by Jenna Laib | Feb 25, 2020 | Grades 6–8
By Kate Nowak How do we help our students build mathematical understandings that endure past the unit test? If we want students to construct strong, reliable bases of mathematical knowledge, our instruction needs to do more than present explicit procedures—even when...
by Jenna Laib | Feb 15, 2020 | Grades K–2
By William McCallum The number line is a seemingly simple object: a straight line with two points marked 0 and 1. Those two points are the seeds of great complexity, however. Whole numbers are located at positions marked off by iterating the interval. Fractions are...
by Jenna Laib | Jan 12, 2020 | Grades 3–5
By William McCallum In grade 3, as students start to learn about multiplication, they think about products like 6 x 7 in terms of equal groups. 6 x 7 is the number of things when you have 6 groups with 7 things in each group. They might start out calculating that...
by Jenna Laib | Nov 25, 2019 | Grades 3–5, Grades 6–8, Grades 9–12, Grades K–2
By Jenna Laib and Kristin Gray Take a moment to think about the value of each expression below. $\frac{1}{4}\times \frac{1}{3}$ $\frac{1}{4}\times \frac{2}{3}$ $\frac{2}{4}\times \frac{2}{3}$ $\frac{3}{4}\times \frac{2}{3}$ What do you notice? How would you explain...
by Jenna Laib | Oct 13, 2019 | Grades 3–5, Grades 6–8, Grades K–2
We want students to think about math deeply. Creatively. Analytically. Instead, what often happens is that students race towards quick solutions. So what can we do to support this other kind of thinking in class—the slow, deep kind? By Jenna Laib One way is through...