Pun and Games, Mathematical Poetry and Creativity with Words

Logophiles and verbivores, this post is for you! Even if you’re not a word lover, you have many students who are, and injecting wordplay into your school day not only enhances the language arts curriculum, it adds fun and laughter to your day. Here are a few ways to leverage a little language levity (with … Read more

Marcy Cook Math

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

Six-Hat Thinking: Metacognition for Little Scholars

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

Square Numbers and Square Roots

My G/T students always LOVED solving calculator riddles similar to these, particularly the third graders! At some point, they noticed the square root key on the calculator and wanted to learn about it. So, I began teaching square numbers and square roots and over the years found a few great resources to accompany the lessons. … Read more

A Greek Root is Worth 1,000 Words

Did you know that if you learn just 14 Greek and Latin roots, you can unlock the meanings of hundreds of words? Clearly, students of all ages benefit from vocabulary instruction that includes an introduction to Greek and Latin roots, and there are so many great resources and methods. I’ve tried different approaches over the … Read more