Math Journals: Save the Cat!

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Puck is concerned that some people don’t understand the idea behind the Math Rebel journals. He decided to create a journaling prompt so your children can experience the joy of creative reasoning (and save cats from their mortal enemy!)

Journaling is a great way to help children learn to see with mathematical eyes. Not just to remember what we tell them, but to create their own math.

Many people know it’s important for students to do hands-on experiments in science. But Puck realized that most adults don’t know how to do a math experiment.

So Puck created this Cat Escape puzzle…

Continue reading Math Journals: Save the Cat!

The Wisdom of Cats

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

My publishing company welcomes our two newest employees. Cimorene and Puck will head up our promotions department. Because cats know the internet, and they know how to make people do whatever they want.

Or at least, that’s what they tell me.

Today, Cimorene wants people to back the Make 100 Math Rebels Kickstarter. She thinks everyone should order one of the paperback or hardcover book sets. Because books come in boxes. And boxes are important to cats.

Puck agrees that boxes are a good thing. But he thinks people should choose any pledge level they like. Puck values curiosity and creative thinking, and the Math Rebel project is all about teaching students to explore ideas and think creatively about math.

So listen to the wisdom of cats, and back the Make 100 Math Rebels Kickstarter today!

Make 100 Math Rebels Kickstarter

Working on the Math Prompts

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

I’d love to see children all around the world learning math as a creative, thought-provoking, liberal-arts adventure. Not just school math, but true mathematical thinking.

If that sounds great to you, too, please visit my Make 100 Math Rebels Kickstarter project and join the Math Rebellion:

Make 100 Math Rebels on Kickstarter

So, now that the Kickstarter’s running full-steam — closing in on our third Stretch Goal! — I’ve been working full-time on the reward books.

At the $5 pledge level and above, backers will get this digital book of 100 Math Journal Prompts.

Except, I’m thinking now it will really be 104 prompts because I plan to release them on my publisher’s online store as two booklets of printable task cards. At four cards per page, a 50-card booklet will have a half-page blank space. And since I’ve collected plenty of prompts (enough to make five booklets, if the funding hits all our Stretch Goals) it’s easy to add a couple more activities to each book.

And besides, creating the prompts is so much fun. I’m happy to throw in some extras!

Math Journals and Creative Reasoning

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Learning math requires more than mastering number facts and memorizing rules. At its heart, math is a way of thinking.

So more than anything else, we need to teach our kids to think mathematically. To make sense of math concepts and persevere in figuring things out. To notice the numbers, shapes, and patterns all around. To wonder about big ideas.

Journaling is a great way to help children learn to see with mathematical eyes. Not just to remember what we tell them, but to create their own math.

Get started with creative math journaling today. Visit the Make 100 Math Rebels Kickstarter page to download the free “How To Be a Math Rebel” sampler pictured above, which contains one of my all-time favorite math prompts.

Make 100 Math Rebels

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.

Puzzle from the free Math Rebel Sampler.

Continue reading Math Journals and Creative Reasoning

Kickstarter Loves the Math Rebellion

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Yesterday, I got some wonderful news. The folks at Kickstarter awarded the “Projects We Love” badge to my Make 100 Math Rebels campaign. Woohoo!

That’s great because it means they’ll help share the idea of the Math Rebellion with more new people.

Wouldn’t it be great if children could learn math as a liberal art that focuses on creative thinking? Imagine the freedom of no longer worrying about speed and memory. Instead, they can dive head-long into the deeply refreshing waters of reasoning and problem-solving.

Experience the Math Rebellion for yourself. Visit the Kickstarter page to download the 10-page printable sampler file, and discover how creative true math can be:

Make 100 Math Rebels Kickstarter

A New Resource for Playful Math

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

Check out the Make 100 Math Rebels Kickstarter project, which just might transform your child’s experience of math.

What Is a Math Rebel?

Math rebels believe in Truth. We refuse to accept something just because the teacher or textbook says it. We want to see the connections between math concepts and to understand why things work.

Math rebels care about Justice. We resist society’s push for speed and conformity. We reject the cultural narrative that math has only One Right Answer.

Math rebels celebrate Creative Reasoning. We delight in finding new ways to look at math topics. We want to think deeply about ideas, and we are confident in our ability to figure things out.

Launch your family’s math rebellion today with my free printable PDF booklet, “How To Be a Math Rebel,” available only on the Make 100 Math Rebels Kickstarter page.

Here’s the link again:

Make 100 Math Rebels on Kickstarter

Joy to the World!

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

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Psalm 57:7-11

My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.

Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.

I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.

For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.

[Taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, (c)1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.]

In the Beginning

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

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John 1:1-5; 8:12

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

… Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV.org.

Speak Tenderly

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

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Isaiah 40:1-5

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV.org.

What Child

Posted on by Denise Gaskins

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Luke 2:1-21

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

Continue reading What Child