This year, International Dot Day (Sept. 15-ish) is celebrating fifteen years! I thought it would be a good time to create a landing page for any “dotty brainwork” featured on the website. The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds, inspires wonderful “dotty artwork,” and you can find TONS of ideas online. If you’d like to make … Read more
If you’ve tried some of the time and date patterns shared in Happy New Year Kick it Off with Time and Date Patterns! then you’ll quickly catch on to what I share in this post. At the time of this writing, we are moving into the year ’24, and I thought it would be fun … Read more
Welcome, New Year! The first week back in January is a great time to introduce your students to the fun patterns in calendars and teach them a few tricks they can perform at home. Previously I’ve shared about incorporating “math magic” in the classroom and some fun math card tricks in Learn a Card Trick … Read more
I’ve previously shared about Ed Zaccaro’s book The 10 Things All Future Mathematicians and Scientists Should Know (But Are Rarely Taught), and how I introduced and reinforced the BIG IDEAS in these lessons over a two-year span with my 4th and 5th grade GT students. You can read the first post I shared HERE. In this post, … Read more
Here is a math activity that can serve as a quick brain teaser or an ongoing whole-class activity to use throughout the school year. First, if you aren’t familiar with what I call Triple-A Analogies, watch the video tutorial below, first shared in this post. It’s a great place to start and you’ll find ready-to-share … Read more
Recently, GT teacher Julia Dweck (@GiftedTawk) posted on Twitter about her class competing in the math game 24 with a group of college students. One video she shared of her students competing in a Variables round was amazing! I confess: I was not aware of the many different versions of the game! I was inspired … Read more
Recently, I had a chance to introduce a group of 3rd-grade GT students to the Gus and Gabby problems found HERE. After doing a set of problems, the students asked if they could create their own. They were reading my mind, and I loved that it was their idea! The process of creating their own … Read more
A MIND-STRETCHING SET OF CHALLENGES THAT REQUIRES ZERO PREP! How many tasks can be inspired by a simple two-digit number? When I began playing around with this idea, my brain exploded. This is just the kind of task we want for our students, right? mind-blowing and brain-stretching? And the best part? The challenge sets below … Read more
by Taylor Halliday This summer, we’re having a Summer Share & Tell in our Facebook group. In one of our great discussions, Taylor Halliday, a Gifted Intervention Specialist working with grades 3-8, shared her enthusiasm for the math game MUGGINS! We all wanted to learn more! She agreed to elaborate in a blog post so … Read more
by Natalie Medolla Natalie Medolla is an elementary Enrichment Program coordinator in New Jersey working with students in grades K-5. We began exchanging emails when she sent me a video link she thought I might like to add to POWERS of TEN and COSMIC EYE: Mind-Expanding for All Students. She mentioned that she and her … Read more
