Resources, Ideas, Inspiration
Being Thankful for Math
The month of November can seem to fly by when it comes to teaching, and Thanksgiving usually doesn't get much attention during math class. Let's change that! Here are some ways you can use math to focus on Thanksgiving-related activities:
I am Thankful for Math - Sometimes making that real-world connection as to why math is so important can be a great thing to hone in on for the month of November.
Get outside if you can! This could be your last opportunity to take the class outside before it gets too cold. Take advantage! Find some leaves and create a graph with the different colors or shapes you found.
One a day Turkey Facts: Turkeys can detect motion from up to 100 yards away. 675 million pounds of turkey are eaten each Thanksgiving in the US. The heaviest turkey ever recorded was 86 pounds. It takes 28 days for a turkey egg to hatch.
More Great Ideas to Use This Year
This is a great way for students to get practice in the areas they need in a fun way. You can select a grade and a math topic you are teaching. They have soccer, basketball, racing, jeopardy, and so much more. Students will love this as an additional way to practice math problems.
You Probably Teach This Way and You Didn't Even Know
CRA is just a fancy way of teaching using real-life objects or models to explore a concept. This is the single most effective strategy when teaching math. Teaching fractions? Try bringing in a pizza pie and then teach the concept.
Mathematical Puzzles
Mashup Math can give you a number of different options depending on your grade to allow students to practice math puzzles using the concepts you are teaching in class. This can be used as additional reinforcement to what is already being taught.
6 Simple (But Effective) Instructional Strategies for Math
1. Make conceptual understanding a priority
- Use visual strategies
- Use the schema approach
- Explicitly teach the mathematics vocabulary of a concept
3. Use cooperative learning strategies
- The “puzzle pieces” approach to group work
- Take time to reflect
- Be strategic when allocating groups
5. Focus on real problem-solving and reasoning
- open-ended questions
- invite students to be hands-on with real items, when possible.
- Don't always spell out exactly what students need to do.
2. Set Meaningful Homework, Not Busy Work
- build on class learning
use a video with an online assignment to reteach and avoid confusion.
ask qualitative or value questions of family members, when appropriate.
4. Use strategic questioning
- “Tell me how you solved that”
- “Is there any other way of solving this?”
- “Where could you use this…” or “where would you see this used in the real world?”
6. Use mixed assessments
- tests, quizzes, projects
- video or digital assessments
- teach the class assessments
K-8 Resources for November
