“What comes next?” is a deceptively simple question. Identifying a series and predicting what comes next is a critical thinking skill that lets us test comprehension of a wide range of math concepts — and one which we use as adults in reading, planning, and decision making as well. Use… Continue reading
President Kennedy said that physical fitness is not only important for physical health, but that it is also “the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.” Still, we know that many of our students (and maybe even some of us) aren’t making the lifestyle choices that lead to optimum health… Continue reading
Infographics are trendy, and they’re also an efficient and appealing way of sharing information. Next time you study graphs and charts, include infographics as well. Read infographics Begin with my collection of animal infographics at Pinterest, or your own classroom collection. Go through them and discuss what information each… Continue reading
Connecting math with Christmas is easy, because Christmas is part of real life, and real life involves math. One starting point is this quick Christmas Ornament Craft. This idea lets you combine measurement and counting with holiday decorating. Here are some faves from around the web: The Christmas… Continue reading
Use your noodle! Pasta is a fun way to study geography, math, and history. We have ideas and activities for all grades! Pasta is a food made from flour, water, and often eggs and flavorings. It can be cooked and eaten immediately, or dried for long storage. It is boiled,… Continue reading
Football is all about math. Players’ rankings, points, yards, penalties — it’s all numbers. Even the music played by the band is full of quarter notes and eighth notes. You can just pull examples from football when you’re using a football theme, or when you have a class that’s… Continue reading
Sandwiches are awesome enough to deserve their own day, and November 3 is that day, the birthday of the Earl of Sandwich. According to the story, said Earl didn’t like to leave the card table to get a meal, so he devised the sandwich as a quick pick me up… Continue reading
Elephants lend themselves to lots of classroom themes: circus, jungle, zoo,the letter E… Enjoy some elephantine fun in your classroom. Make elephant handprints by having kids dip their hands into gray paint and then, with fingers spread, press their hands onto paper. Turn the handprint over when it dries and… Continue reading
The Tortoise and the Hare is one of Aesop’s fables, also done by Jean de La Fontaine. You can read it, and admire one of Rackham’s illustrations for it, here. A shorter and easier version is online here. Jerry Pinkney has done a beautiful picture book version. Janet Stevens created a… Continue reading
Just for fun (and early math practice), a spaceship counting worksheet for your class. We have different numbers of items, some all alike and some mixtures, and different arrangements, so there’s a little bit of challenge even though the numbers are small. Click to download the pdf file. count-spaceships Continue reading
