The drill and kill of multiplication facts can get old very quickly for students.  Especially those that struggle memorizing them.  Adding games into your math block will not only excite them, but provide great learning opportunities.   Here is a list of 5 multiplication games that are super easy to implement and require very little prep.  A win for both the teacher and the students! Games with Dominoes Ordering Products Students choose five dominoes, turn them over, and multiply each side together.   Order the products from least to greatest or greatest to least. Want to make it a game?  Partners order their dominos then find the difference between their greatest number and least number.  The partner with the greatest (or least) difference wins. Multiplication War Students begin with dominoes face down.   Each student chooses a domino. On the count of three, students turn over their domino and multip......

In this post I will go over some activities that we completed in my classroom in order to cover the third grade standard 3.G.1. I hope you will be able to take some of these ideas and complete them with your own students. :) Before analyzing shape attributes, I made sure my students understood some basic geometry information. We went over shape names, how to count the number of sides (easily done by counting the vertices), and basic vocabulary words (line, line segment, point, ray). If your students need practice on basic geometry vocabulary, click here to download a free printable pack .  During small groups, I had my students choose two random shapes from their baggie.  They then compared and contrasted the attributes on a dry erase dot . It helps to have an anchor chart with key geometry terms you want the students to use.  This activity was a total hit. I gave my students a riddle, and they wrote down the clues on their dots. Th......

If you are used to teaching math in a whole class setting, the thought of implementing guided math groups can be intimidating.  I have been there!!  I have tried many times to use guided math groups, but gave up.  This year, I decided that I was going to use small groups and won’t cave in if it becomes challenging.  There have been many days that I want to throw my hands up and say forget it, but I’m sticking to it. Here is why… I just finished with Parent/Teacher conferences, and I have to admit that this is the first year that I have felt 100% confident in where my students are and where I KNOW my students are.  My ability to confidently conference with parents about their child’s math ability is a result of using guided math groups in my classroom.  After 14 years of teaching, I am confident that using guided math groups is the reason! Here are the top five reasons you should be using guided math groups in the upper elementary classro......

Math centers can be a BEAST in the classroom!  There are a lot of working components and it can all easily blow up in your face.  Yes, I sound a bit dramatic, but if you've done math centers in your classroom, you understand.  Math centers are amazing and can be a highly effective way to conduct your math time, or they can be a complete disaster! Before you jump into math centers this year, here are a few steps you can take to get off on the right foot. 1. Get Organized! Before the year even begins, I spend time finding math games , prepping them, and organizing them for the school year!  I like to make a list of all the topics I teach so I can be sure I am getting games to cover ALL standards.  You can choose to do a simple search on Google to find some games, or you may want to search "Math Games" on Teachers Pay Teachers to save some time.  Here are a few FREE math games I have in my shop that your students are sure to love! Check out this ......

Hi everyone :)  It's Mariela from Math Tech Connections .  Today I'm going to talk about how I teach elapsed time in my classroom.  Elapsed time has always been a difficult skill for students to master.  I hope you will find some helpful ideas that you can use in your classroom!  Start Early! If I followed the math book, students wouldn't be introduced to elapsed time until after December.  That would be a huge problem!  Some students come to third grade without knowing how to tell basic time and quit a few need a refresher. There are a few things you can do at the beginning of the year to make sure your students are ready for elapsed time.  > Morning Work I make it a priority to give my students a daily morning work sheet that reviews math & grammar. It’s important to choose a morning work that builds on the standards. You don’t want to give them morning work that covers multiplication or elapsed time in the first weeks......

I am very selective of what interactive notebook activities my students complete, because they can easily take up too much time.  In the past, I have focused on having an interactive vocabulary notebook.  The students enjoyed the activities, and I loved how simple it was to manage.  The activities are short and focused.  I wanted to expand the choices of activities but also keep the organization. I thought - wouldn't it be cool if students could actually choose what activity they wanted to complete?  A kind of choice board for interactive notebooks.  So, I decided to use math menus! What's so great about a math menu?   They will help students stay organized!  They glue the math menu at the beginning of the notebook and know what to choose from.  The page has a section for 6 activities your students can choose from.  Students LOVE choices and you can differentiate by adding activities that review and challenge students. Th......

Every year around this time those conversation candy hearts begin to show up everywhere I look, and every year I fall for buying them.  Honestly, I don't think they taste good at all!  In fact the only ones I like are the white ones.  So....I have all these candy hearts with nothing to do with them, until now! Candy Heart Math for Big Kids contains five free printables.  Students use these colorful candy hearts to practice the following skills. Factors & Multiples Greatest Common Factors & Lowest Common Multiples Fractions Line Plots Area & Perimeter You can grab this free printable HERE . Teaching With Simplicity Pinterest Facebook Instagram Teachers Pay Teachers ...