Favorite Activity! Riddle Boards!

Recently had that moment we all love!  Former student talking about what he remembered from our year together!  To say that this student was a reluctant reader was an understatement......but the math activity that he just loved was my riddle boards.  He remembered that every month I put out a new set of  riddles.  You can tell how easy it is to make these boards.  All you need is a sheet of poster board and library pockets.

I am always collecting riddle books---garage sales, dollar stores, the library!  I look for riddles in themes!  Sometimes, I do holiday thematic riddles but I always do math riddles.  One board can work all year just by using velcro each month to change the questions.  Mine are all color-coded to make it easier to keep organized.  

The day I remember was when he went to the library and checked out all the riddle books to the surprise of our librarian.  Then he asked for post-it notes and started to flag the books.  I asked him what was he doing and he responded that he was finding next month's riddles.  Ah, reading all the while!  Children love riddles, the sillier the better!  Teach on my friends! 

How to Get Valentine Choices

Yikes, I was just too excited to explain how to get "freebie."  Go to my website, www.creativemathematics.com and to the Online Store.  Put the Valentine Choices into your shopping cart.  The code is valentine!  It is free!

Another Freebie!

Want another freebie?  Giving away my workstations for February!

Valentine Choices

Here is a freebie for the month of February!

Your link to Area and Perimeter Zoo!
I would love to see your students doing these amazing animals!

Welcome to February!

Yikes, how can it be February?  

I am excited because I love Valentine's Day!

Let's make this month fun and mathematically challenging!  Watch for new ideas coming!

View From My Classroom!

February 22, 2017

Got something new and exciting!  So many difficult areas of mathematics for elementary learners and one of them is fractions.  I preach at my workshops giving students the opportunities to work with three picture models of fractions—area, set and number line!  Now they can see number line models every day in your classroom  I am so excited to introduce my new poster in my lines of visuals.  It is double sided showing visually number line models of fractions!  One on side of the poster you will see fractions from rolling two dice.  The denominator will be one, two, three, four, five and six.  This poster is a great tool to be used with a game called “Race Track Fractions” from my fraction book, Fractions:  A Part of the Whole.  It is played with double dice!  (Reminder that we have such a great price on these!)

The other side of the poster shows fractions on the number line with denominators of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten.  It is used with the game called “Race Track Fractions” from my fraction book, Fractions:  A Part of the Whole.  It is played with decahedron double dice!  (Reminder that we have such a great price on these!)

This game can actually be played on the poster using markers and velcro.

This is the game board using the decahedron double dice and transparent chips. 

Torn Snowpeople Logic Problems!

How about celebrating the last week of January with a construction project that includes measurement and higher level thinking?  First thing to do is to go to my website, www.creativemathematics.com.  Find the button that says, "Free PDFs and Conference Files."  Register and download the three data sheets!  Remember the days of Project AIMS?  I was part of the original writing team.  We wrote an amazing book called Primarily Bears.  We wrote lots of logic problems.  Child ten had to think!

Here are the three data sheets!

Now get all the materials ready!  Get creative with ribbon scraps and other paper!  I always put the materials out and have the students pick up the paper they will need to tear their snowpeople!

Now the students are ready to tear (no scissors) the four snowpeople.  Each one is unique!

Here is Sweet Sally!

This is Herbert named after my grandfather!

This is Jollly!

Meet Froggy!

Now make a fence for the four snowpeople to order themselves.  Students can cut them out and tape together!

The students and teacher will read each clue set and place the snowpeople on the fence based on the clues.

Here is the solution to Clue Set 1.

This is the solution to Clue Set 2.

Work through the remaining two sets of clues.  Now the real fun begins, students can make up their own clues.  How many different arrangements can there be?  I just love that problem.......

More to come with a special tool next week!  Teach on!

Mathematically yours,