In the landscape of early childhood education, the significance of learning number combinations through 10 in kindergarten cannot be overstated. While it might seem like just one of many skills taught in kindergarten, this foundational step plays a crucial role in setting students up to develop fluency in addition and subtraction as they progress. Let’s explore why mastering these combinations is an essential cornerstone in a child’s mathematical journey. Be sure to check out the links throughout this post for more information and access to numerous free downloads. the role of number combinati ..read more

I recently presented at NCTM‘s regional conference in Seattle. The theme of the conference was Everyone Belongs Here. Here’s more on that from their website: The conference will explore instructional practices that create safe learning spaces where students’ voices, thoughts, and ideas are heard; their math identities thrive; and they are secure in knowing they are valued, they matter, and they belong. For many, the math classroom does not feel like a welcoming place. When we teach with a one-size-fits-all approach and  focus solely on memorizing procedures, students inevitably fal ..read more

Are you looking for an engaging way for your students to practice their multiplication facts? Well, of course you are! Check out this engaging multiplication fact practice game! Math Lines, from ABCya, takes a different approach to multiplication facts. This super engaging game allows players to choose a target number to multiply to. For example, players can practice all the ways to multiply to 12. There are three, increasingly more difficult levels of play. This link will take you to ABCya and Multiplication Math Lines. There’s also an addition version, which you can check out here.   T ..read more

They sometimes say that math is the science of patterns, and maybe nowhere is that more apparent than in our place value system. Unfortunately, we often teach place value at a very surface level and we don’t give students enough opportunities to explore those patterns. One way to build understanding is by modeling place value relationships. This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a product, I receive a small commission. There is no additional cost to you, and I only link to books and products that I personally use and recommend. What do the ..read more

Math practice should be engaging for students, and what could be more engaging than connecting math to a charming children’s book? And while we want math to be engaging, let’s not forget that the goal is still to teach math skills, so it also has to be purposeful. In Kindergarten, one of the most critical skills is learning all of the combinations for the numbers up through ten. It’s the foundation of addition/subtraction fact fluency. And the combinations for the number ten are especially important, because of the importance of ten in our number system. This post contains affiliate links, whi ..read more

To truly understand place value, students need to not only identify the place, or position, a digit is sitting in (e.g., the 4 is in the tens place or there are 4 tens), but they also need to understand the value of that digit (e.g., the value of the 4 in the tens place is 40). We need to make sure that we are asking students a variety of questions and having them use multiple place value models so we can uncover their true understanding of place value. This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a product, I receive a small commission. Th ..read more

An open number line—one that isn’t labeled with numbers—is a great tool with many applications in the math classroom. The power of an open number line is that you write in only the numbers you need. Here you see an example of using an open number line to add. Notice that in the example shown above, the spacing approximates the magnitude of the numbers. Sure, the jump of 20 probably ought to be a little bigger, but it’s a good attempt and it’s not necessary to be exact. In Texas, the 1st grade standards have students using an open number line to order numbers to 120. This can be tricky for kid ..read more

Who doesn’t love a good puzzle? We engage students in algebraic thinking and productive struggle when we use math puzzles! Read about various types of math puzzles you can use to challenge and engage your students. Be sure to read to the end to download an activity sampler for free! This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a product, I receive a small commission. There is no additional cost to you, and I only link to books and products that I personally use and recommend. Place Value—Decomposing in More than One Way Both the CCSSM and the TE ..read more

I know that it’s summer, and you might not be thinking about the beginning of next school year. But place value is typically one of the first units for many grade levels, so maybe you bookmark this post and come back when you’re ready! Read on for some low-prep and engaging place value games for a variety of grade levels! Be sure to look for the links through the post to download your freebies! This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a product, I receive a small commission. There is no additional cost to you, and I only link to books a ..read more

In many classrooms, the math instructional period starts with a warmup. What you do with that math warmup sets the tone for the rest of your math instruction, so let’s make the most of it! This post contains affiliate links, which simply means that when you use my link and purchase a product, I receive a small commission. There is no additional cost to you, and I only link to books and products that I personally use and recommend. In many classrooms, the math warmup consists of a spiraling review-type worksheet. Let’s examine that approach. First, is this type of warmup really inviting student ..read more