Everyone loves those cute complimentary crispy cookies when enjoying some delightful Asian cuisine. These cookies are not only uniquely aerodynamic, but they have a nice little message inside that is inspirational and uplifting. So why not combine this same concept to your teaching lesson by having your students learn more about fractions by making their own fortune cookies. Throughout the entire process of making these fortune cookies you will also be instructing the class on how to fold the paper which incorporates fractions. This technique will keep them busy, more interested in learning fractions, as well as give them a chance to express their creativity.

Materials:

- Plain white paper, paper color of choice, or color construction paper.

- Markers, crayons or color pencils. (more…)

This fun game is ideal for anyone who wants to learn multiplication tables in a non-traditional way and make some music at the same time. The great thing about this game is that it can be played with multiple players or with one player, which makes it a great way for students to practice in their own time. Plus, it beats good ol’ math problems by having the students interact with one another so everyone has the chance to test their multiplication skills.

Materials Needed:

One egg carton with 12 slots

Black Marker (Sharpie)

2 different colored medium sized rounded beads (more…)

You can teach students a fun activity incorporating multiplication times-tables with this inquisitive game that includes the concept of a point system. Who doesn’t love a little competition? Just about everyone, including children. With that in mind, how about teaching your students a little about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as well? (more…)

Learning multiplication facts can be very challenging for young children. Children gain a certain confidence from understanding and mastering multiplication facts that can be leveraged to master other math skills. There is a new video game by a company, Tinman Learning, called Arithmemouse Times Tables that is focused on teaching children this one important skill– time tables facts 0-12. (more…)

I’m an elementary mathematics methods professor at the University of Oklahoma and recently I coordinated a project to help pre-service teachers create stories with math questions that are enhanced with technology.Small groups of elementary pre-service teachers collaborated by posting (non-consecutively) to a wiki (on www.wikispaces.com) in order to co-create a “story of the day” and math questions related to the story that also aligned to an elementary math standard.   (more…)

If people do not believe that mathematics is simple, it is only because they do not realize how complicated life is. ~John Louis von Neumann

“The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple.” S. Gudder

Someone asked me once: “Why do you pay so much importance to math? Is that any good for you? Why do you like it? “. And I said: “what do I win with math? Everything… J

Math changes the way I think and my approach to life. (more…)

Teaching mathematics to children can sometimes be difficult particularly if you are teaching “over their head” and lose them – because once they are lost it is difficult to reel them back in! So some tips to keep it light and make it a good experience for all might be helpful.

Simple doesn’t have to mean 1, 2, 3 – it really means that it makes sense to the pupils because if it doesn’t make sense it will be difficult for them to grasp what you are trying to tell them. Even if they eventually do what you need them to do but don’t understand the concept and the “how” of what you are telling them, (more…)

Teaching fractions is relatively simple when you are at the one-half (1/2) or one-quarter (1/4) but when you start getting into tenths and hundredths it becomes a little more difficult to adequately explain it to children. Graphics are an easy way to show the class so that the concept becomes clearer as you go along. Drawing each section as you explain makes it much easier to understand. (more…)

3 new elementary math card games for Fractions and Geometry.

4 Whole Numbers & Fractions Card Games (Grades 4-6)

3 Geometry Games (Grades 1-3)

3 Fractions, Decimals & Percent Games (Grades 2-4

Too often teachers get caught up in the day to day activities of teaching math and sometimes become like automatons doing things the same way day after day and year after year. When you find that you don’t deviate from the textbook or from the same tired examples you have used over and over – you will begin to place too much emphasis on the mundane rather than the joy that can be derived from teaching others mathematics with enthusiasm.

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