Math Game Monday: Fraction Product Game

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

This game helps students master multiplying and dividing fractions.

Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children. And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s play some math!

Fraction Product Game

Math Concepts: multiplying fractions, equivalent fractions.
Players: two, or two teams.
Equipment: printed game board, colored markers or a set of matching tokens for each player, two glass gemstones or other small tokens to mark the factors.

Continue reading Math Game Monday: Fraction Product Game

Thinking Thursday: Eleanor Roosevelt

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Thinking Thursday math journal prompt

Writing to Learn Math: What did the author mean? Put the thought in your own words. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?

Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: Notice. Wonder. Create.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: Eleanor Roosevelt

Ostomachion: Divide the Square

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
archimedes, studying

“Puzzles are made of the things that the mathematician, no less than the child, plays with, and dreams and wonders about, for they are made of things and circumstances of the world he [or she] lives in.”

—Edward Kasner

Long ages ago, one of the greatest mathematicians of all time played with a children’s puzzle.

The puzzle was called “The Ivory Challenge”—or something like that, translations vary. Ostomachion in Greek. Fourteen ivory polygons (flat shapes with straight sides) were supposed to fit into a square box.

Archimedes solved that puzzle. But like any good mathematician, he didn’t stop there. The solution to any puzzle is only the beginning, a doorway to further adventures.

So Archimedes asked himself one of the big questions of mathematics: “How many ways?”

The Ostomachion is a rather complex puzzle, and our students may struggle to figure out where to start. One of the classic tools in any mathematician’s toolbox is to make it simpler. So let’s begin our own investigation with a simpler challenge:

  • How many ways can you bisect a square?

Continue reading Ostomachion: Divide the Square

Math Game Monday: Shut the Box (Cards)

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

This game builds mental math skills in young students, and is fun for all ages.

Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children. And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s play some math!

Shut the Box (Cards)

Math Concepts: addition, number bonds up to nine.
Players: two to four.
Equipment: one deck of playing cards, two six-sided dice.

Continue reading Math Game Monday: Shut the Box (Cards)

Thinking Thursday: Mini-Biography 2

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Thinking Thursday math journal prompt

Writing to Learn Math: Research prompts help students view math as a human endeavor.

Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?

Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: Notice. Wonder. Create.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: Mini-Biography 2

Reasoning about Ratios and Proportions

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
photo of sailboat on the Nile river

“The value of a problem is not so much coming up with the answer as in the ideas and attempted ideas it forces on the would-be solver.”

—I. N. Herstein

Whenever I give a problem or puzzle in an Alexandria Jones story, I’ll try to post the answer soon afterward.

But don’t peek!

In the old days of my snail mail newsletters, the answers always came in the next issue, so students had two months to let the puzzle ruminate without temptation.

After all, if you only read the answer I give, you miss out on the fun of solving the puzzle. Follow the Math Adventurer’s Rule:

  • Figure it out for yourself!

Give the problem a good workout on your own. See what you can notice about the puzzle. Wonder about how it connects to the larger world of mathematics.

Play with the ideas and find out where they may lead.

Then check the answer just to prove you got it right, and maybe to see whether we did it the same way. There’s always more than one way to approach any math problem, and each method offers its own insights.

Continue reading Reasoning about Ratios and Proportions

Math Game Monday: Power Up

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

This game gives students a fun reason to think about calculating with exponents.

Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children. And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s play some math!

Power Up

Math Concepts: powers (exponents).
Players: only two.
Equipment: one printed character sheet for each player, two six-sided dice, pencils or markers. Calculator optional.

Continue reading Math Game Monday: Power Up

Thinking Thursday: Make a Maze

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Thinking Thursday math journal prompt

Writing to Learn Math: When students learn to visualize shapes, designs, and patterns, it makes them better at math.

Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?

Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: Notice. Wonder. Create.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: Make a Maze

Math Game Monday: Next-Door Neighbors

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

This game builds number sense and a playful approach to math.

Many parents remember struggling to learn math. We hope to provide a better experience for our children. And one of the best ways for children to enjoy learning is through hands-on play.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s play some math!

Next-Door Neighbors

Math Concepts: number properties, numbers within 100.

Players: two players, child and adult.

Equipment: printed hundred chart.

Continue reading Math Game Monday: Next-Door Neighbors

Thinking Thursday: Strategic Thinking

Posted on by Denise Gaskins
Thinking Thursday math journal prompt

Writing to Learn Math: Math journal explanations avoid the formality that turns so many students away from geometry proofs.

Do you want your children to develop the ability to reason creatively and figure out things on their own?

Help kids practice slowing down and taking the time to fully comprehend a math topic or problem-solving situation with these classic tools of learning: Notice. Wonder. Create.

Continue reading Thinking Thursday: Strategic Thinking