Have you noticed that creativity is playing a major role in how people are handling this pandemic? I am so inspired by people everywhere coming up with inventive ways to help others and find joy in the midst of a crisis! Also very inspiring are the creative ways that educators are responding to the needs … Read more
In a previous post, I shared instructions, tutorials, and links for introducing two types of Japanese number logic puzzles to your students: Kakuro and Futoshiki. Here are two additional types that are also less well known, along with tutorials and free resources you can use in your classroom. Hashiwokakero or Hashi o kakero means “building … Read more
If you like this lesson, you might also be interested in Mathemagic and Artichmetricks: Connecting Math Patterns to Magic or Learn a Calendar Trick ~ Explain the Math. Subscribe to the blog for updates and lesson ideas. Here are two “arithmetrick” challenges in which students learn to perform card tricks and then are challenged to … Read more
Teachers, if you cannot access the puzzles or tutorials, please contact your district about approving this website or access through a personal Gmail account. Even if you “request access,” some of the school servers block access. MESSAGE if you have a question! It’s been a couple of decades since Sudoku first appeared in newspapers in … Read more
Here are some games to present to your students in a new way. Rather than teaching the game or activity, challenge students to figure out what’s happening. Let them determine the rules or guidelines being followed. The game Dotty Six would be easy to teach students, and it’s appropriate for players of all ages. However, … Read more
Here’s a construction activity that a group of students can complete in less than an hour using just newspapers and tape. It’s a great activity to integrate into a study of STRUCTURES or SYSTEMS, through lessons such as the ones found on the PBS site, Building Big. Before building these domes, you might want to … Read more
Many years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing Marcy Cook speak. She is a well-known math specialist and presenter of seminars and workshops all over the world, and if you’ve never attended one of her sessions, I highly recommend it! In my district, the goal for our gifted students has always been to create … Read more
Metacognition: a big word and a powerful idea. People of all ages, from primary students to corporate CEOs, benefit from learning how to THINK about their own THINKING. Way back in the 1960s, Edward de Bono introduced lateral thinking and created strategies that enable people of all ages to intentionally think in organized ways in … Read more
It’s always great when a really challenging activity requires absolutely NO PREP! Most of my gifted elementary students loved logic puzzles and problems of all kinds. In our classroom, we had a logic center I created by pulling the pages out of PERPLEXORS workbooks, putting them in sheet protectors, and then filing them in labeled … Read more
