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California has been inundated with rain this winter.  The rain has got me thinking about rain gauges and measurement.  I have a very informal system in my backyard.  It’s just a big bucket that collec...

Whenever a student is trying to make sense of a problem I like to ask, “Can you make a picture of it?”  Using a tape diagram for math can help children model lots of different problems using different...

Powerful mathematicians have many different strategies at their fingertips that they can use to solve problems.  They can choose which strategy will be the most efficient for the problem at hand and n...

One morning a tour group passed through my second grade classroom.  The students were chattering in small groups about different math tasks they were doing.  Manipulatives were spread around the room ...

“Frustration is not a sign you are not learning, but ease is.”  ---  David Epstein 

This quote always stings a bit.  My mommy heart doesn’t want to see my child struggle.  I am working on getting mor...

Number lines help children build mathematical meaning. Seeing the numbers arranged in order and then hoping up and down the number line helps children develop a better understanding of number relat...

What does it mean to be computationally fluent?  Has this definition changed?  A generation ago, being good at math meant being fast and accurate.  I’m not sure anyone was thinking about the bigger pi...

In second grade students are learning to add within 1000 using strategies based on place value.  (CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.NBT.B.7).  So what does that mean to use a strategy based on place value?  One str...

Many believe that some people are born with a “math brain” and some are not.  However, recent work by Jo Boaler and Carol Dweck has shown us that there is no such thing as a “math person.”  Everyone c...

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...