Using Cuisenaire Rods, metric measurement, and mapping, students worked collaboratively to calculate, keep records, build, and problem solve with use of decimal fractions as a key element.
Search Results
Mapping a Way to Decimal Understanding
Paula Denton
A Super Way to Soak in Linear Measurement
Terri L. Kurz
After analyzing advertising claims regarding water shooters, students present their findings.
UDL for Geometric Length Measurement
Sarah J. Selmer and Kimberly Floyd
A proactive preschool teacher differentiates instruction by using the Universal Design for Learning framework to decrease barriers that limit students' access to classroom learning.
Problem: Jump as Far as You Can
Laura Bofferding and Melike Yigit
This month's problem examines the standing long jump, an Olympic event until 1912. Students will jump as far as they can from a standing position and measure the distance by using different units, such as cubes, feet, and inches. A good problem can capture students' curiosity and can serve many functions in the elementary school classroom: to introduce specific concepts the teacher can build on after students recognize the need for additional mathematics or to help students see where to apply already-learned concepts. We encourage teachers to use the monthly problem and suggested instructional notes in their classrooms and report solutions, strategies, reflections, and misconceptions to the journal audience.
The Beautiful Tree Project: Exploring Measurement in Nature
Deanna Pecaski McLennan
The outdoors offers children a rich space for learning and inspires authentic mathematical opportunities.
A STEAM investigation: Making giant strides
Karen D. Owen, Lynn J. Kaiser, Sarah B. Bush, and Kristin L. Cook
In this article, the authors share how a class of fifth-grade students from an urban elementary school channeled their creativity and critical thinking in an engaging STEAM investigation. Contributors to the iSTEM (Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) department share ideas and activities that stimulate student interest in the integrated fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in K–grade 6 classrooms.
Measuring Penny
Mi Yeon Lee and Dionne Cross Francis
Activities generated from a children's book can support youngsters in developing conceptions of measurement.
Traveling at the Speed of Light
Darin Beigie
Students use scientific notation to calculate how long it takes light to travel a variety of astronomical distances and then interpret the significance of their findings.
License to Do Math with a Full Tank
Ron Lancaster
Since its inception, the Mathematical Lens column has provided teachers with resources to use with their students to make connections between mathematics and the world around us through the use of photographs. The editors and the dozens of teachers who submitted material for columns have taken all of us on a journey around the world to discover where mathematics lives. These columns have offered teachers a license to do mathematics everywhere and to travel far with their students with a full tank of resources.
We are growing
Liat Zippin and Lisa Englard
Math by the Month is a regular department of the journal. It features collections of short activities focused on a monthly theme. These articles aim for an inquiry or problem-solving orientation that includes at least four activities each for grade bands K—2, 3—4, and 5—6. In this issue, the problems capitalize on the natural curiosity of children to explore measurement.
