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Now that you have learned the importance of arrays and learned how to build them for one digit and two digit numbers, let’s take a look at how arrays can also help support students’ understanding of d...

Think about the problem 13 x 14 for a moment.  Does your brain tell you to reach for a piece of paper?  A calculator?  Do you start solving for partial products in your head [(13x10) + (13x4)]?  Or do...

When learning multiplication, students are encouraged to use arrays to organize their objects. If you learned math by memorization and without visual models you might be asking, "What is an array in m...

Think about a gram for a moment.  Can you identify something that weighs one gram? Can you visualize the approximate size of something that would weigh a gram?  When you look at the nutrition label on...

Summer vacation is here!  When my kids were in elementary school, I would always get nervous at the thought of all those endless hours and the laments of, “Mom, there is NOTHING to do!”

Planning Summ...

When I was in school I never learned how to use a ratio table.  You might be asking yourself, "What is a ratio table?" I started using them as a teacher and have found them to be such a powerful tool ...

Now that school is over, my kids and I are busy going on adventures – berry picking, afternoons at the pool, and trips to the park.  We are always toting a cooler filled with snacks and we found a new...

Summer is such a great time to settle in with some reading in a hammock or in a cozy chair.  A little bit of summer reading now will help you feel empowered to help your child with math next year. 

I...

What are the characteristics of a highly capable math student?  Does it mean that the student can calculate quickly or accurately?  Does it mean that that student is the first in the class to answer a...

Often when we are talking with young children about subtraction we use the term “take away.”  While we can sometimes think of subtraction as taking away, subtraction can also mean finding the differen...

Before the days of GPS systems if you needed to go somewhere in a new town you would get out a map and take a look at what route you might take. You might decide to take the freeway. You would do that...

About ten years ago I asked a group of third graders how many of them had coins in their room at home that they could touch and play with.  Only about 1/3 of the class raised their hands.  Ten years b...