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I researched the use of technology with fractions and found that there is one site that allows your students to use virtual manipulatives. Each student can log in or you can project and create fractions lessons where kids have to respond on their device. I love this site and can't wait to use it next Trimester.

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I love this idea I researched, find out more about each other by counting how many students ________ (have dogs, for example). If there are 15 of us in class and 5 have dogs we can even learn to reduce that to 1/3 and draw a visual to represent it. This information can be represented by fractions and even percentages! Using games to learn Math is effective.

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A fun part about fractions is learning that cooking, measuring and packaging, money and telling time all use fractions. If you are really hungry do you want a Quarter Pounder or a 1/3 pound burger.  A gallon can be equally divided into cups or quarts or pints. Bring in measuring cups and empty plastic gallon containers and have students participate in good old-fashioned hands on learning.  Accompany the visuals with written fraction numbers.

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Students MUST understand that fractions represent equal parts. Visually help students see this, use food and ask them if it is "fair" that some students would get a larger piece of pizza or pie when it should be divided equally. Repeating the vocabulary solidifies the learning.

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Since students usually know how to count, the numerator will be easy. The denominator tells us what we are counting so it is often harder for students to understand. Teach that the denominator is the total of what we are going to count. In other words, before we start counting how many pieces of pizza we have we have to understand how many pieces we have cut the whole pizza into.

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Teach students the words needed to talk about place value. This term we have learned that having students discourse about solving math problems increases learning. So, we have to give them the vocab needed. This is especially important for teaching decimals and knowing where to place the decimal and say "and". Other words: digit, value, place, expanded notation, standard notation etc.

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Since I do not have the finances to purchase 3-D manipulatives, I made paper copies of base 100 blocks, tens, and ones. Using manipulatives allows me to have all my students at different levels participate in a lesson. We also use these when learning re-grouping which we start after basic lessons in place value.

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Every one of my students has a laminated hundred twenty number chart that they use in our place value lessons. They use dry erase markers as they figure out how to count by tens (columns) and ones (rows) starting from any number. I want my students to recognize the visual patterns as related to place value.

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Practice daily skip counting by tens, hundreds, thousands so that place value becomes inherent knowledge. We sit in a circle and pick a number to start then we go around the circle counting by tens, hundreds, thousands etc. Repetition is key for students with Special Needs and with simple activities like this, students at all levels can participate.

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The place value mat is a staple in my Geometry lessons. We start with just tens and ones and on the flip side we add thousands and hundreds. Instead of velcro numbers, however, we use dry erase markers. We can write numbers and state them out loud. I can state numbers and the students write them down. We play games and have contests. When I bring out the place value mats, the kids are motivated!

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Give each student an index card to visually understand the area of a triangle formula. If they can understand the area of the triangle is half of what the rectangle is they understand why the formula is one half of the base. Students tend to remember visuals and action they have done more than what they have heard.

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Using images of or real life nature in teaching Geometry makes learning more fun and relatable. Sports fields are also examples of geometric design from baseball diamonds to soccer pitches. The architecture of buildings are other real world examples of geometry and teach that geometry has been used since ancient times.

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Use real shapes to sort geometric shapes by different features. For younger students it can be as simple as sorting squares, triangles, circles and for older students sorting triangles by obtuse, isosceles and equilateral is more challenging. Tactile and visual practice enhances any verbal or written teaching.

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Students read the problem one time through. Then, they read it slowly and draw what they read, hear and understand. They can draw an "X" to show something is taken away or use arrows to show things that are moved. Draw anything that helps think through the problem.

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Teach students the word clues that help them figure out what math function to perform in a word problem. The chart above shows some of these words. One good trick is to circle key Math words. They still need to be careful to put everything in the right order so teach other strategies as well.

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Show how to highlight the exact question the problem is asking. This will help when students put the label on the answer and they can repeat the question to themselves to stay focused. Look at the first question above, they are asking "How many cookies(did Jen make)?" The label will be "cookies" and now use other strategies (such as drawing) to follow what is happening in the story.

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Use Real Life Objects to Discover the Pi Formula

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Use Real Life Objects to Discover the Pi Formula

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One of the things my children remember most about homeschooling is the day we used string and a circle to discover the formula for Pi much as they might have done years ago. Use string to measure the diameter and circumference of any circle and use division to discover that the circumference divided by the diameter always leaves the same amount leftover after 3. The thinking process used to understand this brings your students to a new level of critical thought.

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I researched a lot of Word Problem Routines and I like this one the best! For each word problem you have (even if you know the answer immediately) think through the routine. As you read the problem circle the numbers, box the number function words, highlight the question asked and draw a picture depicting the story of the problem. This second step is my favorite and new to my teaching strategy. Write the answer and leave a blank where the number would be. Now you have a focus. The next step is more difficult, translate to a word sentence (equation) and lastly...solve. I would add "Check Your Work" to this routine.

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Once you have solved a word problem, before or after you check your answer, talk to a partner about how you solved it. Talking about your math-word-problem-solving thought process helps you learn. Your teacher might give you a sentence starter to help get you going.