When half of the fifth graders selected 0.45 as the smallest of 0.8, 0.45, and 0.125, I had my work cut out for me. I planned a lesson that went wonderfully. Those are the days that remind me of how good it is to be a teacher. The post Comparing and Ordering Decimals appeared first on MARILYN BURNS MATH.| MARILYN BURNS MATH
Did I teach an entire division lesson focused on just one problem? Yes! From giving many hundreds of interviews where students solve problems mentally, we’ve learned that solving 100 ÷ 3 is often a challenge. After recently interviewing and hearing two answers for 100 ÷ 3 that I’d never heard before, I taught this lesson.| MARILYN BURNS MATH
The fifth-grade class I’m working with this year is studying addition and subtraction of fractions, and I asked to “borrow” the class to see how they would view Amber’s solution. I describe how I structured the lesson and have also included students’ writing. The post How Was Amber Reasoning? appeared first on MARILYN BURNS MATH.| MARILYN BURNS MATH
Have you ever engaged students with a Card Sort? I’ve known about Card Sorts for quite a while, but this was my first go with it. The students were engaged and the experience was useful for building their understanding of division. For sure, I’ll do more. The post My First Ever Card Sort . . . And I’ll Do More appeared first on MARILYN BURNS MATH.| MARILYN BURNS MATH
Have you ever tried a Slow Reveal Graph? This was my first experience—Heartbeats per Minute and Body Weights of Different Species. It was wonderful―for the class and for me.| MARILYN BURNS MATH
In my previous blog, I described a lesson I taught based on measuring the area and perimeter of my foot. Here I describe what happened when I returned to the class to have the students think more about the data they recorded and the mathematics it revealed. The post Part 2: Untangling Area and Perimeter appeared first on MARILYN BURNS MATH.| MARILYN BURNS MATH
This is a lesson that I’ve taught for many years when teaching about area and perimeter. I recently revised the lesson and I think my changes were an improvement. How did I change the original plan? What was my thinking behind the changes? How did the students respond?| MARILYN BURNS MATH
After teaching this lesson, I taught it to another class to work out some of the kinks. My, it’s hard and time-consuming to prepare for and plan lessons. I hope my story makes the lesson accessible for other teachers and students to enjoy.| MARILYN BURNS MATH
I asked this question recently in two lessons I taught to fourth and fifth graders. Actually, I’ve asked the question many more times to friends, asking them to visualize a square positioned in the middle of another square that had twice the area. Read about how I introduced this Desmos tool and use the link to try it yourself.| MARILYN BURNS MATH
In my last blog, I describe how I planned a lesson about number lines. In this blog, I describe what actually occurred when I taught the lesson to a class of fourth graders. Read about which parts of my plan I followed, when and why I made some changes, and what the students did on the assignment I gave them.| MARILYN BURNS MATH
Teachers often report that division is hard to teach. How can we help build students’ understanding? Read on for an introductory division lesson I taught to fourth graders.| MARILYN BURNS MATH
