Making learning fun
It’s not uncommon for teachers to spend a lot of time focusing on teaching the addition facts and then brush over subtraction. Subtraction has been the ‘poor relation’ that receives less attention. In fact, sometimes students are not helped to see that there is any relationship at all between addition and subtraction. (NZMaths n.d.) One of the top strategies for… Read More
When it comes to teaching the multiplication facts, students will often find multiplying by 6, 7, 8 and 9 the trickiest to master. There are two main reasons why. Students don’t understand the Commutative Property of Multiplication. They don’t see 6 x 4 and 4 x 6 as being equivalent. While they can answer 4 x 6, the answer to… Read More
If you come from a generation where learning to multiply meant reciting your multiplication tables over and over, then you probably don’t have positive thoughts about teaching multiplication. Maybe you were given timed tests or had your achievements (or lack of) displayed on the wall. It may even be that, as an adult, you’re not still fluent with your multiplication… Read More
Learning sight words and high-frequency words is a massive component of the kindergarten and first grade curriculum. Not all teachers work from the same sight word/high frequency word lists. Some use Dolch lists, Fry or Words their Way. Some schools provide lists, others don’t. Whichever list is used, there’s always the same expectation. Students will know a certain amount of… Read More
Learning the multiplication facts shouldn’t be about learning to recite the times tables. I’ve seen too many students searching their memories for the answer to 6 x 8, only to have them start at 1 x 8 = 8. There’s no knowledge of the multiplication thinking strategies that can help them reach the answer much faster. If kids need to… Read More
Do you say sight words or high frequency words? And does it really matter? There is a difference. A sight word is a word that doesn’t follow spelling rules or the rules of the six syllable types. Kids need to learn to read them from sight because it’s impossible to decode them. High frequency words appear frequently in reading. You… Read More
It's my mission to help you create a classroom where kids are engaged in hands-on, meaningful practice that helps them to really consolidate the concepts you've been teaching. Read More…
