I’ve been wondering recently about how to help students make connections between concepts and to their prior knowledge in the classroom. We know that mathematical ideas are connected and often build on each other, so how to ensure students ‘see’ these links? I think we have been moving in a good ‘direction of understanding’ in…
What a joy it was to be back attending an in-person conference! We hadn’t had a face-to-face MANSW conference since 2019 so it was great to see many familiar faces as well as meet some new teachers of mathematics. It was a lovely venue in sunny (most of the time) Tweed Heads/Coolangatta. The conference theme…
How do I create a lesson sequence? This is a question I get asked a lot, both by pre-service and in-service primary teachers. You may feel you are great at designing single lesson ideas that are related or whole programs, but maybe the flow could be better – more conceptually than topically related. For example,…
In this blog I’m exploring the mathematics students can notice in everyday scenes and objects. Images are a great stimulus for mathematical discourse in the classroom and make for a great way to launch your lesson and ‘hook’ students into the maths. I have lots of images in our resource section for noticing and wondering…
Now this could start a HUGE debate, but I love Brussels sprouts! I didn’t like them as a child, perhaps due to how they were cooked, but I’ve come to love them as an adult. They need to be fried or baked until crispy, with lots of oil (and maybe some butter). They are even…
‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ is the classic adage interpreted to mean that multiple ideas or concepts can be expressed often by a single image. Or that an image may be a better way of explaining or expressing a complex idea than using words (verbally). For me, a picture is worth a thousand…
It’s the school holidays! Well, at least here in NSW it is, and I think this is a perfect time for mathematics. Now I know that not every child (or parent) would be excited about the idea of doing ‘more maths’ in the school holidays, but we need to change maths’ reputation! Mathematics is important,…
I’m not sure what weekend family nights look like at your house, but at ours it fluctuates between movies or games. My eldest daughter follows my own passion for games, recently it was Mahjong and this week it was monopoly! Oh no, not monopoly I hear a plethora of parents cry! Oh yes, monopoly. The…
A few weeks ago I shared a tweet about arrays after discovering a great website (sineofthetimes.org) by Daniel Scher (@dpscher). I really appreciated the dynamic application he had created using Web Sketchpad to make and explore arrays. It’s quite simple in its design but I think that’s the beauty of it – no additional distractions…
Well in NSW today, it is back to school for everyone! We wish all the students and teachers a great day and hope classes go smoothly, friendships are reformed, and teachers get the ‘virtual’ high five (or five hundred) they deserve! Today’s blog is full of mathematical goodness. If you are stuck for a game…