Playful Math Carnival #154: The Math Journaling Edition

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Welcome to the 154th edition of the Playful Math Education Blog Carnival — a smorgasbord of delectable tidbits of mathy fun. It’s like a free online magazine devoted to learning, teaching, and playing around with math from preschool to high school.

Bookmark this post, so you can take your time browsing.

There’s so much playful math to enjoy!

By tradition, we start the carnival with a puzzle/activity in honor of our 154th edition. But if you’d rather jump straight to our featured blog posts, click here to see the Table of Contents.

Try This Puzzle/Activity

Since 154 is a nonagonal number, I think you might enjoy visiting some of my old “Adventures of Alexandria Jones” posts about figurate numbers:

And then try this math journaling prompt: Build or draw your own nonagonal numbers — numbers built from 9-sided polygons.

How many nonagonal numbers can you find? What do you notice? Does it make you wonder?

Click here for all the mathy goodness!

A Spring Tradition

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Homeschool Memories…

Back when my kids were young, it was a yearly tradition. The big discount catalog came every spring, full of exciting new ideas for homeschooling.

By that time, we would be tired of whatever books we were using and eager for something new.

I sent the children outside to enjoy the spring sunshine, which gave me time to dream over the tiny-print wishbook. Coffee in one hand, pencil in the other, making lists and dog-earing catalog pages.

So many exciting books and curriculum options, it seemed almost impossible to resist going wild beyond our budget.

Continue reading A Spring Tradition

How To Respond to Your Child’s Math Writing

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

In previous posts, I encouraged parents, homeschoolers, and teachers to explore the world of math and introduced one of my favorite learning tools, the math journal. Then I shared several of my favorite types of journaling prompts to get your kids started writing about math.

Math journal prompts offer a wide range of options for students to explore. Most of the prompts do not have a “right” or “wrong” answer. Our goal is to root around in some small corner of the world of math, to lift a stone and peek underneath it, just to see what we can find.

The idea that being good at math means finding the right answers is a huge myth. Of course, many problems in math do have a single right answer. But even for those problems, the answer is not the real math of the problem.

Math is all about thinking.

It’s like taking a road trip. You may have a destination, but there are many paths you could take to get there. Different students may take different paths — they may think about the problem in different ways.

It’s this reasoning that is the real math, and the right answer is just a side effect of reasoning well.

Continue reading How To Respond to Your Child’s Math Writing

It’s Here! Math Journaling for All Ages

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

“Denise Gaskins’s work is consistently lovely and playful, so go check it out if you do any journaling or any other sort of mathematical writing with children.”

—Christopher Danielson, author of Which One Doesn’t Belong?

It’s finally here! 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal includes number play prompts, games, math art, story problems, mini-essays, geometry investigations, brainteasers, number patterns, research projects, and much more.

These activities work at any grade level, and most can be enjoyed more than once. It doesn’t matter whether your students are homeschooled or in a classroom, distance-learning, or in person. Everyone can enjoy the experience of playing around with math.

Get It Now in Ebook or Paperback

Get Your Copy Today!

5 Ways To Enrich Your Student’s Experience of Math

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

In previous posts, I encouraged parents, homeschoolers, and teachers to explore the world of math and introduced one of my favorite learning tools, the math journal.

But you may be wondering, what can my students do with their journal? How do I find good math prompts?

Here are five different ways your children can explore math through writing, classified by the type of reasoning involved.

: Game Prompts

Ask your children to play a number or strategy game and then write about it.

Game prompts break through the idea that math is dull and boring. They help students develop a positive attitude toward math while practicing their number skills or strategic thinking.

Continue reading 5 Ways To Enrich Your Student’s Experience of Math

Why Math Game Monday?

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Learn a new game with Math Game Monday

There’s a new Math Game Monday this week.

Have your kids tried it yet?

This week’s game is one of my favorites for early elementary grades, a logic game that makes children think about numbers and strategy.

Or, if you’re reading this post later and missed that one, there’s another great new game this week for you to play.

Check it out:

Visit Math Game Monday

Continue reading Why Math Game Monday?

What Is a Math Journal?

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

In my previous post, I encouraged parents, homeschoolers, and teachers to think of math as a nature walk through an infinite world of wonder.

A math journal is a record of your child’s journey through this world of mathematics.

In a math journal, children explore their own concepts about numbers, shapes, and patterns through drawing or writing in response to a question. Journaling teaches them to see with mathematical eyes — not just to remember what we adults tell them, but to create their own math.

Journaling brings math back into the liberal arts. It makes abstract ideas accessible and stretches children’s understanding, building math fluency and creating a solid foundation for future learning.

Continue reading What Is a Math Journal?

Playful Math Carnival 153 via Find the Factors

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Would you like some great ideas for playing math with your kids?

Iva Sallay put together a delightful collection of games, activities, and inspiration in the latest Playful Math Carnival:

You’ll find a fantastic collection of maker math, games, puzzles, activities, inspiration, and other mathematical delights.

What are you waiting for? Come join the fun!

Click Here to Read the Carnival Blog

Help Us Keep the Carnival Going

The Playful Math Blog Carnival wants you!

Each monthly Playful Math Carnival brings you a great new collection of puzzles, math conversations, teaching tips, and all sorts of mathy fun. It’s like a free online magazine of mathematical adventures, helpful and inspiring no matter when you read them.

The carnival is a joint effort. We depend on our volunteer hosts to collect blog posts and write the carnival each month.

Putting together a blog carnival can be a lot of work, but it’s a great opportunity to share the work of bloggers you admire and to discover new math-friends online. I love that part of being a host!

Classroom teachers, homeschoolers, college professors, unschoolers, or anyone who likes to play around with math — if you would like to take a turn hosting the carnival, please speak up!

CREDITS: Feature photo (top) by Iva Sallay.

Preorder 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Parents and teachers, are you looking for new ways to help your children learn math?

In a math journal, children explore their own ideas about numbers, shapes, and patterns through drawing or writing in response to a question.

Journaling encourages students to develop a rich mathematical mindset. They begin to see connections and make sense of math concepts. They grow confident in their ability to think through new ideas.

All they need is a piece of paper, a pencil, and a good prompt to launch their mathematical journey.

My new book 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal includes number play prompts, games, math art, story problems, mini-essays, geometry investigations, brainteasers, number patterns, research projects, and much more.

These activities work at any grade level, and most can be enjoyed more than once. It doesn’t matter whether your students are homeschooled or in a classroom, distance-learning, or in person. Everyone can enjoy the experience of playing around with math.

Continue reading Preorder 312 Things To Do with a Math Journal