isn't that awesome?!?! Three in the top 100, three more in the top half, and three more who placed ahead of a hundred others. You should all be proud of yourselves!! The next contest is on January 20th for grades five and six. Grades three and four can compete on November 18th.

Tracking the Caribou

Today i am travelling around the district and helping teachers who had students selected to try the Brock Math Caribou contest. So far i've been with Jamieson and ECG. The grade 5 and 6 students have been working really hard on answering these challenging questions. It's great to see the wonderful math minds and thinkers that exist in our district. Results will be available tomorrow.

Caribou Contest Tomorrow

Reminder to grade five and six teachers...tomorrow is the Caribou Math Contest date. See previous posts for details.

Mr. Hickey and/or Mr. Restoule General can pop by your school tomorrow to assist students and/or teachers with the contest. Just give us a call or e-mail. We will be working with the Jamieson students in the AM.

Marilyn Burns Quotes

For the next little while i will be adding quotes from Marilyn Burns (Super Math Solution Teacher Extraordinaire). Please feel free to add your own comment or discussion tidbit in response to the quotes.

Today's Marilyn Burns quote is...

"Most of us learned the procedure for multiplying fractions--you multiply across the numerators and across the denominators--without understanding why. Frankly, it's easier to teach students the procedure than to help them make sense of why multiplying the numerators and denominators produces a correct answer. But teaching the why requires that teachers themselves have thought deeply about multiplying fractions."

Are we teaching the procedure OR the why, OR both? Let's discuss...