Three Favorite Things

It’s that time of year where everyone is making lists and checking it twice, so we thought we would toss out a few of our ERG Favorite Things.   Children’s Literature What’s not to love here? Children’s books are not only designed to create a love of reading, but also are handy tools in classrooms…

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Math Talk

From the desk of Leigh Ann . . . I presented my kindergartners with an interesting math challenge this week. After dividing the young mathematicians into small groups, each team was presented with several problems to solve. Here was their first scenario: You are now party planners with an important task. Each team of planners…

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Math Picture Walks

During guided reading sessions, we work to stimulate the curiosity of our students by going through a “picture walk.”  Even before we open a book, we show the children the cover, read the title, and ask them what they think the text might be about based on what they see.  We work to pique their…

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Visualizing for Math Comprehension

“Just as proficient readers use visualization to make meaning as they read, proficient mathematicians employ visualization as they work to understand concepts and solve problems.”  – Laney Sammons In Building Mathematical Comprehension, Laney Sammons points out the important relationship between visualization and cognition.  Our growing mathematicians need to be aware of the role that visualizing plays in helping…

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Promoting Questions through Math Stretches

Have you ever watched runners stretching before a big race?  They are preparing their bodies, warming up their muscles, so they will perform at optimum levels.  Just like those runners, our students need to warm-up to get their brains focused and ready for quality thinking and learning.  Math Warm-ups, or Math Stretches, are an important…

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Math Question Journals

“Questioning and learning are intricately linked.”  – Laney Sammons We want our students to think, reflect, and ask questions to extend their thinking.  This process helps young learners take more responsibility for their work and learning outcomes.  By asking questions, they are able to refine what they know and fill in the gaps that are…

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Asking Meaningful Questions

“If we teach our students to inquire, we will have a wealth of information from which to teach and our students will have a purpose for learning.”  – Cris Tovani Centuries ago Socrates told his students that “wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”  Today we find ourselves in a culture that seems to value the…

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Thick and Thin Questions

“Sometimes questions are more important than answers.”  – Nancy Willard (American poet and writer) Learning is fueled by curiosity, so how do we inspire mathematical curiosity in our students?  The classroom atmosphere we create can either stimulate or stifle the inquisitiveness of our young learners.  If we teach our developing mathematicians to inquire and question…

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Strategic Questions

“Teaching students how to generate questions as they work with mathematics encourages students to become mathematical text critics.”  – Laney Sammons In Reading with Meaning, Debbie Miller points out that questioning is a vital tool for helping readers create meaning.   Just as readers develop and refine questions to comprehend a text, our young mathematicians must use strategic questions…

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Making Meaningful Connections

“Making mental connections is our most crucial learning tool, the essence of human intelligence; to forge links; to go beyond the given; to see patterns, relationships, context.”  Marilyn Ferguson Connections are an incredible tool for learning.  Once our students see the value of making connections, they are usually ready to put them to use.  They cannot wait…

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