Have you ever tried a Slow Reveal Graph? This was my first experience—Heartbeats per Minute and Body Weights of Different Species. It was wonderful―for the class and for me.
In my last blog, I describe how I planned a lesson about number lines. In this blog, I describe what actually occurred when I taught the lesson to a class of fourth graders. Read about which parts of my plan I followed, when and why I made some changes, and what the students did on the assignment I gave them.
Have you ever used Silent Math with your students? During this instructional routine, no one talks, not even the teacher. Read more to learn about how Silent Math works and why it’s a staple of my instruction.
Teachers often report that division is hard to teach. How can we help build students’ understanding? Read on for an introductory division lesson I taught to fourth graders.
I took the photo of the board at the end of a fraction lesson I taught to fourth graders. The lesson engaged the students with representations of 4/5 and 5/4, using drawings the students had made. Read about how the lesson unfolded and what I learned about the students.
This is a question that I’ve thought about for a while. It seems that I embrace the same pedagogical approach with both, but I know there are differences. I think I have some clarity now. Read on.
During a Listening to Learn interview, when asked to figure out mentally the missing number in the problem 90 – ___ = 75, Meeyah and Rocco explained their reasoning in different ways. Listen to how they thought and how I used these two videos for a class lesson.
When asked in a Listening to Learn interview which fraction was greater, it was clear to Adrian that 5/6 was greater than 1/4. His explanation, however, was anything but clear. Listen to Adrian reason and learn how I used this video in a class lesson.
Rebecca solved 7 – 3 by adding, demonstrating the important numerical reasoning strategy of applying the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction. Read about what happened when I used the video clip of Rebecca in a class lesson.
In a Listening to Learn interview, Nathan knew from memory that 6 x 5 equals 30. He explained to Rusty Bresser, "So, 6 divided by 2 equals 3, and you just add a zero behind it." Here's a suggestion for using that video clip in a lesson and what happened in two different classes.