Presented by
Heather Sparks, NBCT
2009 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year
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Lack of prior knowledge
Missing foundational skills
Limited experiences with “doing” math
“One right answer” approach
“Permission” to be “bad” at math
Others?
Every day, provide meaningful math investigations
through manipulatives, games, puzzles, and stories.
Content example: True Blue
Love Box Company
What’s My Rule?
Two of Everything
Trina wants to win a goldfish at the carnival.
In order for her to win, she needs to pick 2 blue
tiles out of the “True Blue prize bag,” without
looking. If the prize bag contains 3 blue tiles
and 3 red tiles, what is the probability
of winning the game?
Predict the number of wins you will
get in 40 trials. Then, conduct the trials
and record the outcomes.
Love Box Company wants to create a box
that holds 12 cubic inches. Each square
inch of cardboard costs the company
$.005. What are the dimensions of the
least expensive box the company can
create?
n
y
n
y
n
y
n
y
6
8
24
3
7
13
1
1
7
9
80
10
45
89
2
6
8
10
240
30
10
19
4
16
88
56
2
100
1
0
7
96
Every day, expect students to explain their
thinking.
Content example: NIM
Sense or Nonsense
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Select a partner and count out 21 beans.
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One partner begins by selecting 1, 2, or 3
beans from the pile.
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The second partner then takes 1, 2, or 3 from
the remaining beans.
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The person who takes the last bean loses!
1. Mr. Bragg says he’s right 100% of the time. Is he bragging? Why?
2. The Garcia family ate out last Saturday. The bill was $46.
Would a 50% tip be too much to leave? Why?
3. Ellen loaned Me’Shell one dollar. She said the interest would be
75% a day. Is this a pretty good deal for Ellen? Why?
4. Daniel missed 10 problems on his science test. Do you think his
percentage is high enough for an A? Why?
5. Rose has a paper route. She gets to keep 25% of whatever money
she collects. Do you think this is a good deal? Why?
Manipulatives should be available and integrated
to every math lesson.
Content example: Farmer John
Extend & Explain
Before planting the Spring crops, Farmer John needs to determine
how many acres will be allocated for his vegetables. He decides to
plant 5% of the area with onions, 20% with tomatoes, 25% with
egg plant, 25% with corn, and 25% with carrots. The number of
acres for each crop must be whole numbers. Help John determine
the minimum number of acres that will be planted and the acreage
allotted to each vegetable.
John must also consider that different plants have different space
requirements. Use the rods to represent the required space as follow:
Onions= tan
Tomatoes = red
Egg plant = purple
Corn= yellow
Carrots= orange
Students should be taught specific strategies to
Improving memory and understanding
Content example: Order of Operations Chant
Integer Song
Finger Multiplication
Order of Operations Cup Chant
Paren- theses
clap
clap
Ex- po- nents
tap
tap
Multi
clap
ply,
grab cup’s bottom,
Add,
clap
tap (the top of the cup)
Divide
pick up and move cup right
Subtract
grab cup with thumb side down
Left
to right,
Bring open mouth of cup to left hand
touch bottom of cup to table
Order’s
Transfer cup to left hand by grabbing the bottom of the cup
on
your side!
Right hand slaps table
Left hand crosses over & puts cup down
(Tune: Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
Same signs, add and keep
Different signs, subtract
Keep the sign of the larger number
Then you’ll be exact!
Students should maintain a math journal to record
and store math resources.
Content example: Big Inch
Exponent rule foldable
The BIG Inch
0
1 1 3
16 8 16
2
16
1 5 3 7 1 9 5 11 3 13
4 16 8 16 2 16 8 16 4 16
10
2
6
6
2
16
8
16
8
4
4
4
12
8
16
16
8
16
7 15 1
8 16 2
14
2
16
4
4
8
8
16
16
Identity
Property
What patterns do you notice?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
a3 l
a4 l
a5 l
a3 l
a6 l
a2 = a5
a3 = a7
a1 = a6
a5 = a8
a7 = a13
What patterns do you notice?
A. m5
3
=
m
m2
B. m7
4
=
m
3
m
C. m10
6
=
m
m4
D. m6
2
=
m
m4
What patterns do you notice?
24
23
22
21
20
2-1
2-2
2-3
2-4
=16
=8
=4
=2
=
=
=
=
=
This presentation and other
resources are available at
www. hisparks.com