Middle School Math Moments (now Cognitive Cardio Math)

Click to go to post I'm so excited  - I was given the opportunity to guest post on Rachel Lynette's blog, Minds in Bloom . The post went up on her blog today, if you'd like to check it out:) Many thanks to Rachel!

Today, as my students were working on a color by number in math class (which I thought was a fun, different way to practice math), one of them asked "How does coloring help with math?" The question was asked with a "there's no reason I should have to do this" attitude. I explained that it helped with motor skills and helped one to use the brain in a different way, and that exercising the brain in different ways could help in all things that require thinking (not just math). I don't think he really appreciated my answer:) Integer Operations Color by Number - freebie So, I decided to do a little research, to see what I could find. Most of what I found (not a super-long time of searching, because I didn't have that much time!) was mostly related to the benefits of coloring for young children (and did relate to math skills) and for adults. Here are a few things that I found, as coloring relates to adults: According to the Huffington Post (10/13/14...

Yesterday was my birthday, and it was a great day! I got up early and went out for a walk/run, worked in the garden and had a great dinner with my husband and kids. Among my wonderful gifts were these fantastic "coloring books for adults" from my daughter. They are AMAZING! They were created by Johanna Basford (maybe you've already seen them) and are just incredibly detailed. The picture above is the one I started to color....it's a little hard to see the detail, but I think it's just incredible. Now all I want to do is color.....:)

Chapter 3 - Examples of Differentiated Planning for Achievable Challenge This is a continuation of Chapter 3, from a couple of weeks ago (I had my notes written, but it has taken me a while to type them!!). In the previous Chapter 3 post , I reviewed a couple of the examples of differentiated planning and activities that the author offered. In each example, students are learning the same basic concepts, but at different levels of challenge, which should lead to maximum success and should minimize their frustration. This example is called Exploring Number Lines, and the author states that it is a helpful activity for both "explorers" and "map readers." As a preliminary activity, students explore number lines without any specific assignment; the author suggests using large number lines that can be rolled out on the floor. Students meet in groups and create KWL charts. In working with the number line, students will predict where they will end up with certai...

I have not been doing a great job keeping up with my blog lately! Too many things going on! Click here to go to the free bundle! But, I did need to jump on here and type up a quick post about the Winner's Bundle that went along with March Madness tournament! If you read my "March Mayhem" post last month, you read that my collaborators and I ( Tools for Teaching Teens group) put some of our paid products into bundles that went along with the teams in the tournament. Since Duke won, our Duke bundle is now free in our stores!  The bundle includes: History Gal 's Printable Greek Gods Technology Integration Depot 's Ancient Rome Bingo Colorado Classroom 's Parent and Student Communication Middle School Math Moments ' Decimal Division Color by Number Math Giraffe 's Triangle Classification Leah Cleary 's Fall of Rome That's 6 paid products for FREE! The download will only be available Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday (April 10),...

What are you working on? We've been working on surface area in class ( post here ), and I have been working on a fun "Yahtzee" type game to help students practice converting fractions to decimals....lots of fun! Link up below to share what you've been working on:) An InLinkz Link-up